RI Ethics Commission Chair: Online Access to Financial Disclosure Is Unnecessary

GoLocalProv News Team

RI Ethics Commission Chair: Online Access to Financial Disclosure Is Unnecessary

Ethics Commission Chair Ross Cheit, PHOTO: Brown University
A GoLocal request for a copy of the Town Manager of Coventry’s financial disclosure form unveiled that Graham Waters had not filed a report with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission -- and no one there could explain the missing disclosure form for three days. It sparked a deeper dive into the agency’s transparency and procedures.

In a phone interview with GoLocal, Waters said he knew nothing of the form and did not know he needed to complete it. He subsequently submitted the form -- more than one year late.

In February, when Ross Cheit, Chairman of the Ethics Commission, was asked why the annual disclosure forms are not available online, he said that the agency does not have the funding available to be able to post the documents.

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“We have looked into online system that could be searchable and it would actually cost money that isn't in our budget," said Cheit. "It also poses questions about staff time and redaction to make sure confidential information isn't posted. Once that is added, it's not sealer that any money is saved.”

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GoLocal has filed an Access to Public Records Act request to the agency, requesting copies over the past three years of any requests to the Governor or legislative leaders requesting funds for an online reporting system. The Ethics Commission's Jason Gramitt, Staff Attorney/Education Coordinator admitted that the Commission had not requested funding.

In follow up emails, Cheit said, “My guess is that very few Rhode Islanders would think we should spend lots of money to create a system just so you can access forms at night, when in fact you can almost always get them in one business day. The RIEC responds so much faster than the law requires and much faster than any agency I have ever heard about.”

Cheit, who has served on the Commission since 2004, has been chair since 2011.

There are approximately 4,000 officials required to submit annual forms. The Ethics Commission Office is open from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, and requests outside those office hours have to wait for the next available state working day. 

Meanwhile, both quarterly campaign finance reports -- for all political candidates -- as well as lobbyist disclosures are readily available online, all the time.

Governor Gina Raimondo supports online accessibility.
Raimondo and Fung Want Greater Transparency

While Cheit dismisses the need for accessibility and transparency, the posting of elected and appointed officials disclosure forms online is supported by both Democrat Raimondo and GOP rival Fung. 

Michael Raia, Director of Communications for Raimondo told GoLocal, “[The Governor] would agree that it makes sense that those disclosures should be easily accessible and available to the public online.”

And, Fung told GoLocal that the existing process is burdensome and the public deserves greater accessibility to the records. “Of course they should be online, “ said Fung.

Cheit defended the existing process and said that it was reviewed two years ago.

“These issues were thoroughly vetted at a hearing that GoLocalProv did not attend or cover even though it received advance notice, but a careful analysis of the public comments and evidence provided at that hearing answers all of your questions and provides considerable evidence of the excellent performance record of the current system, which is also documented in the Director's Report at every Commission meeting,” wrote Cheit in an email.

What Cheit did not disclose, however, was that only one person gave testimony -- according to Gramitt, only RI Common Cause’s John Marion gave testimony.

A citizen requesting a disclosure form on Friday might not receive a response until Monday or Tuesday.
Repeated efforts to reach Marion via phone and email were unsuccessful.

Financial Disclosure Once Available Online

While all public and appointed officials are required to fill out the forms on an annual basis, legislators' disclosures were once posted online, but were removed by the ethics commission.

“And yes, there was a time that legislator’s forms were all posted because that is what we most often got questions about. There were objections expressed in the legislature to being singled out. That resulted in a decision to post all or none of the forms. And that moved us into discussions of what would be involved in having a system to post all,” said Cheit.


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