IAN DONNIS: Welcome to Political Roundtable, Election 2022. The top responsibility of the Rhode Island general treasurer is managing the state pension fund. But the General Treasurer’s Office also serves as a political springboard. The latest example is how the current treasurer Seth Magaziner, is running for Congress in the second district. Two candidates with sharply different backgrounds want to succeed Magaziner as treasurer. Democrat James Diossa is the son of Colombian immigrants, and he made history as the first Latino mayor of Central Falls. Republican James Lathrop says he does not want to use the treasurer’s office as a stepping stone. And he says his background in municipal finance makes him the better choice. I’m Ian Donnis. This week I’m going one-on-one with Lathrop and Diossa to hear they’re competing arguments. I’ll also talk with filmmaker Sara Archambault, director and producer of “No Time to Fail,” a newly released documentary about the role played by local election workers in American democracy. First up the Republican candidate for general treasurer in Rhode Island.
IAN DONNIS: What makes you the best candidate in the race for general treasurer rather than your Democratic opponent and James Diossa?
JAMES LATHROP: I think it’s my experience, my qualifications, my education, and my past successes in the financial fields. I am a graduate of Bryant University; it was Bryant College at the time. I have a degree in accounting. I went on to NYU. I have a Master’s in Public Administration. I am a CPA. I worked in public accounting for quite a bit of time, as well. I have a lot of private business experience before I moved to the public sector. And in the public sector, wherever I’ve gone, we’ve seen successes–from in Portsmouth, we received Triple A rating, one of the first communities, or it was actually the only second community at the time to get Triple A rating in Rhode Island. In North Kingstown, in the five years I’ve been there, we’ve increased fund balances by nearly 100%, we’ve doubled it, we’ve reduced OPEB, which is like a pension, but it’s for retirees’ health care. We’ve reduced that from over $30 million to approximately $17 million. You know, we’ve increased revenue collections, so that we don’t have to go to the taxpayers. And it’s understanding all these factors. You know, I look at, you know, Central Falls, and while they went through bankruptcy, one of the issues that you see in the financial statements from a guy like me is that typically they’ve only collected 93% of their taxes. You know, leaving 7% on the table has an impact. You know, when I came to North Kingstown, they were at around 96%. We’re now just under 99%. Again, before we go to the taxpayers, I always believe let’s see what’s in our house, and how can we be better?
IAN DONNIS: If you were to win this office of general treasurer, what would be the most significant ways that you would be different from the present treasurer, Seth Magaziner?
JAMES LATHROP: I think I would be much more proactive in different areas. As communities go to financial markets more and more, and we have less and less experienced people within government finance, it’s hard to recruit those people. I think it would be more working with the communities, helping them in that process. And I also think I would try to bring more diversity, as well as more young people into the fields. You know, one of my proudest accomplishments is three people who were either interns or worked for me are all now finance directors in other communities. You know, that’s our job. You know, I think I grew up in a time where politicians inspired me. They weren’t someone that I hated or loved. They just truly inspired me to do good things and make me believe. And I think that’s what we need to get back to. And I, you know, Seth Magaziner, I like him. He’s a nice enough guy. I’m still voting for Allan Fung. I really like Allan. But I think those are areas where he lacked in his time as treasurer.
IAN DONNIS: The most important responsibility of the treasurer is managing the state pension fund. Beyond that, if you were to win this office, what would your other top priorities be?
JAMES LATHROP: I think one would be to put a mechanism in. In 2020, the state had an issue with cash flow. Most people don’t know about that. And it wasn’t that they were bankrupt. But it’s just a timing issue. The treasurer’s office doesn’t have the ability currently to borrow on a short term process to meet those issues. I would talk to the legislators about putting that into the budget. That’s what a lot of municipalities do to allow you to borrow for 60 to up to 120 days to meet a short term cash crunch. So I think that’s very important, especially as we’re going to come up with some very difficult times, depending on what the federal government does and how they release funding. And that would be one. The other: Rhode Island Able. I think that’s a program within the treasurer’s office that doesn’t get enough attention. It’s like a 401 K with individuals who have disabilities. People who are collecting social security disability payments can only have a certain amount of assets. And if they have too much, they lose benefits. This allows family, friends, to put money in accounts for them that they can use either currently or later in life without affecting their benefits. Right now, the treasurer’s office only has one person doing that job, and it doesn’t get promoted well. That would be one that I would do. I also think, on the crime victim program, I think the timing for meeting the requirements in order to get those fundings needs to be expanded. I think people go through a lot of trauma, and to say that they have to make a claim within three years or file a police report within 15 days. We’ve seen it that sometimes the trauma is so great that people can’t. And I would look to expand just the timeframe of it, not the program itself. But to give people that say, “It may have taken me five years to be able to come and say I need help.”
