Patterson v. The Bonnet Shores Fire Dist.

• Docket Number: C. A. WC-2020-0130
• Decision Date: 27 January 2022
• Parties: MARY BURKE PATTERSON, ROBERT E. PATTERSON, MELISSA JENKINS, VALERIE ANN HENRY, PAULA CHILDS, DAVID H. STENMARK, and CAROL M. STENMARK, Plaintiffs, v. THE BONNET SHORES FIRE DISTRICT, Defendant.
• Court: Rhode Island Superior Court

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MARY BURKE PATTERSON, ROBERT E. PATTERSON, MELISSA JENKINS, VALERIE ANN HENRY, PAULA CHILDS, DAVID H. STENMARK, and CAROL M. STENMARK, Plaintiffs, v. THE BONNET SHORES FIRE DISTRICT, Defendant.

C. A. No. WC-2020-0130

Superior Court of Rhode Island, Washington

January 27, 2022

For Plaintiff: Matthew T. Oliverio, Esq.

For Defendant: Thomas M. Dickinson, Esq.

For Interested Party: Lynette J. Labinger, Esq., James G. Rhodes Esq.

DECISION

TAFT-CARTER, J.

Before the Court for decision are Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment, Defendant Bonnet Shores Fire District's (the BSFD) Objection to Plaintiffs' Motion and Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, and Plaintiffs' Reply Memorandum and Objection to Defendant's Cross-Motion. Jurisdiction is pursuant to Rule 56 of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure in accordance with G.L. 1956 §§ 8-2-14 and 9-30-1 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

I Facts and Travel

Incorporated in 1930 by an act of the General Assembly, the BSFD is located in the northern part of the Town of Narragansett. (Compl. ¶ 8.) Under the terms of the Bonnet Shores Fire District Charter & Related Legislation (BSFD Charter) the BSFD possesses

"all rights and powers generally had and enjoyed by business corporations and fire districts in the state including (but without limiting the generalities of the foregoing) the right to acquire, hold and dispose of real and personal property necessary for its corporate purposes; the right to have and use a common seal; the right to sue or be sued; and the right to borrow money from time to time and to issue its notes, bonds or other evidences of indebtedness theretofore." (Compl. Ex. A, § 1(4)).

The BSFD Charter also specifically authorizes the BSFD to collect taxes, at the rate of up to seven mills on each dollar of valuation, on real estate within the District.^[1] Id. at Ex. A, § 7. Among other purposes, the BSFD may use the taxes raised to establish and maintain

"a water supply system for domestic use and fire prevention; a fire, police or life saving department; a lighting system; a garbage removal system, or any similar system deemed necessary for the protection of lives and property within the district or for the general improvement[, ] upbuilding and beautifying of district property[.]" Id. at Ex. A, § 7.

Currently, the BSFD does not provide water, fire services, police services, road maintenance, snow removal, public schools, or parking enforcement, all of which are provided by the Town of Narragansett instead. (Def.'s Mem. Ex. 1, ¶ 3.) The BSFD does provide "[r]efuse collection" services, beach maintenance and operations, harbor operations, a summer camp for youth, and limited private security patrols. Id. at Ex. 1, ¶ 4.

The BSFD is also empowered to "adopt such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws as may be reasonably necessary to enable it to fulfill its corporate purposes and may provide a penalty for the breach" thereof in the form of "a fine not exceeding fifty dollars . . . or imprisonment for a term of not exceeding thirty days[.]" (Compl. Ex. A, § 5 (footnote omitted).) Through its ordinances, the BSFD "may also prescribe . . . the conduct and control of the district inhabitants. . . ." Id. Accordingly, BSFD has enacted enforceable ordinances governing conduct within its boundaries, including parking regulations, a trash removal and anti-littering ordinance, and a dog leashing ordinance. (Compl. Ex. B, 19-21.)

Under § 6 of the BSFD Charter, BSFD voters

"may elect a clerk, three assessors of taxes, a collector of taxes, a district council [of] not less than three and no more than seven qualified voters, one or more fire wardens, one or more police officers and such other officers and committees as said district may require for its corporate purposes." (Compl. Ex. A, § 6.)

By the terms of the Bonnet Shores Fire District By-Laws (BSFD By-Laws), members of the district council are elected to three-year terms and officers are elected annually; both officers and council members must be qualified voters. (Compl. Ex. D, Art. II § 2, Art. III § 1.) Voter eligibility in BSFD elections is governed by § 2 of the BSFD Charter, which provides that:

"Every firm, corporation, unincorporated association and every person, irrespective of sex, of the age of eighteen years, who is possessed in his or her own right of real estate in said district of the value of . . . Four Hundred ($400) Dollars over and above all encumbrances, being an estate in fee simple, fee tail, for the life of any person, or an estate in reversion or remainder, the conveyance of which estate shall if by deed, have been recorded at least ninety (90) days, shall thereafter have a right to vote at all meetings of the corporation. . . . Every person or firm qualified to vote as aforesaid shall vote in person, except that a person in common ownership to real estate may vote as the proxy of the other person who has been verified as being in common ownership in said real estate[.]" (Compl. Ex. A, § 2 (footnotes omitted).)

