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Monday, February 26, 2024
L-R Secretary of Commerce Liz Tanner and Governor Dan McKee PHOTO: GoLocal
Top executives at Commerce Rhode Island, the State of Rhode Island’s economic development agency, have resigned at an alarming rate in the past two years.
In just the past 24 months, multiple top-tier executives have resigned, and in some top positions, the job has been turned over multiple times.
The turnover correlates with the last two years of Dan McKee’s governorship. And, much of the exodus has occurred since Liz Tanner took over as Secretary of Commerce beginning in June of 2022.
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In the past two years, Commerce has had 3 presidents and is now searching for its 4th TOP ROW Saglio, Fagan BOTTOM ROW: Ash
Revolving Door in the President’s Position
The President’s position at Commerce was held by Jesse Saglio for seven years, and then he resigned in February of 2022. Hilary Fagan took over as President, and then she resigned in December of 2022. Since then, Bill Ash has served as “acting” president.
Now, Ash has announced his departure. The President’s position will be vacant again.
Ash, before his tenure at Commerce, had more than 25 years of experience working with businesses as a lender, consultant, and investor. Previously, he held positions as managing director of M & A at Oppenheimer & Co. and was a senior managing director of The Tron Group — a Boston-based turnaround and business advisory firm.
Now, under McKee, Commerce will be looking for its fourth President in two years.
In an interview with Tanner, she said the departures do not reflect on the agency. “We are 100% stable,” said Tanner.
Chief Financial Officer Resigns
Last week, Justin Medeiros, the Chief Financial Officer/Senior Controller for Commerce, announced his resignation.
The top business recruitment position — the executive Vice President of Business Development position, has been vacant since Fagan was promoted to President in 2022.
Tanner said she has changed the approach to business recruitment. “We now have a clustered approach to attracting business,” said Tanner.
PHOTO: Elliott Stallion, Unsplash
Communications
The top communications position has also been a revolving door. In 2022, Matt Sheaff held the position of director of communication. Then, he was on loan to McKee’s office and recently resigned and took employment outside of Rhode Island.
Then, Brian Hodge was promoted to that position, and he then left the agency, a series of contract employees were engaged and then Commerce hired Matthew Touchette.
Five of the Top Eight Have Left in Just Two Years
According to an archived version of Commerce’s website, of the top eight professionals leading the organization, five have left. Only one, the former Secretary Stefan Pryor, is still in government service. Today, Pryor serves as Secretary of Housing.
Five of the top eight member of Commerce under McKee have resigned in the past two years. Stefan Pryor now serves as Secretary of Housing after a failed run for General Treasurer SOURCE: archived version of Commerce website Feb, 2022
Commerce Under Scrutiny
Presently, Commerce is facing scrutiny for its management of the bond deal for the Pawtucket minor league soccer stadium called Tidewater Landing. GoLocal uncovered concerns voiced by Pawtucket’s fiscal advisor in the summer of 2023. Commerce ignored those concerns.
After a series of exclusive articles by GoLocal, a feature published in Bloomberg — the global business publication — writes, “Taxpayers are paying dearly to bring a pro-sports team back to the faded industrial city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.”
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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