IAN DONNIS: There are a number of locally administered pensions in Rhode Island under the control of municipalities that are very poorly funded at precarious levels. Do you see a role for the state treasurer in trying to improve the condition of those pensions?
JAMES LATHROP: Yeah, I think, you know, there’s two parts. It’s sometimes the communities haven’t funded enough, or they’ve given too much benefits. But a lot of times, it’s just poor investments. And you see that more and more with communities who are joining the state. There truly is their separate pension. It’s not part of the state pension program. But they’re allowing the state to manage their funds for them. The Treasurer’s Office has 90 people working for it. They’re much more sophisticated than, you know, a group of council members or people who do it on a part time basis. So I think that’s an avenue that we could address. You know, when I was in Westerly, we were designated as a critical condition pension. It was a private pension through the town. While I was there, we got off the critical list. You know, I have experience in doing this. I manage funds. I manage my own funds. I have assets. And I think that’s some of the differences between me and my opponent.
IAN DONNIS: The Democratic establishment, not surprisingly, has coalesced behind your opponent, James Diossa. However, you did win a significant union endorsement last week from Council 94 AFSCME, one of the largest state employee unions in Rhode Island. How does being opposed by the Democratic establishment affect the outcome of this race?
JAMES LATHROP: I think the Democrats have a stronghold, but my message has been about we’re Rhode Islanders first. We’re not Democrats or Republicans. And I’ve gotten pushback from my own party at times, like why are you going to these events? Well, I can’t win with a third of the vote. And Democrats are people too. I married a Democrat, and most of them are reasonable people. Even myself, I like to think I’m a much more moderate Republican and many of the Republicans, and sometimes I get a little pushback on that. But having that union endorsement, and I think when you read the endorsement, it wasn’t just them, the executive committee, but it was their membership going back to them. Because they’ve heard me talk. I’ve reached out to them on an individual basis. And they said to leadership, “Why aren’t we looking at this guy?” And I really appreciate it. And I think it really took a lot of courage from their leadership to step out and to endorse a Republican.
IAN DONNIS: Finally, the market conditions don’t really support it right now. But Providence has gotten approval if it wants to try and issue debt to get money to shore up its very underfunded pension system. Do you support that plan if the market conditions are more robust?
JAMES LATHROP: No, 100%. Now, it’s not just the market conditions. And when I talked earlier–pension, Providence has done a bad job of managing their pension assets. It’s not about the markets. It’s not about benefits. It’s how they manage those assets themselves. I don’t think until I see a real change in a plan and how they’re going to manage it, plus the market conditions, I just think it’s a bad idea, and I doubt I would ever support it.
IAN DONNIS: Jim Lathrop, the Republican candidate for general treasurer in Rhode Island, thank you for sitting down with us.
JAMES LATHROP: Thank you for having me. And I hopefully, after the election, if I win, you invite me back, or when I win.
IAN DONNIS: Now we’ll hear from the Democratic candidate for general treasurer, James Diossa. So, welcome back to The Public’s Radio.
JAMES DIOSSA: Thank you again for having me.
IAN DONNIS: What makes you the better candidate in this race for general treasurer, rather than your Republican opponent, Jim Lathrop?
JAMES DIOSSA: Look, Ian. I’ve been now in public service for 10 years, mayor as you know, have proven, tested leadership. I can get things done. I’ve shown what I could, what I did with Central Falls as far as rebuilding it after bankruptcy. I put in a very good team together, and with a great vision, and working with honesty and integrity. And I believe that what I’ve learned in Central Falls and my leadership skills will serve well in the Treasurer’s Office.
IAN DONNIS: If you were to win this office, what would be the most significant ways in which you would be different from the current treasurer, Seth Magaziner?
JAMES DIOSSA: Look, I applaud the treasurer, the current treasurer. He’s done an amazing job. He’s really been very bold about his initiatives around school construction, and other programs in the office. I think the difference that might distinguish me from Seth, outside of building on his success, is you know, I would work much more closer with cities and towns across the state. You know, being a former mayor, also a mayor who was able to move their pension fund into the state system, I understand firsthand the impact of pensions that are not doing well. And, unfortunately, that’s why we went into bankruptcy. And so taking that experience, I want to have this office be ready to help mayors and town managers and administrators with guidance and opportunity if they want to move their system into the pension system. And so, generally speaking, we’re going to be a very grassroots, grassroots type of leader that’s going to work with our cities and towns. I truly believe from the approach of a bottoms up. And through that approach, I believe we can make Rhode Island stronger.
IAN DONNIS: There are a number of municipalities that have severely underfunded locally administered pensions. Do you think the answer is to do what happened with Central Falls’ pension to move them into the state system?
JAMES DIOSSA: It’s an option. It’s an option. And I think that when Central Falls did it West Warwick follow suit. And so I think that it’s an option. But I think the best way to understand it is by getting into the office from day one, making the assessment, and working with the local leaders on what’s the best path.
