Council OKs competition for city pawn shops

Man who owns only two pawn shops in city protests council’s 5-1 vote to raise limit

WOONSOCKET – Despite a warning from the operator of the only pawnshops in the city, the City Council on Monday approved a measure that could bring in more competition.

Under a cap on pawnbrokers’ licenses that has existed for many years, Dan “Rocco” Baldelli holds all the available permits – two – doing business as Gold Loan Advance at 100 Bernon St. and 859 Diamond Hill Road.

Baldelli told the council they’re asking for trouble by opening the doors to new pawnbrokers because it’s unlikely they’ll work as hard as he does to make sure thieves aren’t walking in the door looking to pawn stolen property.

“Twice this process didn’t work,” Baldelli said, referring to past efforts to license new pawnbrokers. “You need an application...don’t put it back out there this way. I know it sounds like a conflict, I’d be glad to show you what to do, what to look for, help draw some guidelines, amend what you’re going to do. But don’t put it out there the way it is right now. All you’re going to end up with is trouble with a lot of people coming in the city, that’s what it brings.”

But members of the

council said the cap on pawnbrokers’ licenses sends a message to the business community that the city plays favorites.

Councilwoman Denise Sierra said “I have no dog in this race” except for her constituents, many of whom are business owners.

“I see this piece of legislations as very anti-business because it protects only one industry,” she said. “We have that nowhere else.”

The vote to lift the cap passed 5-1, with Sierra joining Council President Dan Gendron, Vice President Jon Brien, Councilors Richard Fagnant and James Cournoyer. Councilor Christopher Beauchamp opposed the measure and Councilor Melissa Murray abstained.

It was Cournoyer who introduced the measure, saying he thought the council was wrong to reaffirm the cap some four years ago.

“Why is this coming up now? What’s the impetus on this?” Cournoyer said.

“It’s anti-business, anti-competitive and monopolistic. If nothing else this is just symbolic because it sends a clear message that we are not anti-business, we’re not anti-competitive, we’re not monopolistic.”

Council Vice President Jon Brien said he isn’t wild about pawnshops – they’re not economic development, in his view. But he said it’s too late “to put that genie back in the bottle.”

While Brien said he was reluctantly voting with the majority, he promised “absolute strict scrutiny” of possible future applicants for pawnbrokers’ licenses – if any. None are currently in the pipeline, officials say.

The brother of Mayor Lisa BaldelliHunt, Baldelli and Cournoyer engaged in sometimes testy exchanges in which the businessman inferred that the measure was politically motivated. Cournoyer dismissed the charges as “nonsense’ and “off-topic.”

This is actually the third time Baldelli has lobbied the council against the approval of a license for a potential competitor. In 2008, the City Council found some technical flaws with an application from Fall River-based Spindle City Pawnbrokers. Still, the council invited the company to reapply.

In 2012, the company filed a new application, which Baldelli also opposed. Despite a clean bill of health from former Police Chief Thomas Carey, who was asked by the council to investigate the company, Spindle City’s application to open a store on Main Street was rejected.

Last night, Baldelli excoriated the city’s application process as “ridiculously flawed” and unfit to weed out vendors unwilling to aggressively keep the riffraff out of their stores.

“I’m not against raising the limit on pawnbrokers at all,” he insisted. “The thing about the business is you learn about vetting people every day. You see ‘em come in your store, you try to sniff ‘em out, see what kind of person they are. Every day is different. Everyone is different.”

Follow Russ Olivo on Twitter @russolivo