Fallout from an investigation into a 2021 state education contract continues, with a new complaint accusing one of Gov. Dan McKee’s former advisers of flouting state lobbying registration rules. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
Gov. Dan McKee appears to have staved off any formal complaints for his role in steering a multimillion-dollar state education contract to one of his former adviser’s friends in 2021.
The adviser, Mike Magee, has not.
Common Cause Rhode Island on Thursday announced it had filed a complaint with the Rhode Island Department of State against Magee for failing to register as a state lobbyist, despite “clearly and repeatedly” lobbying to help direct the $5.2 million school reopening contract to his friend’s firm, ILO Group.
The Dec. 17 letter to the state relies on several examples of Magee’s influence, citing findings from a state criminal investigation unveiled in October. The multi-year investigation led by the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General and Rhode Island State Police ultimately found insufficient proof to charge McKee, Magee, or other involved officials with criminal wrongdoing. But Attorney General Peter Neronha, maintained that the trove of documents showed “hamhandedness” by McKee and his advisers in the procurement process.
John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island (Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
John Marion, executive director for Common Cause Rhode Island, echoed the critique in a statement on Thursday.
“The investigation into how the ILO Group was awarded a state contract exposed politics at its worst including a procurement process full of back-scratching,” Marion said.
Magee, who now serves as president of Minerva University in San Francisco, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Yet he plays a starring role in the investigation. As one of McKee’s then-advisers, he first floated the idea of hiring ILO Group as a consultant for the state. Not coincidentally, ILO Group’s co-founder and current CEO, Julia Rafal-Baer, worked alongside Magee at a separate education firm called Chiefs for Change.
Magee also played a role in crafting the bid language in a way that would narrow eligibility to ILO, and, when the two bids came in, “advocating” for the contract to go to his friend’s firm over the alternate, lower bid, according to the joint investigation.
All of these activities require him to register with the state as a lobbyist, Common Cause argued in its complaint. Yet the state lobby tracker shows no record of Magee, or Chiefs for Change, in its 2021 database.
Marion in his letter asked the state to investigate the complaint, seeking “applicable relief from the court, including but not limited to monetary civil penalties.” State law allows the Secretary of State to ask the court to impose a $5,000 penalty per violation of state lobbying rules, along with barring registration for three years.
Faith Chybowski, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State, confirmed in an email Thursday that the department had received the complaint and will begin a preliminary investigative process.
The Rhode Island Ethics Commission will begin the process to consider changes to state ethics rules at its January meeting, based on a request by Common Cause Rhode Island. (Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)
Lobbying for reform
In the immediate aftermath of the state investigation, Marion initially suggested Common Cause might file an ethics complaint against McKee for violating a section of state ethics code that bars public officials from accepting gifts over $25.
The state criminal investigation uncovered another questionable connection between Magee and McKee involving $90,000 worth of consulting services from a separate firm, SKDK. Magee’s education company, Chiefs for Change, paid for the services on behalf of McKee.
Marion ultimately came to the same conclusion as state investigators: It was impossible to disentangle SKDK’s work for the administration from that which personally benefited McKee in his reelection campaign.
“That is key to whether an ethics violation occurred,” Marion said in an interview. “You can’t take personal gifts but your office can receive gifts. The investigation, though really extensive, couldn’t provide evidence that the gift was personal.”
But the absence of evidence to meet state complaint criteria could open the door to reforming state ethics laws.
“We are disappointed that the state’s public integrity laws did not protect against the unethical behavior revealed in the ILO Group investigations,” Marion said in a statement. “While ultimately few may be held accountable, Rhode Islanders deserve to know this behavior won’t be repeated. That is why we are seeking these changes to our ethics and campaign finance laws.”
“While ultimately few may be held accountable, Rhode Islanders deserve to know this behavior won’t be repeated. That is why we are seeking these changes to our ethics and campaign finance laws.”
– John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island
In a separate, Dec. 18 letter to the Rhode Island Ethics Commission, Marion asked for just that: reforming a slew of provisions in the state ethics code around gifts: who can receive them, and their public disclosure.
Marion wants the state ethics panel to consider expanding its gifts clause to ban lobbyists from offering gifts to state officials or employees for personal gain. Existing state ethics code does not include lobbyists among the “interested persons” from whom public officials cannot receive gifts.
“When registered lobbyists, who by definition are paid to influence public officials, are giving gifts to those same public officials, it undermines ‘the public trust,’ gives the ‘appearance of impropriety,’ and suggests that public officials are using their official positions for ‘private gain,’” Marion wrote. “Including registered lobbyists in the definition of an ‘interested person’ creates a bright-line rule that those subject to the Code can easily understand, and that the Commission can easily enforce.
At least 22 other states already have laws barring gifts from lobbyists to public officials, according to the letter.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is working with legislative leaders to craft a bill more explicitly banning bid-rigging in state procurements. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
Smith Hill steps up on bid-rigging
Common Cause has also asked the state ethics panel to consider requiring public officials to include any gifts given because of their position as part of mandated, annual financial disclosure forms.
Jason Gramitt, executive director for the Ethics Commission, confirmed receipt of the letter in an email on Thursday. The commission will tentatively start the process to consider rule changes at its January meeting, he said.
Marion also called for changes to state procurement laws to prevent “political interference.”
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said in an interview on Dec. 16 that he and Neronha were working together on “anti-bid rigging legislation” that would be introduced in the upcoming legislative session.
Neronha in a statement on Thursday doubled down on his criticism of the McKee administration.
“Unfortunately, the results of the ILO investigation aren’t an anomaly; rather they demonstrate a pattern of ethically questionable behavior by the executive branch and many of those in its orbit,” Neronha said. “Rhode Islanders deserve to feel confident that their elected officials — those that they hired to do their bidding, so to speak — are doing so in ways that are above board and ethically unambiguous. In this case, my Office was not able to bring criminal charges, which isn’t an endorsement of the behavior, despite what the Governor would have Rhode Islanders think, but rather an indictment of the strength of the laws. Time for change.”
McKee’s office did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.
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