PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The Rhode Island Board of Elections is voting on a plan to move its headquarters from Providence to Cranston, despite a lawsuit over it.
The Boston Globe reports the board’s vice chairman, Stephen Erickson, says they’ll execute the lease Tuesday if everything goes according to plan.
Paolino Properties and Mutual Properties 14 Thurber LLC are suing, claiming the state received five bids but unlawfully abandoned the bid process to cut a deal in Cranston with Dean Warehouse Services. Their attorney, John Mancini, says it isn’t prudent to execute the lease because they believe the bid process was a sham.
Lawyers for the state say Rhode Island law doesn’t require competitive bidding to lease real estate.
A judge denied the plaintiffs’ request to stop the board from leasing the Cranston site.
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