Must listen to audio: Year-old secret recording of North Providence, RI mayor dressing down firefighter.
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There has been a contentious relationship between firefighters and the Mayor of North Providence, Rhode Island, Charles Lombardi, for some time. Lombardi is himself a former firefighter. Yesterday WPRI-TV investigative reporter Tim White aired a 14-mont-old recording of Mayor Lombardi confronting Firefighter Thomas Guibealt because Lombardi says the firefighter insulted a member of the mayor’s family while off-duty in a bar. At the time Mayor Lombardi was dealing with a battle with the firefighters’ union over the closing of a fire station.
The recording was made last Spring at fire department headquarters at a meeting the mayor called that also included Chief Leonard Albanese and a battalion chief. The mayor told reporter White he was not aware someone was recording him but believes he acted appropriately:
On the recording Lombardi is heard screaming at the firefighter, who he identified as Thomas Guibealt.
“Don’t let my name roll out of your mouth,” Lombardi says on the tape. “[Because] the next time that happens you’re going to have a serious headache.”
Above is the full recording of the confrontation.
The mayor said he learned from a third party that an employee who works at his son’s auto body shop was told he was not welcome at a North Providence bar because “he works for the Lombardi’s.”
Contacted by phone, Guibealt did not want to comment if he was the one recording the conversation and directed all questions to a union lawyer.