Owners with at least $400 of equity in real property located in the BSFD, including commercial and nonresidential parcels, are therefore entitled to vote in BSFD elections regardless of whether they reside in the District. (Compl. ¶¶ 27-28.) Conversely, adult residents who do not possess the requisite property ownership interest are not entitled to vote in BSFD elections. Id. ¶ 29.

While the exact numbers of BSFD residents and qualified voters are unclear, potentially hundreds of nonresidents could be enfranchised through the BSFD Charter. Compl. ¶¶ 37, 70; Answer ¶¶ 37, 70. For example, the 2020 Tax Rolls prepared by the Narragansett Tax Assessor identify 2, 029 taxable parcels within the BSFD, 930 of which appear to be nonresidential bathhouses or cabanas located at the Bonnet Shores Beach Club (Beach Club). (Pls.' Reply Mem. 14-15 & Ex. H.) Of those 930 parcels, the 2020 Tax Rolls indicate that 827 are owned by persons with a mailing address outside the BSFD's boundaries. Id. at 15. In June 2021, the Beach Club sent its members an e-mail endorsing candidates for the upcoming BSFD Annual Meeting and Election and explaining how multiple owners of a single Beach Club unit could cast their votes by proxy. (Pls.' Reply Mem. Ex. I, at 2-4.) In the ensuing election, the BSFD handed out 698 ballots, up from 219 ballots in 2019 and 316 ballots in 2018. (Pls.' Reply Mem. Ex. J, at 2-4.)

Before filing suit, Plaintiffs brought their grievances with the BSFD Charter's voting provisions to the attention of Rhode Island's Attorney General, Board of Elections, and Secretary of State. (Compl. ¶ 39.) In an August 22, 2019 letter to BSFD Chairperson Michael Vendetti, Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea (Secretary Gorbea) suggested that the BSFD Charter's property-based voting restriction may be unconstitutional in light of the Rhode Island Supreme Court decision Flynn v. King, 433 A.2d 172 (R.I. 1981). (Compl. Ex. E, at 2.) BSFD Council member Anita Langer then moved to amend the BSFD Charter at an October 16, 2019 Council meeting, citing the "need to link the right to vote in the BSFD to residency because the current taxpayer requirement is unconstitutional." (Compl. Ex. F, at 2-3.) The motion failed for lack of a second. Id. at 3.

Plaintiffs filed the instant Complaint against the BSFD on March 13, 2020.^[2] Plaintiff Melissa Jenkins (Jenkins), a resident of the BSFD and an otherwise qualified voter over the age of eighteen, is not listed on the deed of the home where she resides; she is thus unable to vote in BSFD elections. (Compl. ¶¶ 3, 45.) Under Count I of the Complaint, Jenkins seeks a declaratory judgment that the BSFD Charter's property ownership requirement is an unconstitutional restriction on her right to vote under both the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article 2, section 1 of the Rhode Island Constitution. Id. ¶¶ 46-50. Under Count II, Jenkins brings a claim against BSFD under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for denying her the right to vote in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Id. ¶¶ 54-57.

Plaintiffs Mary Burke Patterson, Robert E. Patterson, Valerie Ann Henry, Paula Childs, David H. Stenmark, and Carol M. Stenmark (collectively, the Voter Plaintiffs) both reside and own property within the BSFD. Id. ¶¶ 1-2, 4-7. As a result, they are eligible to vote in BSFD elections and have voted in previous elections. Id. ¶¶ 62, 72. Under Count III of the Complaint, the Voter Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that the BSFD Charter unconstitutionally dilutes their votes by allowing numerous nonresident landowners to vote in BSFD elections. Id. ¶¶ 60-66. Under Count IV, Voter Plaintiffs bring their vote dilution claim against BSFD under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as a violation of their Fourteenth Amendment rights. Id. ¶¶ 69-74.

Plaintiffs end their Complaint with the following requests for relief:

"A. A finding and declaration that BSFD is a quasi-municipal entity which exercises general governmental authority over its geographic area;

"B. A finding and declaration that the limitation of voting rights to property holders holding over $400 in equity found in the BSFD Charter is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution;

"C. A finding and declaration that the limitation of voting rights to property holders holding over $400 in equity found in the BSFD Charter is unconstitutional under Article I, § 2 of the Rhode Island Constitution; "D. A finding and declaration that the distribution of voting rights to nonresidents of BSFD is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution;

"E. A finding and declaration that the distribution of voting rights

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