EDITORIAL: Diossa's Ethics Disclosure Failures Are Disturbing
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL: Diossa's Ethics Disclosure Failures Are Disturbing
The failure to properly disclose interests in a medical marijuana company and to properly disclose more than two dozen trips while serving as mayor raise concerns about transparency and competency.
His responses to questions about these failures also raise questions about his judgment.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDiossa is now running for the office of General Treasurer. One of the most critical roles of that office is to manage $10 billion of the very vulnerable state retirees' pension fund -- which is only about 60% funded and has suffered losses in the past year - as have most pension funds.
Diossa not only failed to disclose his interest, but his response showed his lack of understanding of the disclosure requirement and basic facts.
In a statement to GoLocal, Diossa said he did not need to disclose his interest.
“I withdrew my name from the application in 2021 before the state made any decision to grant or deny the application. Additionally, the state did not grant the compassion center license, so while I am listed as a board member, the entity was never incorporated and the board never met. As such, it is outside the purview of the state’s disclosure requirements. The ethics laws are intended to prevent conflicts of interest. I never acquired any conflicting interest because the application was never approved, and therefore I never acquired any power,” said Diossa.
Diossa’s statement is not correct.
The corporation was, in fact, incorporated -- see here. And moreover, the Ethics Commission’s Financial Disclosure requires that the official unveil the involved financial interest, not just if the official “acquired any power.”
The absurdity of the response demonstrates Diossa’s lack of understanding or raises questions about his truthfulness.
26 Junkets?
Putting aside the appropriateness of a mayor of a financially distraught city of 25,000 going on 26 trips and that ten of the trips were to foreign lands, including China, East Timor, England, Taiwan, Israel, and on and on, Diossa's failure to provide transparency is deeply concerning.
This data dump raises a number of issues.
First, the Ethics Commission is clear that the information reported in the annual Financial Disclosure Statement is reflective of that year -- and that year only.
Diossa either does not know how to complete the form, even after eight years as mayor -- or, it raises questions of something more nefarious.
He dumped a list of trips, did not disclose the dates of the travel, and in doing so raised significant concerns about the associated costs of the travel to the City of Central Falls.
According to his entry on his disclosure form, he traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A third party paid $3,500 for the trip. Diossa doesn't disclose the dates of the trip and has refused to disclose if there were additional costs that the cash-stapped Central Falls had to pay for the junket.
In 26 cases, it appears that only a portion of the cost of the trips was disclosed. GoLocal on Tuesday asked Diossa for additional details for the trips. Specifically, the dates of the trips and the total costs including how much the City of Central Falls contributed, as well as, why the travel was necessary.
Diossa refused to respond to the questions, and his campaign sent a statement that said in its entirety, “These were trips that happened over the eight years that James Diossa was Mayor of Central Falls. On these trips, the Mayor benefited from ideas and relationships that made him a better leader for the city.”
Diossa owes Rhode Island a clear explanation of his involvement with the cannabis company, and there needs to be a complete accounting of the costs associated with his disclosure of dozens of trips.