Chafee Guilty of ‘Cronyism’?
Friday, October 01, 2010
A GoLocalProv investigation has found that as Warwick mayor, Lincoln Chafee accepted over $50,000 in campaign contributions from city workers—a record that flies in the face of repeated charges of “cronyism” he has leveled at his Democratic opponent for governor, Frank Caprio.
In one of his campaign ads, Chafee touts himself as “the only candidate with an honest plan to straighten out the fiscal mess and end the cronyism that his crippled our economy.”
He contrasts that with Caprio. “The Wall Street Journal reports that he returned more than $60,000 in pay-to-play donations from law firms he hired after reporters inquired about the timing of the donations. The choice: the old politics, or a new way forward for governor,” the ad states.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHowever, a GoLocalProv review of the campaign finance reports he filed from 1992—when he first ran for Warwick mayor—to 1998, his last full year in office, show that Chafee accepted $55,926.50 from city workers.
Caprio Spokesman: Raises ‘Serious Questions’
Caprio spokesman Nick Hemond said the contributions raise “serious questions” about Chafee’s campaign promises. “If you’re running a campaign premised on ending cronyism and you accepted that kind of money, how can Rhode Islanders take your word for it?” Hemond told GoLocalProv. “You look at his record. It shows that he didn’t follow through then. How can you trust him to follow through now?”
Victor Profughi, a prominent political scientist who is a retired professor from Rhode Island College, said the contributions appear to contradict what Chafee has publicly said about ethics.
“If you’re going to run a campaign and argue that you’re ethically on a higher plane than the other candidates who are running for the same office, it’s probably not wise to make such a claim if you have in the past accepted contributions from … city employees,” Profughi said.
Chafee Campaign Denies Contradiction
Chafee campaign manager J.R. Pagliarini denied that the donations undercut Chafee’s positions on ethics and cronyism. He noted that most of the employees contributing were Democrats who were career employees that had served under previous administrations. He said they decided to give because they were pleased with how Chafee was running the city.
“There was no quid pro quo involved there,” Pagliarini told GoLocalProv.
Records show that Pagliarini himself donated to Chafee while working as his communications director. “It was a very well-run city and I was pleased to support that,” Pagliarini said. “I never once felt obligated to donate. Chafee never made me feel like my job hinged upon my willingness to contribute to the campaign.”
He said there is a difference between Chafee accepting city worker donations and Caprio taking contributions from law firms hoping to do business with the General Treasurer’s office. “There was no carrot at the end of the stick. It seems to me Treasurer Caprio has a very large carrot at the end of his stick,” Pagliarini said. He said the $7 billion public employee pension fund that Caprio oversees has $70 million in discretionary funds set aside for contracts.
City Worker Donations an Issue for Other Mayors
State campaign finance records show that current Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian—a Chafee contributor and supporter—also accepts money from city employees. But in Providence, David Cicilline made a point of refusing to accept such contributions when he ran for mayor in 2002—hoping to put some distance between his administration and the Buddy Cianci era.
Cicilline’s potential successor, Democrat Angel Taveras, has made a similar pledge. In the primary, he criticized opponents Steven Costantino and John Lombardi for accepting the financial support of city employees.
Marie Sorman, president of Operation Clean Government, a local watchdog group, told GoLocalProv she believes public employees should not be able to donate to their employer’s political campaigns. “It becomes a pressure point,” Sorman said. “If you don’t contribute, perhaps your job is in jeopardy and therefore that’s undue pressure to put on people.”
Impact on the Gubernatorial Race?
Profughi told GoLocalProv that the new revelations of Chafee’s past campaign contributions could have an impact his run for governor, which two out of the three most recent polls have him narrowly winning.
“It would certainly raise questions of credibility and it’s one of those diversions that a candidate who may have had some momentum really can’t afford to experience at this stage in the campaign,” Profughi said.
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