Raimondo is Looking to Shake Up Her Staff - See Who is in Play
Monday, May 02, 2016
Governor Gina Raimondo is looking to reverse the trends of her Governorship. After a solid, but unspectacular first year in office, Raimondo’s last few months have been a near disaster.
The faux pas have been at most every level of governance and the impact is now compounding. Her poll numbers are plummeting. Now, she is looking to replace her Chief of Staff Steve Neuman. He was formerly a top staffer to Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, but is now taking criticism inside the Raimondo organization for the lack of accomplishments and for the tourism debacle.
SEE BELOW THE LIST OF POTENTIAL REPLACEMENTS
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Brown University poll released last Sunday has been criticized for over-sampling Democrats and still only found that 6.5% of Rhode Islanders believe she is doing an "excellent job" as Governor. The polling numbers are especially weak in an improving economy.
Here are some of the issues that have undermined her support and damaged her thin margin of popularity. Remember, Raimondo won with just 40.7% of the vote and won the Democratic primary with just 42.1% of the vote.
Misses in 2016:
Cianci/Lowering the Flag: Refusing to lower the state flag at Vincent “Buddy” Cianci’s death, then reversing her decision. Her initial decision wildly angered Cianci supporters and many others who thought that his overall legacy deserved recognition. Her reversal disappointed those that though Cianci's crimes discredited the state. She made no one happy.
Davos/URI Foundation: In January, State Senator Paul Jabour criticized Governor Gina Raimondo for taking $7,000 from the University of Rhode Island’s Foundation to fund her trip to the International business leaders conference in Davos. Raimondo canceled her trip citing an impending snow storm scheduled to hit Rhode Island that weekend. GoLocal Meteorologist John Ghiorse predicted only a small snow storm. Then, the Governor’s office confirmed to GoLocal that Raimondo would return the $7,000 to the Foundation.
RIC Foundation Tapped to Pay for State Innovation Officer: A group of Rhode Island College faculty members who are members of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) expressed concern and opposition to the use of Rhode Island College Foundation funds to hire the State of Rhode Island's Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), Richard Culatta.
DCYF Deaths: A recent report by the Child Advocate paints a dismal situation. "In 2015, there were five children who were under the care of DCYF at the time of their death." The reaction and call for significant reform by Governor Raimondo was surprising to many is social service.
General Electric: The opportunity for Rhode Island was immense. The Raimondo administration seemed to be excited about making to the finals more than winning it. If Bruce Sundlun was Governor, the likelihood is that General Electric would be in Rhode Island, and executives would be flying in and out of Green Airport (that Sundlun built) and they GE would hold their annual meeting at the Convention Center (that Sundlun built).
Cranes: The expectations for the pro-business Raimondo was that economic development would flourish under her leadership. Do you see any?
National PR: The endless effort to garner national positive PR coverage for herself has worn down many voters. As has the apparent disconnect between her communications efforts in New York, Boston, and Washington and what is going on in RI. The last straw many have been her selection as one of Fortune Magazine's 50 of the Great Leaders in the World.
Truck Tolls: The RhodeWorks program may turn into a positive in the long run, as roads and bridges are being repaired and workers are getting bck to work, but in the short-term, polling shows that it is a mixed bag at best.
Tourism: Millions have been spent to rebrand Rhode Island. The process continues to be chaotic, the Chief Marketing Officer has been fired, and the initial creative became a global embarrassment.
Clinton: Raimondo hosted Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton twice in the final ten days of the Rhode Island primary. Rhode Island had always been the most solid Clinton state in the country -- and was the only one of five northeastern states to give Bernie Sanders a win.
Point Judith Capital: The Rhode Island pension system has lost 1.1 percent of its investment into a venture capital fund that Governor Gina Raimondo helped create -- and while the state has been losing money, Raimondo continues to earn hundreds of thousands in fees. Regardless of the fund's performance, Raimondo and others in the fund earn 2.5 percent annually.
It is not unusual for Governors to make staff changes during the course of one's term, but the challenge for Raimondo is to reset her administration before her third of her four years in office.
Related Slideshow: Short List for Next Chief of Staff for Raimondo
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