Mattiello’s Top Staffer Montanaro and Mold Cleanup Company’s Boss Are Longtime Friends

Mattiello’s Top Staffer Montanaro and Mold Cleanup Company’s Boss Are Longtime Friends

When there were reports of mold in the Joint Committee on Legislative Services (JCLS) offices in the State House, Frank Montanaro knew just who to call.

Montanaro, the executive director of the JCLS and Speaker of House Nicholas Mattiello’s go-to guy, called Single Source to do the cleanup.

He knew the company well, as he had a long-standing personal relationship with Jack Pomeranz — who, with his family, runs Single Source.

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According to the company’s website, “Jack Pomeranz continues to share his disaster restoration industry expertise in the role of Single Source Executive Vice President of Business Development.”

The Department of Administration tells GoLocal that Montanaro alone called in the company. "My Division placed an emergency request for work on behalf of JCLS. DCAMM did not remove any items in the JCLS office. Single Source had already been onsite to conduct preliminary work, so DCAMM proceeded with the same firm,” said Carole Cornelison, Associate Director, DCAMM.

Over the past three-plus years, Single Source has received more than $147,000 in state payments, according to Rhode Island's transparency portal.

 

Pomeranz and Montanaro Weekend in NYC

Pomeranz and Montanaro’s relationship goes back years.

In the midst of Mattiello’s controversial re-election race in 2016, Montanaro and Pomeranz traveled together by boat for a multi-day July 4th celebration.

Montanaro declined to be interviewed, but Mattiello’s spokesman Larry Berman wrote in an email to GoLocal, “Frank said he and his wife paid for all their personal expenses on a trip to New York three and a half years ago.“

While Pomeranz's company got the call for the State House cleanup work, a competing company tells GoLocal that the Rhode Island system is politically driven.

On Saturday, GoLocal reported that the general manager of a Rhode Island mold remediation company is calling the bid system in the state rigged. Two company executives contacted GoLocal after it unveiled the use of the firm to clean mold in the State House had strong ties  Mattiello and his staff.

Chris Gagnon with Servpro said that his partner Frank Mattos had been told to “give to Mattiello” — and that Servpro was audited not once, but twice, following a significant contract in 2016 with the state, that he says he believes was brought on by a competitor.

Mattos operates Servpro of Providence, as well as Warwick/East Greenwich and Cranston in Rhode Island; he also operates Servpros in Boston, Weymouth-Hingham and Quincy.

"Right now, [the work awarded] is simply based on relationships," said Gagnon. "And that's not right."

 

JCLS Actions Under Investigation By State Police

Presently, the Rhode Island State Police are investigating actions tied to the JCLS as it relates to a threatened audit of the Rhode Island Convention Center.

In addition, House Minority Leader Blake Filippi has raised questions about records of the JCLS. Filippin sent the following to Montanaro following the removal of items from the JCLS offices:

"I hereby direct you to provide the members of the JCLS with a written log of all records and computer hard drives that were removed from the JCLS offices, their current location(s), and a list of all persons with access to these locations. Given the damage created by the presence of mold to documents and hard drives, additionally please include a log of any documents or hard drives that have been destroyed. 

I also demand a written commitment that all documents and hard drives will be preserved, only accessed in the normal course of business, and that none of these items will be moved, removed or altered without prior written notice to the members of JCLS. 

If I do not hear from you by 10 AM on January 29, 2020, I will seek injunctive relief in Superior Court compelling compliance with our General Laws."

 

Donations and Personal Relations

The friendship between Montanaro and Pomeranz is not the only close personal tie. Pomeranz is engaged to Mattiello’s former administrative staffer, who is now assistant to Majority Leader Joe Shekarchi. She, too, is a donor to Mattiello -- having donated $350 to her former boss.

She earns $83,995.86 annually according to state records.

Pomeranz and other family members have donated over $8,000 to politicians in Rhode Island.

Members of the Pomeranz family have donated $1,700 to Mattiello.