EDITORIAL: Thanks to Diossa, Members of RI State Pension Fund Should Be Very Concerned
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL: Thanks to Diossa, Members of RI State Pension Fund Should Be Very Concerned
Diossa’s office has refused to provide the names and qualifications of any other finalists.
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FACTS
The individual getting the job to oversee a $12 billion pension fund is Andrew Roos. Roos has no formal training or education in financial management.
None.
For nearly his entire professional career, he has been a political consultant or staffer. One of the politicians he worked for was then-Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo during the implementation of pension reform.
He has two degrees in philosophy.
Roos got the position overseeing the pension fund after serving as Diossa’s political consultant.
These are all facts.
Diossa's office refuses to disclose Roos' salary, claiming that it has not been finalized.
MORE FACTS
The professional resume Roos submitted to be hired as the executive director overseeing the pension fund includes the following experiences:
- “Twice made it to seeded rounds of “Bookstore Basketball” (world’s largest full-court basketball tournament).”
- He highlighted the eight political campaigns he worked on.
- For his experience at Google, he wrote, “Grew team from 3 FTEs in 2015 to 12 in Q4 of 2016.” EDITOR’S NOTE: Google has more than 187,000 employees.
- And, in his most recent experience, working for an Iowa political consulting firm, “Part of a leadership team at GPS Impact across multiple cycles that helped develop and refine our company's perspective on media buying, technology, and the broader media landscape, helping make GPS Impact a national leader on integrated media buying.”
CLEARLY
According to Roos’ documented experiences, he is qualified to run a mid-level state election as a consultant in a small state.
Based on his batting average as a political advisor, his results have been mixed, at best.
It is clear, based on Roos’ resume, that he has few qualififications to be the executive director of a $12 billion pension fund.
It is an inside Rhode Island political move at its worst, and the ramifications could be profound.
WHY QUALIFICATIONS MATTER
So why do qualifications matter?
See the Washington Bridge's condition — and read the investigation into how Peter Alviti was appointed Director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
Those who are members of the Rhode Island pension system should be horrified.
Rhode Island taxpayers should be depressed.