What is Rep. Gablinske's record in the Private Sector?
State Rep. Doug Gablinske was the subject of a scathing editorial from Ross Cheit, a member of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission in the Providence Journal. It is not the first time Gablinske’s judgment has been questioned in such a public way.
In 2006, the Rhode Island Superior Court issued a stinging judgment against the Tax Collector and Tax Assessor in the Town of Bristol as a result of a property assessment conducted by Gablinske. The Representative has been President of a local real estate company called AppraiseRI / East Bay Appraisal since 1996. In 2002, the Town hired Gablinske to conduct real estate assessments as part of the Town’s reassessment of local property. A local property owner took the town to Court after Gablinske assessed their property at $1,184,490.
According to Court Records, the Court found, in a non-jury trial in April of 2006, many flaws with how Gablinske came to his appraisal value. The Court decision reads in part:
Defendants fail to highlight that their appraiser, Gablinske, valued the Plaintiffs’ Property using dimensions that were larger than those found in the Town’s records. (Page 13)
And:
Here, in contrast to Coyle’s testimony, the Court had serious questions regarding the credibility and reliability of Gablinske’s appraisals of the Property. (page 14)
And:
Furthermore, this Court has grave concerns regarding Gablinske’s comparable sales analysis. (page 14)
And:
At trial Gablinske attempted to explain that no adjustment was necessary as some individuals prefer water-view property to water-front property. This Court, however, finds this argument disingenuous and unconvincing, as water-front property is consistently found to have a higher worth (page 15)
What the court ruled was that the property should have been assessed at $853,396. That is a $331,094 error.
Disingenuous? Serious questions regarding credibility?
What I find ironic is that Rep. Gablinske was basically working as a sub-contractor for the Town. He has been one of the champions of the privatization drive which would make it easier for the State or Municipal governments to use subcontractors. I am not sure that this decision helps or hurts that cause, but it should at least raise interesting questions.