Opinion ID: 1996268
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Remedy for Ex Parte Contacts

Text: The trial justice correctly noted that although Arnold clarified illicit ex parte communications in the administrative context in Rhode Island, it did not provide a specific remedy for such improper contact. The petitioners submit that the trial justice erred because she did not remand the matter to the CRMC. They argue that the trial court misinterpreted the impact of In re Request for Advisory Opinion (CRMC), on the ability of the CRMC to expeditiously hear the matter on remand. They further argue that the failure to remand to the agency deprives the petitioners, including the intervenors, of an appeal as of right to the Superior Court from the CRMC decision and restricts them to seeking the discretionary writ of certiorari from this Court. This, they say, is a violation of their right to due process. Champlin's submits that the trial justice did not err in declining to remand to the CRMC because the decision whether to remand the matter to the CRMC was within her discretion, and remand was neither required nor feasible. In our opinion, the trial justice erred when she simply subtracted the votes of the members that she held to be biased and when she elevated the subcommittee recommendation to become, in effect, a final decision of the CRMC, because the recommendation was untainted by the Goulet plan. We hold, especially in light of our decision in Arnold, that the only appropriate remedy here is remand to the agency for supplementation of the record with the ex parte communications to be included to allow the parties to appropriately respond and cross-examine. See Arnold, 941 A.2d at 821. Under Arnold, Lemont's contacts with Fugate and Goulet may have been proper had he notified the parties of his intention to seek out an alternate plan, disclosed the request and the resultant plan on the record, and invited the parties to contest the evidence contained in the plan and to cross-examine Goulet concerning his findings. See Arnold, 941 A.2d at 821. But here, the parties were not afforded the opportunity to contest the Goulet plan. Indeed, the Goulet plan was not created until all the evidence had been submitted to the subcommittee and the hearings were concluded. Thus, the Goulet plan represents the very type of secret evidence proscribed in Arnold, and the Superior Court should have remanded the matter to the CRMC for supplementation of the record. See Arnold, 941 A.2d at 822. It is the petitioners' position that the CRMC is constitutionally sound and able to act. The parties agreed that, at the time of oral argument before this Court, the CRMC was composed of eight members, all of whom were gubernatorial appointees. In In re Request for Advisory Opinion, this Court advised that, in light of the 2004 separation-of-powers amendments to the Rhode Island Constitution and the CRMC's exercise of executive power, it was unconstitutional for members of the General Assembly to serve on the council or for the General Assembly to appoint the CRMC members. In re Request for Advisory Opinion (CRMC), 961 A.2d at 933, 941-42. Rather, it is the Governor who has the constitutional authority to appoint CRMC members with the advice and consent of the Senate. Id. at 942. Although the trial justice noted that we acknowledged the de facto validity of the CRMC's acts since the 2004 amendments, she incorrectly concluded that legislation was required to accommodate this Court's advisory opinion when she declined to remand the matter to the agency. The trial justice was also concerned about further delays that would be occasioned by the legislative process and gubernatorial appointments. Although it is unfortunate that this litigation has been stewing for nearly seven years, both parties have contributed to its longevity. Given the serious environmental impact on the Great Salt Pond that the expansion of the marina may engender, a decision on Champlin's application cannot be made lightly. Thus, we do not accept the Superior Court's analogy to Sakonnet Rogers, Inc. v. Coastal Resources Management Council, 536 A.2d 893, 897 (R.I.1988), in which this Court reversed a CRMC decision because of the CRMC's failure to base its decision on any of the required criteria and declined to remand to the agency in light of the seven years that had elapsed since the application was filed. The issue in Sakonnet revolved around an application for alteration of a shoreline in connection with the relocation of a single small cottage to an empty lot. Id. at 894. There is simply no comparison between the discrete facts in that case and the situation currently before us, to say nothing of the major environmental considerations before the CRMC in this application to expand a substantial marina into an ecologically sensitive coastal feature. Therefore, this Court holds that the trial justice erred as a matter of law in not remanding the case to the CRMC to supplement the record with the Goulet plan and to allow the parties to respond and cross-examine.