By Bob
Plain in Rhode Island’s Future
Bob Flanders announced
his campaign for a US Senate seat in Central Falls, where he was once the
court-appointed receiver as the city went through bankruptcy.
The Rhode Island
Democratic Party responded by pointing out how much money Flanders made in that
role.
“There’s no question
that the million dollars Robert Flanders and his deputies collected
from city coffers placed an extraordinary burden on taxpayers and retirees
during the most difficult time in Central Falls’ history,”
Kevin Olasanoye, the executive director of the state Democratic Party,
said in a press release sent out as Flanders made his announcement.
The Democrats were
calling attention to a recent RI Future report that revealed Flanders and
Gayle Corrigan’s consulting company together took more than a million dollars
from Central Falls’ struggling coffers. RI Future obtained the information
through an Access to Public Records request to Central Falls while looking into
Corrigan.
The Democrats’ press release says, “Flanders and his frequent business associate Gayle Corrigan extracted more than $1 million in fees from Central Falls’ bankruptcy.” It shows how the specter of Gayle Corrigan, the embattled and controversial rookie town manager in East Greenwich could hang over his campaign.
In June, Flanders, an
East Greenwich resident, told RI Future he was an early advocate of
Corrigan’s to EG Town Council President Sue Cienki, prior to Corrigan being
formerly considered for a consultant role.
“Gayle was someone we
did talk about, yes,” Flanders said. “We talked about her skill set and what
she can bring to the table. We talked about doing some sort of analysis.”
Corrigan was chief of
staff to Flanders in Central Falls. Since Corrigan became town manager of East
Greenwich, Tim Cavazza, a partner in Flanders’ law firm, has taken
over talks with the local fire fighters, whom Corrigan and
Cienki began targeting when Corrigan was first hired as a consultant.
The Democrats also
accused Flanders of being a “rubber stamp” for the Trump agenda, “providing tax
cuts for the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working people, stripping health
insurance from families, decimating the Social Security and Medicare benefits
Rhode Islanders have earned over a lifetime of hard work,” said Olasanoye.
Flanders said he voted
for Donald Trump, saw merit in the so-called Muslim travel ban, and would have
supported a Trumpcare bill before the Senate, he told RI Future in June.
But at his announcement,
Flanders said he is running for office to combat hyperpartisanship. He said he supports a ban on
bump stocks, which can turn a semi-automatic gun into an automatic gun.
In June, Flanders said
he falls somewhere between Jack Reed and Mitch McConnell on the ideological
spectrum, and thinks he can help engender compromise between Republicans and
Democrats. “We have to have someone who can get something done and compromise,”
he said, “not just lob bombs at the other side.”
Known more for his
sharp wit than his penchant for bringing people together, as the receiver for
Central Falls during bankruptcy, Flanders infamously said public sector workers
had a choice between a haircut and a beheading. Then he lampooned his role at the Follies as Darth Vader, Lord of the Pink
Slip.
He’s been a Barrington
Town Council president, a Rhode Island Supreme Court justice, the chairman of
the state Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education, and a
board member of Common Cause Rhode Island.
But before he earns
the right to face Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democratic incumbent looking
for his third term, Flanders will have to best Coventry state Rep. Bobby
Nardolillo in a Republican primary.
Both Flanders and
Nardolillo are fiscal conservatives, with Flanders more socially moderate than
Nardolillo. Nardolillo will likely appeal to the Trump wing of the GOP with
Flanders appealing more to the old guard.
Bob Plain is the
editor/publisher of Rhode Island's Future. Previously, he's worked as a
reporter for several different news organizations both in Rhode Island and
across the country.