Top Union Official and RIPTA Board Member Calls for No-Bid Lobbying Contract to Be Terminated

Top Union Official and RIPTA Board Member Calls for No-Bid Lobbying Contract to Be Terminated

Top labor official Patrick Crowley, who serves as a member of the Board of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA), is criticizing the $84,000 lobbying contract given to former GOP congressional candidate Allan Fung’s firm.

Crowley is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO and the Government Relations Director at NEARI.

“As a member of the @RIPTA_RI board this decision could have had a much better reception if the entire board was consulted & we discussed the pros & cons. We were not. We should have been,” Crowley Tweeted.

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On Thursday, GoLocal unveiled that RIPTA, which is headed by Scott Avedisian, the former Republican Mayor of Warwick, had signed an $84,000 no-bid contract with the firm of the former GOP Mayor of Cranston Allan Fung.

Fung is a partner in Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O'Gara. The contract was awarded to the firm's lobbying company PLDO Strategies.

Avedisian and Fung are long-time close political allies and friends.

RIPTA had not previously employed a lobbying firm.

Crowley said in an email to GoLocal that the contract should be terminated and that there should be an open process to select a firm

“Given the way this has unfolded and the lack of board involvement and transparency I think we should start over,” said Crowley.

The contract, which GoLocal secured through an Access to Public Records Act request, took effect on January 1, 2023.

 

Defending the Contract

RIPTA staff defended the contract in an email late on Thursday.

Cristy Raposo Perry of RIPTA issued a statement to GoLocal in response to questions about the contract.

“In 2014, Governor Chafee signed the Quasi-Public Corporations Accountability and Transparency Act that empowers the board of quasi-public corporations, like RIPTA, to establish a wide range of policies.  Among those are policies governing Lobbyists’ expenses.  In November of 2014, the RIPTA board established policies along these lines which have been in place for several years.  Below is the policy it established at that time  related to lobbyists:

Lobbyists’ expenses.  RIPTA’s CEO, with consultation from RIPTA staff, may determine whether, and on what terms, to retain a lobbyist for the purpose of representing RIPTA before legislative and administrative bodies for the purpose of furthering RIPTA’s mission.

In this case, the longstanding policy was followed. The CEO consulted with senior staff and the Chairman of the Board and it was agreed to hire PLDO, an established, well-respected Rhode Island firm, to serve as RIPTA’s lobbyist. The firm’s role will be to assist RIPTA with legislative matters, including the implementation of the state’s Transit Master Plan and the new downtown transit center."

But, Perry did not respond to questions about why the contract was not publicly advertised.