After Two Days of McKee Refusing to Release Salaries of New Staff, He Reverses, Big Raises for Some

After Two Days of McKee Refusing to Release Salaries of New Staff, He Reverses, Big Raises for Some

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee -- who made offers to staffers as long ago as four weeks ago -- had been refusing to provide a list of staff salaries until Wednesday. The information, which is public, was finally released pertaining to salary information of executive staffers.

His communications director on the transition team, Mike Trainor, had refused to release the information until GoLocal informed him that the news company would file an Access to Public Records Request.

Some McKee staffers kept the same titles and got big raises. Chief of Staff Tony Silva, McKee’s Chief-of-Staff, received a $38,000 raise from $148,960 to $187,421.

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Paulette Hamilton who was deputy chief of staff shifted over to municipal affairs office and received a $6,000 raise.

 

Christopher Abhulime, Deputy Chief of Staff - $154,198
Antonio Afonso, Senior Deputy Chief of Staff - $162,045
Kim Ahern, Policy Director and Senior Counsel - $129,023
Suzanne Augenstein, Director of Executive Operations - $78,673
Guerline Aurelus, Director of Constituent Services - $78,673
David Barricelli Jr., Constituent Services Associate - $48,307
Jonathan Bissonnette, Staff Writer and Content Manager - $55,677
Joseph Casoli, Governor’s Office Liaison - $26,000
Cheyenne Cazeault, Policy Advisor - $62,339
Alana Cerrone-O’Hare, Press Secretary - $90,487
Eileen Cheng, Deputy Counsel - $139,085
Tara Chicharro, Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff - $70,039
Rosa DeCastillo, Director of Community Affairs and Outreach - $93,766
Ronald Desiderato, Special Assistant to the Governor - $78,055.90 (on loan from Department of Administration)
Tabatha Dube, Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff - $70,039
Craig Dwyer, Manager of Appointments - $93,766
Christopher Farrell, Senior Advisor to the Governor - $123,982
Paulette Hamilton, Director of Municipal Affairs - $93,766
Kevin Horan, Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs - $123,982
Corey Jones, Policy Advisor - $58,119
Lexi Kriss, Deputy Director of Communications - $90,378
Christine Lopes Metcalfe, Senior Advisor to the Governor on Education - $155,225.46 (on loan from Rhode Island Department of Education)
Brenna McCabe, Senior Advisor to the Governor - $149,163
Meredith McKenna, Legal Administrator - $78,673
Thomas Mullaney, Senior Advisor - $199,794 (on loan from the Office of Management and Budget)
Andrea Palagi, Director of Communications - $118,946
Joseph Polisena Jr., Deputy Counsel on Policy - $93,766
Claire Richards, Executive Counsel - $164,079.30
Victoria Scott, Policy Advisor - $58,119
Anthony Silva, Chief of Staff - $187,421
Joy Vaudreuil, Director of Scheduling - $78,673
Americo Vota, Deputy Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs - $113,911

 

One additional staff appointment was also announced: Jennifer Fondeur, Office Manager - $70,960

The following appointment announced yesterday has been updated: Becky Rodrigues, Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff (formerly announced as Office Manager) - $73,448.18 (on loan from Human Resources Department)