RI Favorites - Johnston Pension Investigations
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Our investigative report into a sweetheart pension deal in Johnston defined the mayor’s race in the town and sparked a movement to reform public pensions across Rhode Island.
Victor Cipriano was a retired fire chief who had gone out on a tax-free disability pension and received special bump-ups to his pay, including an instant 3 percent raise, a longevity benefit, a special monthly stipend for being on a disability, and plenty of other goodies and giveaways. Adding insult to injury, Cipriano was running for Johnston mayor on a platform of fiscal responsibility. As GoLocalProv continued to dig, we uncovered the fact that Cipriano was making more in retirement than he ever did while on the job and had claimed residency in Florida—calling into question his very eligibility to run for mayor.
The series helped bring pension reform back to the forefront of public debate and remains one of the most-talked about GoLocalProv stories.
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It also led to a whole series of other investigative articles, including a series on corruption at the state landfill, a Johnston pensioner who was collecting his retirement benefit and working for the town at the same time, and an expose on the state pension fraud investigator, who is himself on a disability pension.
Related Articles
- Illegal Pensions in Johnston: See the Documents
- Former Landfill Chairman: Gone, But Not without a Trace
- Something Rotten in Landfill Deal?
- Johnston Firefighters Illegally Fundraise for Former Fire Chief
- GoLocalProv Investigation: New Scandal at State Landfill
- State Landfill Cutting Costs, Plans Expansion
- Johnston Pension Investigation: Official Demands Answers from AG
- Landfill Investigation: Cost of Employee ‘Theft’ as High as $24M
- State Landfill Sues Over Bad Land Deals
- Johnston Pension: See the Documents
- Landfill Investigation: Former AG Arlene Violet Rips Lynch for Not Pressing Charges
- State Sues Travelers Insurance for $16 Million Tied to Landfill
- Johnston Pensioner Eluded State Retirement Board
- Landfill Investigation: Legal Experts Weigh In
- Pension Fraud: Other States Crack Down
- The Sweetest Pension Deal
- Landfill Investigation: State Sues Developer Over ‘$20 Million Blunder’
- The Pension Burden: How Other RI Cities Are Dealing with It
- Cipriano Running for Johnston Mayor, But Declares Residency in Florida
- The Sweetest Pension Deal: A Timeline
- Landfill: State Sues Three Firms
- Woonsocket Refuses to Release Disability Pension Records
- GoLocalProv Investigation Uncovers 25 Illegal Pensions in Johnston
- AG Candidate Tied to Tainted Builder at Landfill
- New Revelations in Landfill Corruption Case
