By The Associated Press and WPRO News
Some Providence city councilors are calling for Council President David Salvatore to apologize to two female colleagues after they say he yelled at them for postponing a vote.
Councilors say Salvatore confronted Councilwomen Jo-Ann Ryan and Carmen Castillo outside City Hall on Monday.
Both councilwomen supported holding off a vote on an amendment to an ordinance that would support women and minority-owned businesses.
Ryan tells the Providence Journal that Salvatore kept “screaming” at her “shameful.” She says the interaction was “completely inappropriate.”
“No one is more invested in encouraging our City departments to do more business with minority and women-owned businesses than Councilwoman Castillo and me. As women, we both have a vested interest in pushing this ordinance forward. We just want it to be one that works,” she said in a statement. “As elected officials, we are called upon to make the right decisions for our City, and sometimes that takes time. That’s why it was such a shock to have the President of the City Council react in this manner when we were only delaying the discussion by a week.”
Councilwoman Sabina Matos also weighed in, saying Salvatore should make a public apology and enroll in anger management and sensitivity training.
“I was disappointed and deeply offended to learn of Council President Salvatore’s outbursts and disrespectful verbal assault towards two of my colleagues,” she said in a statement. “The unfortunate irony is that Council President Salvatore berated them for ‘not supporting women.’ Is this how he supports women?”
Salvatore says the calls for his apology are politically motivated.
“I should not have raised my voice to Councilwoman Castillo. However, I will not apologize for feeling passionately that women and minorities should have a much greater stake in our city’s business dealings, he said in a statement. “I am disgusted that my colleagues would rather take cheap shots at me instead of taking action on important issues.”