IAN DONNIS: Go Local Prov reported that when you were mayor tens of thousands of dollars in tax dollars went to about 50 trips that you took outside of Rhode Island. Politicians go on junkets all the time to try and bring more business back to the state or to make connections. Can you point to a positive economic return from these trips that exceeded the cost to taxpayers?
JAMES DIOSSA: Look, to set the record straight, majority of the trips that I took happen to be with the US Conference of Mayors in the National League of Cities and Towns, where I was able to build strong relations with leaderships where they were very thoughtful about what Central Falls had gone through and my experience leading it. And so through those two experiences, I was able to be invited around the country, quite frankly, across the world, to speak about what I did in Central Falls. So I’m extremely proud of it. I’ve been very transparent with my ethics filings and also with how we dealt with it in Central Falls. And I think that the few things that I’m most proud of outside of building relationships outside of the state is, you know, one initiative that really inspired me is when I took a trip down for a mayor’s conference session, and I heard the mayor talk from South Carolina who brought JWU into their town and it spurred up economic development. I brought that idea back to Central Falls. I was able to get Rhode Island College to move a satellite building into Central Falls. And I think that we’re starting to see the benefits of that type of initiative in Central Falls. And outside of that, you know, I was able to bring grant money back into the city, and so these were all experiences that, you know, I took full advantage of it, and I know that it served the residents well.
IAN DONNIS: Not surprisingly, the Democratic establishment has rallied behind you in your campaign. You got an endorsement this week from Rhode Island’s legislative leaders, House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio. But it was noteworthy that your Republican opponent, Jim Lathrop, got an endorsement last week from organized labor that happens very rarely in Rhode Island. But Council 94 of AFSCME endorsed him later, what is your explanation for that?
JAMES DIOSSA: Look, I’m gonna be a leader that’s going to work with everyone. I respect organized labor. It played a fundamental role in my family. My dad was in the Union for almost 33 years, and also at Osram Sylvania in Central Falls. And because of that, you know, we always had a roof over our head, and we never missed a meal. And so understanding those values, I’m going to work very hard with all unions. But right now, my number one priority is to get the endorsement of the voters around. So I’m going to work extremely hard with the people who are supporting me to earn their support on November 8th.
IAN DONNIS: What is your explanation for why Council 94 endorsed your Republican opponent rather than you?
JAMES DIOSSA: I don’t know. I never did interview with AFSCME. So I can’t explain that. My focus right now is talking to voters every single day and getting their support on November 8th.
IAN DONNIS: As we know, one of the biggest and most urgent pension issues is in Providence, where the city has received legislative approval to borrow money to shore up its pension system. That idea is on hold because the market conditions are not suitable for borrowing money right now to get an economic return. But in principle, if the market is going at a good rate that would generate a good return, in theory, do you support that proposal?
JAMES DIOSSA: I’ve been a supporter from day one. I said that, you know, I’ve always given kudos to the mayor and other elected officials who understood how important it was to address this issue. I saw it firsthand in Central Falls. Look, if I am elected, and I’ve already reached out to the mayor-elect to sit down with him, I want to explore options about what’s best for the pension system in Providence, because it’s a big pension system. And, you know, as a fellow Rhode Islander, we want to see our capital city doing well. And I will do everything in my authority to work with him hand-in-hand, and make the best decision possible for the city of Providence, which has a greater impact on the state of Rhode Island.
IAN DONNIS: Some people, including your Republican opponent, question if you have the financial expertise to oversee the pension system. What do you say in response?
JAMES DIOSSA: Look, I’ve been a chief executive for eight years. I have the tested leadership. I’ve managed budgets. I managed pensions. I’ve managed people. I don’t think my opponent can say that. And we need someone that’s going to go in there, roll up their sleeves, and work hard every single day. And being mayor, I have the ability to not only understand the issues that will confront the office, but also put the best people around me to make the best decisions for the taxpayers of Rhode Island, the pension members, and also the retirees. Being a lifelong Rhode Islander, I care about the future of the state and now, with a three-year-old, and a new baby on our way, on its way, I think I’m going to work very hard to ensure that Rhode Island is best positioned in the future. So, I have the experience, because I’ve done it. I don’t think my opponent could say that.
IAN DONNIS: James Diossa, Democratic opponent for Rhode Island general treasurer, thank you for joining us.
JAMES DIOSSA: Thank you, Ian, for having me.
IAN DONNIS: A new documentary film, “No Time to Fail,” shows how election workers in Rhode Island are at ground zero for American democracy. This comes as supporters of former President Donald Trump question the integrity of American elections. Candidates who deny the validity of the 2020 election are on the ballot in states across the U.S. Joining me now to discuss this and the documentary “No Time to Fail” is Sara Archambault who helped to direct and produce the film. Why did you decide to pursue this project?
