Russell Moore: RI Government’s Culture of Secrecy

Monday, March 30, 2015

Russell J. Moore, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

The lack of transparency in Rhode Island government would make the Stasi blush.

That’s hyperbole; but the fact that Rhode Island taxpayers are always the last to know about what they have to pay for is neither fair nor a democratic way to run a government. Practically every major news story involving state government over the last few weeks has involved levels of secrecy and information unknown to the public.

It’s government for the people, but they just don’t get to know about anything until after the decisions are made.

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Here’s what’s been going on, and how it’s all been shrouded in secrecy, if you haven’t been paying attention. The pension reform deal the administration cut with the public employee unions was placed under a gag order; the Providence retirement re-instating a controversial disability pension was decided in secret; Governor Gina Raimondo’s old venture capital firm made the most money out of any private equity company doing business with Rhode Island (but that was never made public before her election); and the Pawtucket Red Sox owners want to build a new stadium in Providence with the taxpayer’s help, but they won’t say what they’re asking for!

Are You Paying Attention?

Should the people who pay the bills, the ones who make Rhode Island’s government happen, always be the last to know about everything they'll have to pay for? If you answered yes to that question, you must really be happen with the current state of affairs.

Let's face it: If you live here and you're not mad, you're obviously not paying attention.

And if you're not paying attention, you're playing right into the hands of the people who hold the reins of power in this state. Because it's becoming apparent that the powers that be in Rhode Island thrive in, and expect to maintain, a culture of secrecy around the government's operations.

The tricks employed by those who old power, it seems, is to keep the public under subterfuge just long enough in order to make what they want to do a fait accompli.

It's ironic that just one week removed from "sunlight week", in which non-profits dedicated to increasing transparency in government highlight their challenge and accomplishments, things have never been darker in Rhode Island.

The Biggest Deal

The pension reform settlement is unequivocally the most important bargain in the history of Rhode Island's government. It’s an agreement to reform the pension system that Governor Gina Raimondo says will put the pension system, and therefore, the state on solid financial footing going forward. One would think, given the importance of the deal, that the public would be able to take a look at it. After all, they're the taxpayers, and if it's not financially feasible, they'll be forced to make up for it with their hard earned money.

But Judge Sarah Taft-Carter, who has never been elected by anybody, decided to place a so-called "gag order" on the deal, and parameters set therein. That left the press scrambling to come up with the details of the plan that their readers, listeners and watchers will be expected to foot the bill for.

Instead, thanks to Taft-Carter, the whole process has been carried out in a way far more suitable for East Germany prior to 1989 than the USA.

Things Left Unsaid

Unfortunately, that's not the only example. The Providence retirement board decided last week, in secret, to re-award a disability pension to a former firefighter named John Sauro who claims he’s too injured to work. The only problem is that Sauro was filmed by WPRI Channel 12 lifting weights at a local gym like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The retirement board revoked his disability pension last year, but rewarded it last week.

It would have been nice to know the exact rationale of the board members (also not elected by the public, I should add) as to why they re-awarded a disability pension to a guy who claims he's permanently injured but can push some serious weight, but alas, we're in Rhode Island, and the board conducted the meeting in secret.

There’s More

But wait, there's more. GoLocalProv's Stephen Beale reported last week that Governor Gina Raimondo's former venture capital firm, Point Judith Capital, made the most money of any other private equity firm that was given state business in 2013 and 2014. Conveniently, that happens to be at the exact same time when she was General Treasurer. The firm was even paid 25 percent more than the rates listed in the firm’s rate book.

The information was made public recently as Raimondo refused to make the information public while she was General Treasurer running for Governor.

The Stadium

Given the current trend of keeping the public in the dark, is there any reason to expect that we will actually be given time to vet the deal that the new Pawtucket Red Sox ownership will be given to build a new stadium in Providence? That expectation sounds like a real pipe dream at this point.

The time has long passed for the media, and the public, to become more aggressive in demanding transparency from the state government. After all, the people who are funding the whole thing deserve better and more than they're paying for.

Russell Moore: RI Government’s Culture of Secrecy

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