Response by the RDTC to the Board of Elections Decision Regarding Larry Valencia

On Oct. 18th a decision was handed down by the RI Board of Elections (BOE) following completion of their audit.  Current Richmond Democratic Town Committee (RDTC) Treasurer Joyce Flanagan had alerted the BOE to  irregularities discovered when Ms. Flanagan and RDTC Chair Joe Reddish had met with former treasurer Larry Valencia on multiple occasions and had received unsatisfactory answers to their questions.  The audit found significant failures in the accuracy of the information that had been reported to the RDTC during Mr. Valencia's tenure. As indicated in the report, former RDTC member and Treasurer Valencia admitted to the findings of the BOE. We appreciate the work of the BOE in performing this audit. 

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The RDTC is in the final process of amending its by-laws to ensure there are procedures to prevent this type of action from happening in the future and to ensure the accuracy of the reports. Please note Ms. Flanagan has reported all contributions and expenditures on time since her appointment as treasurer based on the information available to her at the time of her appointment.

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At an emergency meeting convened on Oct. 19, the RDTC voted unanimously to forfeit to the BOE the contributions made by Mr. Valencia to the RDTC after his term as Treasurer, in the amount of $1000.