Amid some good economic tourism figures coming in from the past summer, the members of the Block Island Tourism Council spent the major portion of their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10 answering questions about conflicts of interest, the salary and sales commission payments to Director Jessica Willi, and other matters that were posed primarily by residents Ed and Diane Hayde.
The meeting was at times tense, with Hayde offering what he considered to be a myriad of issues and conflicts of members by the board, with board members pushing back in equal measure. Hayde also suggested that the board members should resign, a request that was ignored by the board.
There is also an ongoing inquiry initiated by Board member Steve Filippi, who has requested information from other board members through an Access to Public Records Act request. When asked after the meeting the reason behind the request, Filippi said that he would be waiting for a response from the Attorney General’s office.
Ed and Diane Hayde submitted inquiries to the council the day of the Nov. 10 meeting.
In his letter, Hayde wrote that there are three “basic fundamentals of the legal duties of each board member
