Cadillac Lounge: a Full Rhode Island
As public developments involving Operation Dollar Bill have periodically unfolded in recent years, an FBI investigation related to the Cadillac Lounge in Providence has received far less attention. Last week, WJAR-TV's Jim Taricani offered an update:
NBC 10's I-Team has learned that a convicted felon tried to influence Providence city officials about a liquor license.
In 2005, the Cadillac Lounge in Providence received a liquor license even after the city’s lawyer told the licensing board not to issue the license.
But the I-Team has learned that a Providence police officer was told that a former city employee, who was a convicted felon, tried to influence a high-ranking city official to get the strip club a liquor license.
Because the Cadillac Lounge is in a zone that doesn’t allow nudity in a club with liquor, the club at first was a "bing your own beer" club.
Perhaps the most interesting thing in Taricani's story is the role played by Edward "Buckles" Melise in advocating for the club's liquor license.
Melise, as anyone who has read Mike Stanton's The Prince of Providence well knows, was part of the checkered cast of city workers during Buddy Cianci's time at City Hall in the 1980s. Taricani notes how Melise was convicted on a number of corruption charges.
So the Providence Board of Licenses under David Cicilline -- who claimed office as the anti-Cianci -- awarded a liquor license to an establishment whose advocates included Melise. And Melise, as Taricani reported, is represented by the mayor's father, Jack Cicilline -- who, long ago, was an aide to Cianci. Sounds like, in the words of Bill Reynolds, a Full Rhode Island.
In response to the investigation, Cicilline issued a statement.
"It's a common practice for individuals to advocate for a certain position or outcome on a matter pending before a city board or commission. I have made it perfectly clear that I expect boards and commissions to exercise good judgment … and to issue fair and impartial decisions free from political influence," the mayor said.
