NEW: Report Hits Cicilline for ‘Dysfunctional’ Management
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
A report issued this morning by the Providence City Council faults Congressman and former Mayor David Cicilline for severely mismanaging city finances, driving the budget into a $180 million deficit.
Gary Sasse, the former Director of Administration under Gov. Don Carcieri, and one of the authors of the report, said past management of the budget had been dysfunctional, deadlines for submitting key information to the outside auditor were missed, and the administration was not fully transparent about the state of city finances.
In an interview yesterday, Cicilline told GoLocalProv that the recession and cuts in state and federal funding were the main cause of the fiscal crisis.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThose were factors, Sasse said, but Cicilline made the problem worse. “There was a compounding of a problem because a corrective action plan was not suggested,” Sasse said. Instead, he said the city dipped deep into the so-called Rainy Day fund without a plan for how to replenish it.
Sasse: Cut in state aid no excuse
Asked if he, as a former state official, was partly responsible for the problem, Sasse said Providence wasn’t the only community affected—other cities and towns saw cuts in state aid too but are not facing financial problems on the scale of Providence. “We’re not having this study done in 38 communities,” Sasse said.
In all the report makes more than 20 recommendations on how to improve the budget review and oversight process. Council members said they’d consider a set of ordinances to implement those recommendations in early May.
While much of the report dwelled on past mismanagement, President Michael Solomon said the council is focused on making things better in the future—not casting blame.
The report was co-written by the new Internal Auditor Matt Clarkin, who served as top finance official in the School Department under the Cicilline administration.
Mayor Angel Taveras’ office has yet to issue a response to the report.
If you valued this article, please LIKE GoLocalProv.com on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Related Articles
- UPDATED: City Report Says Cicilline ‘Severely Worsened’ Effects of Recession
- Updated Providence Budget Mess: Most Blame Cicilline
- City Official Wants to Revoke Cicilline’s Future Pension
