RI Commerce Vice Chair and Raimondo Appointee is Massachusetts Resident
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
In 2015, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo named a high powered Boston financier to serve on the board of Rhode Island Commerce Corporation.
At the time of the appointment, Ronald O’Hanley, who serves as President and CEO at Boston's State Street Global Advisors, signed state documents claiming Newport as his residence.
When his name was submitted to the Rhode Island Senate for confirmation, O’Hanley’s submission listed his Newport summer mansion worth over $5 million as his address.
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He also claimed his Newport home on his Rhode Island Ethics Commission Annual Financial Statement in both 2014 and 2015, but also disclosed in those documents his two Massachusetts residences. One of his Massachusetts homes is in Boston and the other is in Ipswich. The Ipswich home was sold in 2016 for $1.8 million.
GoLocal repeated requested comment from Raimondo, but was told that they would not make comment.
A call to O'Hanley was unsuccessful.
Massachusetts Home Gets Top Billing
A GoLocal investigation, based on a tip from a Rhode Islander, found that O’Hanley lists his Boston home address on federal campaign finance reports, Rhode Island campaign finance reports, and on his 2016 Rhode Island Ethics Commission Annual Financial Statement.
After GoLocal notified the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation of the discrepancies, Matt Sheaff of Commerce confirmed that O’Hanley was not a Rhode Island resident and offered the following statement, “Ron has owned a home in Rhode Island for the past 13 years and is in the state frequently."
"She just likes out-of-staters, doesn't she?" said House Minority Leader Patricia Morgan, of Raimondo's pick of O'Hanley. "This isn't appropriate. We have really good, talented smart people here. It's about time she turns her attention to Rhode Island."
As for O'Hanley listing his Newport residence on several forms, Morgan had the following to say. "It's a summer home," said Morgan. "It's not appropriate for him to be spending millions of Rhode Islanders' dollars -- and again, we have really good people in Rhode Island who could be on that board."
Domicile is usually defined as the place where an individual lives full-time, submits their taxes, claims a homestead exemption, and/or votes.
In addition, he is not a registered voter in Newport.
It is unclear if Commerce Corp. or Raimondo knew that he was a Massachusetts resident.
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