By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — With an eye toward improving the city's business climate and job growth, the City Council created a new 15-member Economic Development Committee to act in an ad hoc capacity.

Councilor-at-Large Albert Vitali Jr., who spearheaded the formation of the committee, said the panel is “something the city is sorely in need of.” He stated, “I look forward to bringing this to the forefront. Hopefully it will bring new ideas and businesses to Pawtucket.”
Vitali added that the group, which consists of two city councilors, members of the city's Planning and Redevelopment Department and local business leaders, will be able to act as a “conduit” between the city's administration and the people in the community.
Besides Vitali, who will serve as chairman, those appointed to the Economic Development Committee include Councilor Jean Philippe Barros, Barney Heath, assistant director of Planning and Redevelopment; Herb Weiss, the city's Economic and Cultural Affairs Officer; Lenny L.Lopes, of 28 Bayley St.; Antonio Pires of Troy, Pires and Allen Insurance; Danielle Clarke of 64 Edgemere Rd.; Robert Andrade, CEO and executive vice president of Pawtucket Credit Union; Kevin Tracy, senior vice president of the Bank of America and vice chairman of The Pawtucket Foundation; John Galvin, chief financial officer for Collette Vacations; Louis Yip, of 285 Main St.; Thomas A. Mann Jr., executive director of The Pawtucket Foundation; Jack Gannon, Esq.,of 727 Central Ave.; Esselton McNulty, CEO of the Pawtucket YMCA; and Ronald Piatek, president of Piatek Machinery Co., Inc.
City Council President Henry Kinch Jr. also noted the importance of having a committee to exchange ideas and discuss ways of boosting the city's economic potential, particularly during the current troubled economy. He said he expects this committee to provide valuable input and congratulated Vitali for “putting together a committee of good people.”
Also on Wednesday, the council appointed an ad hoc committee to improve the city's government website and the communications that go out from the administration to residents. John Sawyer, a Clyde Street resident and frequent attendee at City Council meetings, had requested that the city look at ways in which to expand the information that goes out to taxpayers about municipal meetings, city council decisions and other government matters.
Named to this committee are Councilor John J. Barry III, who will serve as chairman, Councilor David Moran, Councilor Jean Philippe Barros, Darcy Viner, who is head of the city's Information Technology Department, Debra Spellberg, of 63 Maplewood Dr.; Christopher Caramela, of 18 Stuart St.; Bertrand Gauthier, of 48 Greenslitt Ave.; and John E. Sawyer, of 44 Clyde St.
In other matters, the council acknowledged the receipt of a letter from School Committee Acting Chairman James Chellel Jr. on behalf of the entire school board requesting an appropriation of $4 million in additional funds for the School Department's budget.
Chellel's Oct. 14 letter to Council President Henry Kinch Jr. stated that the committee was recently denied waivers/alternatives that would have helped balance the budget. As such, he wrote, the School Committee is “thus forced” to take the step of requesting the additional appropriation from the City Council “so as to permit the School Committee to meet state and federal mandates, the basic education program and contractual obligations.” The letter further stated that the School Committee would wait 14 dates from the date of the letter, and if the City Council does not respond, or rejects the the request for additional funding, the School Committee “will be forced to proceed pursuant to RIGL 16-2-21.4” (the Caruolo Act).
Noting that the letter is a procedural step toward a Caruolo lawsuit, several councilors spoke out harshly against the School Committee's actions, and again criticized the new three-year teachers' contract that was recently negotiated.
Councilor David Moran called it “The old Caruolo set-up,” and said that while the city has managed to avoid a court case in the past, he supports the efforts to fight against the action this time around, given the current financial sittauion.
Vitali noted that Mayor James Doyle has publicly stated his intent to “go to war” over the school's request for more money, and stated, “I'll join the mayor in his war.” He added, “I think we will prevail.” He said that the city is “on the verge of bankruptcy, and this would put us over the edge.”
Kinch concurred with his fellow councilors, saying. “This has come to a head. Bail out, bail out, bail out.” “At some point it's got to end.” He also reiterated his call for state legislative leaders to develop a  fair school aid funding formula.
Moran noted that if the city does choose to fight the Caruolo action, there is always the downside of “if we lose, we may have to pay.” Nevertheless, he, too, said he believes the matter is worth fighting over, since the city's reserve funds are so depleted.”
Barros added, “Our School Committee people should be talking to the folks in Cumberland and use them as a model.”
Also on Wednesday, at a meeting of the City Council's Board of License Commissioners, the class C liquor license for Ray's Boulevard Tap, at 572 Armistice Blvd., was transferred to Leonora R. Marques, from Dancinbr Enterprises LLC, following an earlier public hearing.. Marques was the previous holder of the license.
Ray Clement, of Dancinbr Enterprises, has assumed ownership of Ray's Boulevard Tap two years ago  but was arrested on drug possession and a bookmaking charge related to an alleged Superbowl betting  game. Clement pled no contest and received a suspended sentence for the crime.