Brown Buying Raimondo’s Chief of Staff and Husband’s Home for More than $1 Million
Sunday, February 05, 2017
GoLocal has learned that Brown University is poised to purchase the home of Governor Gina Raimondo’s Chief of Staff Brett Smiley and his husband for a price of more than $1 million.
Most recently, the house was assessed by the City of Providence for $843,600 in 2016.
The acquisition is part of the Brown’s recently released Institutional Master Plan.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe 6 bedroom College Hill home is estimated by real estate platform Zillow to have a value of more than $1 million. It has 4.5 baths and more than 5,000 square feet of living space.
Zillow noted that the house is not for sale, “This property is not currently for sale or for rent. The description below may be from a previous listing.”
Brown refused to answer if the purchase of property raises questions about the appearance of conflict of interest, but issued the following statement about their agreement to purchase the home:
"We are under contract to purchase 37 George Street, a single-family home immediately adjacent to the heart of the Brown campus and an ideal fit for our Brown to Brown Home Ownership Program, which encourages faculty and staff home ownership in College Hill," said Brian Clark, Director of News and Editorial Development for Brown. "We’re purchasing the property at fair market value and look forward to successfully adding it to the list of more than 15 Brown to Brown properties, many of which have been renovated, sold and added to the city’s tax rolls.
Brown's State Government Ties, and Deals
The State of Rhode Island's 195 Commission recently funneled $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. Both RI Commerce and Brown University have refused to disclose the rent that Brown is paying for the space.
Governor Raimondo’s office refused to answer if Smiley had sought an advisory opinion from the Rhode Island Ethics Commission or if he has recused himself from matters relating to Brown University.
Not Smiley's First Appearance of Conflict
As Golocal Reported in November:
Brett Smiley is the point person to see in Governor Raimondo’s office. Smiley, the Chief of Staff, is the go-to staffer for the Governor, however GoLocal has learned that while Smiley is negotiating with the City of Providence, his company also getting paid by Elorza’s campaign. Smiley formerly served as Elorza's Chief Operating Officer.
Smiley’s firm CFO Consulting Group, LLC (he also started compliance and lobbying firms) has been paid more than $80,000 by Elorza’s campaign during the past two years and including payments made during the period of time that Smiley has served as Raimondo’s top staffer this year.
Smiley's firm has been paid $80K, much of it while Smiley was a public employee.
According to Smiley’s State Ethics disclosure forms and RI Secretary of State’s Division of Business Services, Smiley is the founder and CEO of "CFO Consulting," which has received the tens of thousands in payments from Elorza's political account.
Related Slideshow: 2016 Raimondo’s Staff Salaries
Related Articles
- Gov. Raimondo’s Chief-of-Staff Smiley Owns Company Fundraising for Elorza
- Russell Moore: Meet the Unelected Mayor: Brett Smiley
- UPDATED: Raimondo’s Chief of Staff Smiley Launches Late Night Crude Tweet, Previous Staffer Resigned
- NEW: Former Smiley Staffers Join Elorza Ranks
- Simon Chief of Staff, Smiley Gets Job for Endorsement
- Russell Moore: Elorza, Smiley Cut an Insider’s Deal
- Raimondo Brings on Smiley as Third Chief of Staff in 2 Years - Will it Work?
