Like everyone else in the state, I am appalled hearing Representative Theresa Tanzi speak about the fact that someone “in a higher-ranking position” in the state house informed her that “sexual favors” would allow her legislation to go further. However, I was even more appalled hearing that she steadfastly refuses to reveal the identity of the predator.
Rep Tanzi just informed us all that there is someone at the highest levels of power in the House who is actually willing to pass, and presumably kill, legislation that impacts every Rhode Islander simply based upon whether he can get his primal urges satisfied.
She also just informed us that we have a sexual predator roaming the halls of the state house who seeks to use his perceived power to dominate and coerce women. In responding to the questions about the level of intensity of her harasser Rep. Tanzi stated: “The entirety of the interaction showed that this person was serious.”
That person just got a lot scarier…
This is a very big problem for the people in the state of Rhode Island. It is even a bigger problem for every other woman in the State House whether they be fellow legislators, lobbyists or, God forbid, one of the many young female pages, most of whom are minors, who work in the building.
All of these women are vulnerable to this predator and Representative Tanzi’s silence is ensuring they will continue to be so. Her silence also makes her his accomplice. If you know there is a predator on the prowl amongst your peers and you refuse to identify them then you are working on behalf of them.
That’s just how that goes.
Every woman who works, lobbies or pages inside that building should be demanding Rep. Tanzi identifies the predator. Furthermore, every spouse, brother, sister, father and mother of any woman working in that building should be loudly demanding the same.
Think about the psyche of this type of predator for a moment. This is an aggressive male who willingly and purposefully uses their power to dominate women. These men are not only narcissistic they are also sadistic. They objectify women in the worst way.
They are also repeat offenders, who depend upon the silence of or the compliance of others, currently like Representative Tanzi, in order to continue their Harvey Weinstein-like behaviors.
Representative Tanzi considers herself a leader against sexual harassment in the workplace yet she steadfastly refuses to identify the perpetrator. That is not leadership. That is collaboration and cowardice.
If that weren’t enough, her refusal to answer any questions, even about the timing of the event, raises many serious and potentially damning questions beyond who it is she is protecting. Such as:
1. How is she benefitting by her silence? The fact that she has been appointed to chair a commission on sexual harassment, that she considers the appointment of a lifetime, threatens to answer that question for us.
2. Did the person she is protecting have a role in appointing her as the chair of the commission to buy her continued silence? There is only one person in the House of Representatives who appoints chairpersons to House Commissions. Her silence threatens to socially indict Speaker Mattiello, who is already extremely vulnerable in his home district.
3. How can she be trusted to conduct meaningful hearings on sexual harassment when her actions demonstrate a willingness to protect harassers and predators? Her refusal to reveal her harasser completely undermines any integrity she, and the commission, can ever hope to have.
When will Rhode Island politicians learn that the people just want authenticity, integrity and respect from their elected leaders?
During a recent interview on Ch 12’s Newsmakers Rep. Tanzi also stated the following: “I am an elected official so I have a larger platform. We take a certain responsibility when we become spokespeople for institutions and I take preserving the integrity of the institution very seriously.”
I am happy to hear that and I couldn’t agree with you more Rep. Tanzi. But I can’t hear what you are saying because what you are not saying is screaming far too loudly.
Do what true leaders do Rep. Tanzi. Speak to protect those you have sworn to serve. But do more than that. Speak to protect the other women who are currently in harm’s way; especially the young, impressionable pages.
Jeffrey Deckman is a leadership and organizational development consultant. He is the designer of the Leading with A.I.R. (Authenticity, Integrity & Respect) Conference. He can be reached at [email protected]
Related Slideshow: The Power List - Politics, 2016
Kate Coyne-McCoy - In baseball, they call them all around superstars - five tool athletes.
McCoy, who once ran for Congress, is a strong political organizer for EMILY’s List, a proven fundraiser for Raimondo’s PAC, strong with the media, and is a top lobbyist.
She is manages to balance being a partisan with her all-around effectiveness. McCoy can do it all.
Lenny Lopes - Whether you’re looking for someone to navigate the halls of the State House, manage your public relations image, or execute a contract, Lopes can do it all.
The affable and well-liked former Chief of Staff to then-Attorney General Patrick Lynch (and prior to that, Legal Counsel to Lt. Governor Charlie Fogarty) had joined forces with Pannone Lopes Devereaux & West before striking out on his own with The Victor Group, taking on such heavyweight clients as Lifespan and online gaming behemoths Fanduel and DraftKings, and more niche healthcare accounts — including the medical marijuana Rhode Island Growers Coalition.
Lopes was tapped this past spring following the tourism debacle by Havas PR to help navigate their way through the Rhode Island waters, and ultimately defend their performance and reputation to stave off their contract cancelation for now. If you’re hired to be a PR firm’s de facto PR brain, you must be on your game.
Matt Lopes - With more than 20 different lobbying agreement Lopes has emerged as a premiere influencer in Rhode Island. His clients range from Dunkin’ Donuts to Amgen to the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.
While managing one of the biggest lobbying practices he is often on the West Coast -- he is a nationally recognized Special Master for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, overseeing prison reform and compliance.
He plays with the big boys on both coasts. Easy for a guy who was a star athlete in high school and at Dartmouth.
Don Sweitzer - IGT (formerly GTECH) super lobbyist plays the game at most every level, with big ties to the Clinton organization that go all the way back to Sweitzer playing a key role with Clinton-Gore in 1992.
Sweitzer’s contacts span the political spectrum - despite his Democratic pedigree, don’t count him out if Donald Trump wins the Presidency as Sweitzer worked for Paul Manafort back in the early 1990s.
Reportedly, Raimondo asked him to serve as her chief of staff - he gracefully declined.
