GoLocalProv Endorsement: General Treasurer

GoLocalProv Endorsement: General Treasurer

James Diossa, the Democratic candidate for Rhode Island general treasurer, took about 40 trips as mayor of impoverished Central Falls.

He has repeatedly lied about these trips and refused to answer the most basic questions about them, including who, besides the city, paid for them.

Such records that have been made available for scrutiny are incomplete at best.

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His required financial-disclosure statements for the state Ethics Commission were improperly filled out, and according to state documents, have been repeatedly amended.

But then, whatever his role as a fresh-faced cheerleader for his impoverished city, he has not shown he knows much about financial management, which one would at least hope would be a precondition for becoming a state treasurer. 

The idea that the mayor of a tiny, poor city -- barely out of bankruptcy -- needed to travel to East Timor, China, Taiwan, Israel, England, Malaysia, and on and on is preposterous. And he visited some of these places multiple times

The City of Central Falls has repeatedly failed to turn over basic records on these trips. The city solicitor, Matt Jerzyk, is a State House lobbyist and political consultant whom Diossa appointed to his position. GoLocal was forced to file a complaint with the state Attorney General seeking to compel the city to produce the documents.

Diossa is not a credible candidate. At best, he has demonstrated incompetence, or he has intentionally and inappropriately covered up the misuse of public funds. To date, the documents received by GoLocal via an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request filed on Aug. 12, show that Diossa spent approximately $100,000 on travel as mayor – and those documents are incomplete. Some of those trips were paid for by third parties, and others were paid for by taxpayers.

In totality, Diossa spent months on foreign and domestic trips, in many cases, in 4-star hotels.

GoLocal is deeply concerned about his ability to manage about $10 billion in state retirement funds. Diossa has no professional training or other experience that would suggest that he is qualified to be general treasurer.

On the other hand, his Republican opponent, James Lathrop, is a seasoned financial-management professional of demonstrated ability.

After earning his degree in accounting from Bryant University, Lathrop went on to start his own CPA firm. (Diossa’s degree is in criminal justice from Becker College, which folded)

Lathrop later entered public service, serving as finance director for the Hopkinton, Portsmouth, and Westerly School Departments as well as for the City of New London, Connecticut. He is currently the finance director of North Kingstown.

He appears to be non-ideological and is an outspoken advocate of increasing the transparency of the treasurer’s office.

Ted Siedle, the nationally known Wall Street whistleblower, says, “Lathrop is a well-trained and educated financial professional who understands the work that needs to be done.  His past accomplishments show he is a person of action and not just ideas.  He understands the work he does impacts individuals and never losses sight of that."

We are optimistic that Lathrop would do a fine job in a state position that his experience and character have well prepared him for. That certainly can’t be said of  Diossa.

So GoLocal strongly endorses James Lathrop for general treasurer, a job that will probably be even more challenging than usual in the next year because of inflation, high-interest rates, and perhaps a recession.