Paul Labbadia, the former North Providence firefighter and Coventry fire chief who still owes taxpayers thousands of dollars after fraudulently accepting pension payments he wasn’t entitled to, has applied to be the town’s next fire chief.
Mayor Charles Lombardi, pictured above right, told The Breeze he was surprised to learn that Labbadia had applied for the open position, which is being vacated by retiring Chief Ed DiGiulio, and immediately wondered whether the application was serious.
Lombardi said he’s narrowed a list of 19 applicants, including four from within the North Providence Fire Department, down to about seven men. Labbadia is not among the seven, he said.
"A candidate with criminal convictions of crimes against the public interest is far afield from the core values of our fire department," he said.
Labbadia pleaded no contest, indicating that he would not contest the charges against him, in January to three counts of filing false documents to obtain a pension.