Cost of Pensions for Corrupt Providence Officials in the Millions
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Their misdeeds are quickly becoming a thing of the past, but many of the prominent Providence officials implicated in wrongdoing of some kind during Operation Plunder Dome continue to receive their pensions thanks to a loophole in the law.
The cost of those pensions is estimated to be nearly $200,000 this year alone, according to the current pension payroll. Since 2009, the city has paid out more than $1,148,032 to the officials. And payouts before that year neared roughly another $1 million.
The officials are: former Police Chief Urbano Prignano, Major Martin Hames, Captain John Ryan, and Kathleen Parsons, a former supervisor in the Parks Department. The three officers were implicated in a promotions exam cheating scandal that came to light in Operation Plunder Dome. Parsons pled no contest to embezzling city funds.
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The four continue to receive their pensions due to a loophole in the city ordinance on pension revocation. The old one required a criminal conviction. The four former employees retired well before passage of a new one in 2011 that did not require a criminal conviction. A state Supreme Court decision that same year confirmed that Ryan and the others could keep their pensions.
Even though Parsons pled no contest she too was reportedly covered by the decision.
“You can’t really go retro because the benefit has already been granted and approved,” said city Councilman Terry Hassett.
Rather than rue the loophole in the old law, Hassett prefers to focus on the message the city council sent when it expanded the ordinance to remove the criminal conviction requirement, granting the retirement board greater flexibility in revoking pensions for anyone who has not rendered ‘honorable service.’ “If you didn’t think ‘honorable service’ means something, you will now,” Hassett said.
State Rep. Raymond Hull, a police union representative on the retirement board, said he did not recall any retirees who had lost their pension under the expanded parameters of the new ordinance, since it was passed four years ago.
(That doesn’t mean no one has lost their pensions in recent years. Hull recalled his votes against pensions for three officers over convictions in criminal matters. One was Marcus Huffman, convicted of rape in 2010.)
Revoking pensions not necessarily a money saver
When asked if the current ordinance is now sufficiently rigorous, one local good government advocate praised the reform but said the issue is the cost of litigation that inevitably follows.
“It’s very difficult and costly to attempt to revoke a pension. Even if the ordinance were enhanced, the due process afforded to the pension recipient means the city will always have to weigh whether moving to revoke or reduce a pension will cost more in the long run then simply paying it. That said, it’s important that the city have this tool because it is important to fighting corruption in government,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island.
The battle against another former Cianci-era official, Frank Corrente, illustrates the high costs. Since 2008, the city has spent nearly $200,000 to fight a partial pension the retirement board granted him after he was released from prison. That costs more than it would have been to pay out pension itself over those years, GoLocalProv has previously reported.
There are other costs incurred as well: for example, it took a $200,000 audit to discover that Parsons had embezzled $26,981, according to the June 16, 2005 meeting minutes of the city council.
City out of options to oppose older pensions
Earlier this year, a spokesman for Mayor Jorge Elorza confirmed that the city had exhausted all of its options in fighting the pensions of Urbano, Hames, Ryan, and Parsons.
Marion agrees: “I am not aware of anything else that can be done to revoke the pensions of those like Prignano,” he said.
This year, Prignano was expected to earn $74,915 in his pension. He was the second-highest earner of the foursome after Hames, who was projected to make $76,799, according to the April 2015 city pension payroll.
“It appears that Providence’s elected officials did everything they could to stop these inappropriate pensions but were stymied by the courts. This was not a good ruling for Providence. But in this case, at least our elected officials were trying to do the right thing,” said Monique Chartier, spokeswoman for the RI Taxpayers group.
“For the betterment of both Providence and the entire state, our officials, both elected and in the judiciary, need to begin incorporating a larger measure of accountability and true public service in their priorities and their actions,” Chartier added.
In Providence, it ultimately falls to the Law Department to ensure the new rules are being implemented properly, according to Council David Salvatore. He said the city solicitor is charged with upholding the credibility of the pension system. “I think it’s the responsibility of the city law department to employ that oversight mechanism,” Salvatore said.
Of course, it’s the retirement board that ultimately votes on whether a retiree receives a pension or not. Hull expressed confidence that the board, whose membership was reshuffled under former Mayor Angel Taveras, was up to the task.
“Just look at my record,” Hull said, alluding to his vote against pensions for fellow officers who had criminal convictions. “I don’t always go along to get along. I go along to get it right.”
One of the biggest questions that has loomed over the last decade is whether a certain former top city official would apply for his pension: former Mayor Buddy Cianci. Unlike Prignano and most of the others, Cianci did have a criminal conviction—two of them.
The issue has now been put to rest after the city returned $209,000 in pension contributions and interest to Cianci, as reported earlier this summer. The move confirmed Cianci would not be seeking a city pension.
Related Slideshow: Pensions for Corrupt Providence Officials
Below is information on the official misbehavior of corrupt former city officials and how much they are getting in pensions. Total payment figures cover 2010 through 2015 and are calculated using the 2009 pension payment. The number provided is a rough estimate. Because the pension has increased each year, the total amount paid should actually be higher than the estimated amount.
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