Pawtucket Mayor Grebien Blasts RI House Speaker Mattiello Over PawSox Failure

Thursday, June 21, 2018

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Speaker Mattiello was the target of Grebien's anger on Tuesday.

Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien blasted Rhode Island Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello for playing the PawSox legislation the “wrong way,” following the eleventh hour hearing at House Finance on Tuesday that resulted in no further action.

Grebien made the remarks to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette during a break

“I can tell you, if we don’t have a bill, (the PawSox are gone),” Donald R. Grebien said Tuesday night during a break in a House Finance Committee meeting considering the city’s stadium proposal. “The speaker and the House have played this the wrong way, and I think that everybody realizes that and we’re here and we have to have something on the table.

“They’re gonna make a decision. If by the end of the session we don’t have a bill, then I don’t think there’s any more discussion. I mean from the PawSox — if I were them. They haven’t threatened that but that’s just the reality. They’ve been here two years, working with us and the state of Rhode Island and Pawtucket’s been the only one embracing them,” Grebien said.

End of the Session PawSox Battle Continues in House Finance Hearing Tuesday Night

As GoLocal reported:

With the clock running out on the legislative session, resolution in the House’s embattled PawSox stadium bill still has not been reached.

At a House Finance Committee meeting Tuesday night, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien urged the council to approve Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s newest version of the bill, which is currently under consideration.

“We are at the beginning of something great for the city of Pawtucket,” Grebien said in his testimony. “My message to you is simple: please pass this legislation!”