Moore: Raimondo’s Old School, Know A Guy Politics
Monday, February 06, 2017
Governor Raimondo, the time has come.
Rhode Islanders from Narragansett to Woonsocket and everywhere in between are disgusted with the fact that government insiders profit from their connections and secure sweetheart deals as well as government largesse thanks to who they know--not what they can do for us.
When Governor Gina Raimondo was running for the state government’s top job, she certainly talked a good game about the need for Little Rhody to clean up its negative reputation. She was telling us that it was “time to move on from the same”, while she was on the campaign trail.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTI have this crazy idea that we should remember what politicians say while they’re running for office and then compare and contrast it to what their administration does while they’re in office. I mean, if we’re not going to remember what politicians say before they get elected, why even bother listening and reporting on what they say when they’re running? After all, words should mean something.
Enough is Enough
How has Raimondo’s campaign trail rhetoric compared to the actions of her administration since she’s taken office? They’ve been in an almost direct conflict. Instead of moving on, it’s been the same ol’, same ol’.
For instance, on Saturday, GoLocal reported that Raimondo’s Chief of Staff, Brett Smiley, and his husband, are poised to sell their home to Brown University for just over $1 million dollars. The house’s value with the city tax assessor’s office is listed at $843,600.
Meanwhile, the State of Rhode Island's 195 Commission recently awarded $32 million in state subsidies to fund the Wexford project on the former highway land. Brown is scheduled to lease a portion of the property and will move 85 existing employees into the space subsidized by taxpayers.
So while the state is wheeling and dealing with Brown University, the school is buying a home from the Governor’s top guy, at a price that’s higher than the city’s current assessment.
More of the Same
Can anyone imagine the outrage we’d hear from the progressives in Rhode Island if it was a conservative Republican doing this instead of one of their own beloved so-called progressives? Just imagine if the wheeling and dealing taking place was being done by someone who wasn’t part of the cliquey, cool kids here in Rhode Island!
Yet this isn’t the first ethically questionable action taken by the Raimondo administration. Her first Chief of Staff, Stephen Neuman, was shepherding legislation that would benefit DraftKings, an internet fantasy football company, at the same time his wife was applying for a job at the company--which she ultimately landed.
And who could forget that Raimondo ignored the revolving door statute by hiring former legislator Donald Lally, just a couple months after he stepped down from the legislature? Lally eventually had to resign his position--since it was apparent to just about everyone that the Governor’s appointment didn’t pass ethical muster.
Do these types of actions represent an attempt to “move on from the same?” I think not. If anything, they’re emblematic of the old school, machine style politics that Raimondo supposedly detests.
Time For Change
In any event, Raimondo is right about one thing. It is time for the state of Rhode Island’s government to finally move on from the same old insider politics that’s plagued us for far too long. The problem is, instead of rectifying these issues, the Raimondo administration is part and parcel to the political shenanigans the public detests.
That better change, and quickly. If it doesn’t happen, Raimondo and her top administrators shouldn’t be surprised when Rhode Islanders decide to move on from them in a couple years.
Russell J. Moore has worked on both sides of the desk in Rhode Island media, both for newspapers and on political campaigns. Send him email at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713.
Related Slideshow: Winners and Losers in Raimondo’s FY18 Budget Proposal
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