One-on-One with Chafee: The Exit Interview
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
In less than two months, Lincoln Chafee will complete his four-year term as Governor. By any measure, Chafee has been one of the most successful politicians in Rhode Island history. He served as Governor, United States Senator, Mayor of Warwick, City Councilman in Warwick and Delegate to the Constitutional Convention
Uniquely, Chafee was elected in a non-partisan election, as a Republican, and an Independent and finished his career declaring he was a Democrat. In a one-on-one interview with GoLocal, Chafee said he believed he was leaving the state heading in the "right direction' -- but reaction to the performance of the state's 74th Governor has been mixed.
SLIDES: See Chafee's Grades for Performance BELOW
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhen asked what his greatest achievement was in in office, Chafee said, "In general, just getting the state -- what I call the 'ship of state' -- off the rocks, and going in the right direction. There's been a lot of negativity, but the facts are stubborn -- and the facts are favorable."
Chafee was referring to the latest employment metrics released by the RI Department of Labor and Training, which cites, among other statistics, that the September RI unemployment rate of 7.6% is at its lowest level since June 2008 -- and with the number of employed up 14,300 since the beginning of the year, it marks the best start in that category since 1984.
Despite the positive numbers, Brookings Institution Vice President and Director of Governance Studies Darrell West pointed to the lag time in any recovery as an issue to Rhode Islanders -- and how Chafee is perceived after leaving office.
"Chafee's biggest challenge has been the economy. Rhode Island always is the first into recession and the last to come out, and this continues to be the case. The state’s economy has been slow to revive and lags the national recovery," said West. "It is hard to know what he could do to create jobs and lower the unemployment rate, but the fact that it remains stubbornly high has fueled discontent and made it difficult for people to feel good about the state’s direction."
Then and Now
"When I came in, [there was] high unemployment, a lot of foreclosures, labor unrest, especially in Central Falls with teachers. I came in, got people back to work. A lot of Governors talk about creating 20,00 jobs - we've done it," said Chafee.
Regarding his successor, Rhode Island's first ever female Governor Gina Raimondo, Chafee thinks the scenario facing the next administration will be "very different."
"When I came in the economy was so bad, Rhode Islanders were stressed, angry about everything -- understandably so, trying to make ends meet. [It was] natural to want to vent," said Chafee. "Issues that ultimately make sense -- getting in state-tuition for undocumented students -- ultimately made sense, but it created an outlet for a lot of anger and venting. And Jason Pleau -- Rhode Islanders have continued to oppose to the death penalty. The RI economy is slowly warming. I just think it will be a different environment."
Former head of Common Cause RI -- and noted historian -- Phil West was one of the political commentators who spoke with GoLocal about the Chafee administration's highs -- and lows.
"I deeply appreciated his commitment to equal marriage. People who claimed to speak in the name of God were vitriolic in legislative hearings I attended," said West, of marriage equality legislation passing in 2013, and being signed into law by Chafee -- who penned an opinion piece for the New York Times on the landmark occasion. "Without a courageous governor and core of committed legislators, this overdue reform could not have passed."
"Historians may see his commitment to genuine pension reform as equally crucial," continued West. "No state treasurer could have secured passage of the 2011 pension overhaul without the governor’s support."
Larry Purtill with National Education Association of Rhode Island addressed Chafee's role in the education community during his four years.
"While many probably wouldn’t see his administration being all that successful, based on latest polls, especially in terms of jobs and growth, I do think he tried and got at least some promoting the benefits of Rhode Island and living here," said NEARI President Purtill. "Initially anyway, he pushed for the Department of Education to work with teachers, administrators and others to move public education forward but never addressed the fact that the overwhelming majority (based on the poll we did over a year and a half ago with the AFT) of teachers believed their views and insights were often ignored by RIDE and it was up to the General Assembly to correct the NECAP situation and teacher evaluation."
A recent RIDE report showed that 98 percent of teachers and 99 percent of school leaders (building administrators) attained ratings of effective or highly effective.
20/20 Hindsight
When asked if he had any regrets, Chafee mentioned one instance that he wished had turned out differently.
"I tend to look forward. When people ask me that question, I always struggle because I just move on," said Chafee. "If there's one thing I wish I had accomplished, it was to get Lifespan-Care New England to work together. I had them all here -- board chairs, presidents, Dr. [Michael] Fine, [Attorney General] Kilmartin, the department directors. I said come on, let's work together here. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. I had them at the trough -- but they would not drink."
"It's so important to the economy for these entities to work together and not against each other," continued Chafee. "I worked as hard as I could, I don't have regrets, but I wish there was success."
Political and community leaders, including Jim Vincent with the NAACP, offered their views as to where the Chafee administration fell short.
"Ironically, I feel the governor's biggest failure was not hiring individuals of color to high ranking positions and not increasing the number of Minority Enterprise Businesses "MBEs" doing work with state government. The number of individuals of color in his cabinet, one, is the lowest number in recent memory," said Vincent, who noted that in his view, the most important accomplishment by Governor Chafee was the Executive Order on Diversity and Inclusion which he sgned last year.
"To my knowledge, there have been no judges of color appointed. The number of individuals of color appointed to boards and commissions was very low and not reflective of the state's population," continued Vincent. "The number of MBEs doing business with the state which has always been a fraction of the number of businesses available to do state work remains virtually unchanged despite an increase of such businesses."
Mike Stenhouse with the RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity pointed out that despite any gains made, Rhode Island continues to rank at the bottom of business environment rankings.
"Jobs and the economy," said Stenhouse of where he saw Chafee as coming up short. "The state's relative near-bottom of the barrel rankings as compared with other states has not improved to any major degree as the drag of increased spending levels and associated taxes continue to harm our economy."
To the Finish Line
Chafee noted some of the remaining items of business on his list to complete in the remaining weeks of his administration.
"[The] Central Coventry fire district -- we're trying to get that resolved, not hand off that ongoing deficit situation to the next governor," said Chafee. "Constantly working on wait times at DMV. We can address wait times there with creative action and we're doing that, working with unions to have part timers come in. RI Housing, continuing to work with HUD -- and to some extent DCYF -- there's been some cost overruns. Those are four, there are certainly others."
As Chafee finishes his term and Raimondo prepares in the wings, NEARI's Purtill weighed in on the changing of the guard.
"One thing that is important and a credit to both the Governor and Governor-elect is the outreach and apparent effort to get some things done and a smooth transition come January," said Purtill.
Editor's Note: GoLocal contributor Kate Nagle served as a staff member for Chafee in the U.S. Senate from 2001 to 2005.
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