City & Former Manager Graczykowski Settle

Former City Manager Peter Graczykowski agreed on a financial settlement at a cost of $40,000. Peter Graczykowski had been finally fired after a short tenure as city manager. Graczykowski, although hired by a prior city council in September of 2011, was never given a binding employment contract. Ward 2 councilman Helder Cunha introduced a resolution to have the city manager suspended and then fired in prior action. Graczykowski had raised some eyebrows with a couple of controversial decisions. In what some saw as a favor to those who opposed the hiring of former police chief Joseph Tavares, Graczykowski had suspended the police chief and seemed ready to fire Tavares. Then in a move that angered some rank and file city employees and others, Graczykowski included hefty raises totaling several thousand dollars each for a few top city administrators, including himself. That proposed raise was removed by the city council in its' final budget approval. Graczykowski was also taken to task by the head of the RI State Police who were called into the city to investigate several matters. "On its face, it appears that Mr. Graczykowski is attempting to interfere with a Rhode Island State Police investigation. I am bringing this to your attention because it is troubling, at best, to understand why a person in such a position cannot comprehend the separation of power and authority between his position and that of the Rhode Island State Police," said Colonel Stephen O'Donnell of the State Police. He didn't pull any punches as he added, "As I am certain that you are aware, Mr. Graczykowski himself was just recently the subject of our (state police) probe, referred to us by the Budget Commission, into possible wrongdoings in the City of East Providence. The settlement is less than what Graczykowski wanted and ends the controversy without any further appeal.