SARA ARCHAMBAULT: I’m personally very interested in our civic culture. I find that as much as people think about elections and the role in their life, they really only think about election work as one day in November. But I had some friendships with people who had been doing election work over the years, and as soon as the pandemic hit and remember, in March 2020, there was a lot of uncertainty, one of the first things that came to my mind was, well, how are we actually going to conduct an election? Soon after that I called my collaborator, Margot Guernsey, who had also made a film in Rhode Island called “Councilwoman” a few years back. And I asked her if she’d be interested in collaborating with me, because she’s somebody who really is interested in filmmaking around labor. And so we came together, we made a pitch, we began speaking with the Secretary of State’s Office. And I have to say that Secretary Gorbea, really deeply understood that the transparency that a documentary film would bring could lead to deepened trust. And so we were very lucky to get a door opened for us right then.
IAN DONNIS: What were your biggest takeaways from your making this documentary?
SARA ARCHAMBAULT: You know, I was thinking about that just the other day, and I think it is highly underestimated. And I personally was really surprised to learn how much work every single election worker puts in to make sure every single vote counts. I witnessed personally election officials, who if a voter was having an issue with a mail in ballot or if their registration was not quite right, some people suffering from COVID needed additional help and aid. These election officials put in hours for just one person’s problem. And if you can imagine just how short staffed many of these places are, canvassing staff, especially in local clerk’s offices or canvassing offices, that can be really small offices with not a lot of staff. But for example, in Cranston, I believe there’s about 60,000 registered voters, and they only had two full time people, two and a half with a part time person, who were serving all of these voters and the problems that they were facing.
IAN DONNIS: Yeah, I’m sure those election staffers, as you say, are very dedicated. Nonetheless, there are a lot of questions about elections these days. A lot of that was fomented by former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election–some Republicans looked askew at how mail ballots were added after day of balloting voting, and they thought there was something screwy about that even though there was not. Do you think we as a country can come back from this suspicion among a lot of Republicans about the integrity of the vote?
SARA ARCHAMBAULT: I’m hopeful that we can. I think a lot of that disinformation was able to take advantage of citizens, because so few people really understand what election labor consists of. Because there’s an information gap, it made a kind of ripe terrain for disinformation to grow and rise. I was even finding people who I know, who trust the process, still didn’t really understand the steps, or didn’t understand what went into how to make elections work. And so my hope is that the more we can share information around how elections operate, and more importantly, in terms of what I think our film does, is really humanize the people behind the elections, the election officials themselves–people who I think of, as now I think of as friends, people who I believe have great integrity and were a frontline workforce during the pandemic that went unsung.
IAN DONNIS: Where can people see your documentary, “No Time to Fail”?
SARA ARCHAMBAULT: It’s playing at the Avon cinema Friday, Saturday, Sunday matinee, and, I believe, a couple of days next week as well. It’s also playing in Newport on Monday, the 17th, at the Jane Pickens Theater, and we’re gearing up to do a national online streaming event on October 27th. Folks who are interested in signing up can just go to our website, notimetofailfilm.com, and they can register for the online free screening event on October 27.
IAN DONNIS: Sarah, I don’t know whether you realize this, but you were one of the first people I met after moving to Providence to take a job at the Providence Phoenix in 1999. It was at a gallery opening on Wickenden Street. How do you think Providence has changed most significantly since then?
SARA ARCHAMBAULT: It’s been, it’s really kind of grown and expanded, hasn’t it? There are things about the way Providence felt a lot more DIY, a lot more hands on, or handmade, that I miss. But what I really love about how Providence has grown is that there’s incredible opportunities here, particularly for anyone who wants to make a difference. Anyone who wants to create something, I always feel like you’re only two people away from the yes that you need to make what you want to see happen manifest. So I’m really excited about what I’m seeing in Providence. A lot of times I meet, because I work with filmmakers all across the country, a lot of times I meet somebody who went to Brown or who has an uncle in, you know, Wickford. I meet these people all over the country. And they’re like, “I haven’t been to Providence in 20 years,” and I always say like, “You might not recognize it.”
IAN DONNIS: Sara Archambault, director, producer of “No Time to Fail” documentary, thank you for joining us.
SARA ARCHAMBAULT: Thanks so much for having me here today.
IAN DONNIS: Thanks for listening to our show this week. If you have a question or comment, drop us an email at news@ripr.org, or connect with me on Twitter @IanDon. This has been a production of The Public’s Radio. Our producer is Aaron Reed with additional production and editing by Alex Nunes. Our editor is Mareva Lindo. Our executive producer is Sally Eisele, and our CEO and General Manager is Torey Malatia. I’m Ian Donnis, and I’ll see you on the radio.