Segal, Bell and Regunberg - These three young Brown grads are emerging as the leaders in progressive causes in Rhode Island and across the United States. David Segal, who served on the City Council in Providence and as a State Rep, failed in a 2010 effort for Congress losing to David Cicilline in the Democratic primary.
In 2016, Segal along with Aaron Regunberg emerged as a powerful force in trying to kill of the Super-Delegate structure in the Democratic primary.
Sam Bell is leading a major effort to re-calibrate the Democratic party to the left the election season. We will know just how good Bell is after September 13’s Democratic primary - Bell is overseeing more than a dozen progressive candidates' campaigns.
Goldberg, Walsh, Ryan and Murphy - These four veteran lobbyists know the pass codes to just about every private office in the State House. For decades they have been the go-to guys. Regardless of who is in power Bob Goldberg, Joe Walsh, Mike Ryan and Bill Murphy are always in vogue.
Only Ryan was not an elected official. Murphy ran the House for a decade, Goldberg had pulled off one of the greatest political coups when he lead a small band of GOP senators and split the Dems to take power, and Walsh was the almost Governor of Rhode Island in 1984.
Combined, they have the lion's share of premier clients and have collected the millions in fees to prove it.
Nicole Pollock - The new Chief-of-Staff for Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza certainly has big shoes to fill, with the recent departure of both Chief Operating Officer Brett Smiley and outgoing Chief of Staff Tony Simon but Pollack has gotten off to a strong start. Following the recent summit on Kennedy Plaza co-hosted former Mayor Joe Paolino and Elorza, Paolino told GoLocal, “[Elorza’s] new Chief of Staff, I’m very impressed with.”
Pollock had joined the administration in February 2015 as Chief Innovation Officer and then served as Chief of Policy and Innovation for the administration before being tapped for the top post. Pollock had previously served in a policy and communications role for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. A graduate of Brown University, Pollock currently serves on the Board of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association and the Providence Plan.
The city has no shortage of pressing issues to tackle, from devising a plan to handle the ongoing panhandling, homelessness, and drug use issues in Kennedy Plaza, to the ever-looming issue of the protracted legal battle with the Providence Firefighters that could have monumental financial implications for the city, depending on the outcome.
Matt Bucci - The up-and-comer on Governor Raimondo’s staff was in the mix for Chief of Staff or another promotion this summer, but may chose to take his skills and join the world of lobbying or grab another private sector position.
Made news when he was tied to Governor Raimondo’s ill fated and ultimately canceled trip to Davos Switzerland. Raimondo was going to spend a weekend with the beautiful people and raided the non-profit URI Foundation’s scholarship dollars to fund the trip.
The former staffer to Senator Jack Reed is widely respected. Look for news about Bucci in the near future. Too talented to not make a leap soon.
Chris Hunter - The strategy wunderkind has morphed into a well-established operative in his own right in veteran lobbyist Frank McMahon’s public affairs shop, Advocacy Solutions.
The long-time government and public relations manager for the Providence Working Waterfront Alliance, Hunter is equally adept at the State House, having snagged emerging industry client Lyft and engaged in the hand-to-hand combat that comes with lobbying for the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools.
Election seasons in particular are where Hunter’s know-how comes in handy, having managed a number of successful bond referendum in the state. Hunter is a constant presence networking around town, whether it’s hobnobbing with the Providence Committee on Foreign Relations or serving on host committees for key candidates - he’s the combination of both “who you know” and “what you know."
Nick Hemond - None may be more unabashedly and relentlessly ambitious than Hemond, who landed as an associate at powerhouse DarrowEverett in 2014.
The President of the Providence School Board lobbies at City Hall for high-profile real estate clients including Buff Chace and High Rock Management (i.e. the ownership of the Superman Building) and at the State House for labor interests (RI FOP, RI Carpenters Local Union 94), Big Health (the Hospital Association of Rhode Island) and rounding it out with such interests as AAA, the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, and infrastructure firm AECOM.
If that doesn’t sound like a full load, toss in a slew of crisis communications clients in the way of bars and clubs in varying degrees of trouble (read: stabbings, shootings) before the Providence Board of Licenses. Having so many fingers in so many pies (and some of which could appear somewhat conflicting) has raised eyebrows, but in the meantime if Hemond is winning, the checks keep coming.
Leo Skenyon - The seasoned political operative is the man behind the man. Serving as Chief of Staff to Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello, Skenyon helped navigate a more than treacherous legislative session which saw Finance Chair Representative Ray Gallison resign, Representative John Carnevale found ineligible to run at his purported address in Providence, and a slew of financial and ethics issues for a number of Democrats.
The Speaker however emerged from the session having tackled the thorny issue of community service grants, and what had seemed up until this year a nearly impossible task, putting ethics reform — and oversight of the Assembly by the Ethics Commission — before voters this November.
Skenyon has weathered many a political season before, having been the former Chief of Staff to then-Senate Majority Leader Jack Revens in the 1980s, and then a former top aide to Governor Bruce Sundlun and U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell. Now, his boss faces both a Republican and Independent challenger in the general election in November.
Joe Shekarchi - The Chair of the House Labor Committee is running unopposed this year in District 23 in Warwick, marking just the third election season for the powerful politician-lawyer, who first won in 2012.
Given his fundraising prowess, however, one would think that Shekarchi accrued his war chest over a longer tenure, with over $528,000 cash on hand as of the second quarter of 2016, making him far and away the most flush General Assembly member (by way of comparison, Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello reported just over $365,000 cash on hand for the same period; Governor Gina Raimondo had $1.4 million.)
It was managing money that helped establish him on the map as a seasoned statewide political operative — he was the campaign manager for statewide operations for Raimondo when she ran for General Treasurer in 2010. With a number of successes in business and on the Hill, keep an eye on Shekarchi's future plans.
