GoLocal Endorsement for Democratic Candidate for General Treasurer: Not Close

Sunday, September 11, 2022

EDITORIAL

As we have moved through this year’s political endorsement process at GoLocalProv, most of the candidates have impressed us, and so some of our decisions have included considerable debate.

The endorsement for Rhode Island general treasurer was not one of them.

The job is obviously critical, especially overseeing the state retirement fund, which covers tens of thousands of people. It’s imperative that the next general treasurer has the acumen and experience to manage its investment advisers.

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This includes improving the transparency of the financial relationships pertaining to fees — something that neither of the two previous treasurers has done.

Candidate James Diossa, who served as mayor of Central Falls, is by all measures a personable politician and has some strong supporters.

However, he seems a misfit for this office.

An examination of Diossa’s record as mayor raises questions — questions he refuses either to answer at all or to answer completely. He would not sit down for an endorsement interview.

First, he involved himself in a cannabis business while he was mayor and applied for a state license. There was nothing that legally prohibited this, but the optics are bad. He’s shown himself as being to be in a slightly unsettling rush to make money in various ways.

Importantly, he failed to disclose that particular business interest on his Rhode Island Ethics Commission Financial Disclosure Statement -- and then provided a nonsensical response for his failure to do so.

That was followed up in a GoLocal report on Diossa’s travel as mayor. According to his Rhode Island Ethics Commission Financial Disclosure Statement, he took 26 trips, of which 10 were international, including to East Timor, China and Taiwan.

He admitted that he improperly reported the trips on the Financial Disclosure Statements, as he listed them as all having taken place in just one year.

This inability or unwillingness to correctly fill out disclosure forms after years in elected office is deeply concerning, especially for consideration for treasurer.

Further, while he has taken credit for being a sort of savior mayor as Central Falls recovered from bankruptcy and a corrupt previous mayor, the state actually played the major role, although Diossa set a good tone.

In contrast, Stefan Pryor is arguably the most experienced candidate running for state general office this year.

He has held high-level and varied positions in government in New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut, as well as being Rhode Island’s longest-serving and most successful economic development director so far. And he understands Wall Street, which is very important in overseeing the pension fund.

GoLocal has not always agreed with strategies pushed by Pryor and continues to question the Pawtucket soccer-stadium deal, but Pryor has always been open and responsive to questions.

He has been inventive in developing new financial tools as Rhode Island’s commerce secretary. And while doing billions of dollars in deals, there have been no ethical clouds overshadowing his work.

Given his national business contacts and economic development experience, he’s well placed to continue to help lure more businesses to the state as well as to help boost the ones already in Rhode Island. He’s proven himself a highly effective cheerleader for the Ocean State.

Thus, we strongly recommend Stefan Pryor as the Democratic candidate for general treasurer in next Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

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