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rhodyjourno OP t1_j9f7m8u wrote

FROM THE STORY: US Representative David Cicilline plans to resign from Congress later this year to become president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, the Globe has learned.
The announcement, expected Tuesday, is sure to send shockwaves through Rhode Island’s political establishment, setting up an off-year special election for the First Congressional District seat that most political observers believed the 61-year-old Cicilline could have held for the rest of his life.
Over the course of 28 years, Cicilline has held elected office as a Rhode Island state representative, mayor of Providence, and member of Congress.
During a special meeting on Tuesday morning, the foundation’s board of directors voted to hire Cicilline following a months-long national search to replace outgoing president and CEO Neil Steinberg. The foundation is Rhode Island’s largest philanthropic organization, with a endowment of more than $1.3 billion.

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“For more than a decade, the people of Rhode Island entrusted me with a sacred duty to represent them in Congress, and it is a responsibility I put my heart and soul into every day to make life better for the residents and families of our state,” Cicilline said. “The chance to lead the Rhode Island Foundation was unexpected, but it is an extraordinary opportunity to have an even more direct and meaningful impact on the lives of residents of our state. The same energy and commitment I brought to elected office I will now bring as CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, advancing their mission to ensure all Rhode Islanders can achieve economic security, access quality, affordable healthcare, and attain the education and training that will set them on a path to prosperity.”

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READ MORE IN THE LINK

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Dunder72 t1_j9fbacy wrote

The new gig must be $atisfying work for him.

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skippyspk t1_j9fbnel wrote

Can’t wait to see how many donation checks just sit in the drawer…

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theanti_girl t1_j9fd0v4 wrote

Why bother campaigning for a year to be elected only to resign three months in?

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donnikhan t1_j9fgi2v wrote

He should trade places with Neal Steinberg, a true RI hero

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boulevardofdef t1_j9fhlkn wrote

There'll be a special election this year. But the seat isn't really at risk either way; RI-1 is even more left-leaning than RI-2, where Fung couldn't beat Magaziner last year despite a favorable national environment and being generally a stronger candidate.

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beta_vulgaris t1_j9fi71u wrote

All right PVD People, let's convince Smiley to run. CD 1 will love him and we can try again on this whole mayor thing.

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mrbgso t1_j9fih22 wrote

It feels like this was a “move up or move out” moment for him. He was being vaguely groomed for house leadership, but didn’t make it in with the reshuffling that came with Pelosi’s exit as leader. He probably doesn’t see an upward path in the house at this point, and doesn’t want to spend the next twenty years as a rack and fine member. That’s my read at least.

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FourAM t1_j9fmy09 wrote

Someone get David Segal on the phone

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poeope t1_j9fnexl wrote

It's a real shame to lose both our senior congressman in such a short period of time.

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Swamp_yankee_ninja t1_j9fqoin wrote

Perhaps congressional district 1 can elect someone less embarrassing? Anyone ever watch his congressional testimonies? Cringeworthy, especially when they say gentlemen from Rhode Island.

−6

discord t1_j9frsr3 wrote

That sucks. He was great.

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SweatyCockroach8212 t1_j9ft0ey wrote

Or at 61 years old, he sees the RI Foundation as his final job. Spend 10-15 years there, no constant travel to Washington, no need to do any campaigning, collect a much larger salary and stay home. All that could also be a big part of the decision calculus.

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Yelling_Jellyfish t1_j9fudoy wrote

House Dem leadership smacked him around when he challenged their succession plans and now they're losing one of the more effective communicators in the caucus. Good job.

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captain_carrot t1_j9fuosv wrote

He's either woefully ignorant on a topic that he was pushing legislation for, or knowingly straight up lying to push what he was trying to pass. Regardless of whether you're for gun control or not, that's not someone I want as a congressman representing the people of this state.

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idkwhatimdoing25 t1_j9fuq8v wrote

Any ideas on who might run to fill the seat? Maybe a few of the failed governor candidates from last year - Gorbea, Brown, Munoz

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commandantskip t1_j9fzszf wrote

I have the same read. He was on the rise, but the change in Democratic leadership doesn't necessarily want to move with him. This is a good option for him. It still provides a leadership position, a healthy salary, and now he's walking distance from his restaurant.

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mkmck t1_j9g076z wrote

Makes sense. He also may have taken a look at his workplace over the past month and said NFW, especially with a viable alternative waiting for him.

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thetook t1_j9g26um wrote

$53.2B put some respect on that name. $200 million buys at least 1/4 of a new library wing or at least the 1 ply toilet paper for one bathroom stall for the school year!

Super quick check off articles and endowment office audit PDFs Brown:$6.5B (2022) RISD: $442M (2022) Providence: $320M (2022) JWU: $319M (2022) NEIT: $280M (2022) Bryant: $228M (2022) RIU: $218M (2021) RWU: $103M (2022) Salve: $81.6M (2022) RIC: $33.4M (2018)

CCRI is a public state school but their FY2023 budget request is $139.5M (not including any supplemental requests). $58.1m from the state, $61M from tuition and fees, $8M from the school own coffers. That is a $5.9M or 4.4% increase from FY2022.

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mkmck t1_j9g4uzw wrote

Speaking of wrong district...I believe De La Cruz and Chippendale would have to move to run, because they live in D2. I think Newberry is a N. Smithfield resident, but if he's in Burrillville, he'd have to move too.

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reddit_beats_chive t1_j9g7a6r wrote

He’s a known liar, he literally lied about the city of providence’s finances numerous times on his way out the door. Not only did he lie, but an audit following his departure showed that he lied…. People pick and chooses what to remember and call him great. TOTAL JOKE…. all you need in this state is a D by your name and you’re good to go. Two party system sucks.

−3

JCKRVSL t1_j9gc61n wrote

Good for him. I used to see him around Providence- mostly restaurants in the hill, where we would recognize one another.. but I never tried to take up his time. Just a hello, how are you? And have a nice day. I think I would appreciate that if I were him so… kept it normal.

0

majoroutage t1_j9gfh7j wrote

Do you pay for access to articles that will take you 30 seconds to read and never look at again?

If I'm gonna pay for news, it damn well better be something above and beyond what else is out there.

Also, remember where you are. If you're trying to share news and you link to it somewhere that makes people jump through hoops to actually read it, you're kinda the asshole.

−5

trabblepvd t1_j9gj5vv wrote

dont forget how he handled the Providence Economic Development Partnership loan program. I'm sure there is plenty to spread around at the RI Foundation, and I'm sure whoever gets funds will show their gratitude$$$ to him

Might as well get the FBI an office in the RI Foundation if Davey is going to run it.

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WickedDog310 t1_j9gj6i8 wrote

He announced he was leaving a year ago, and the search committee's been meeting for almost all that time. There's no way that Cicilline didn't know he was up for it during the fall campaign.

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trabblepvd t1_j9gjvk3 wrote

CD1 was competative, but Cicillinne and Gordon Fox gerry mandered CD1 and took large parts of PVD into it to rig it for Cicilinne. Langivan was pissed at the time. 2011- https://www.golocalprov.com/news/cicil

>The latest redistricting map released Monday by the state’s redistricting commission would force more than 100,000 voters to shift congressional districts while moving Burrillville, North Smithfield and Smithfield out of the 1st District. Former Congressional candidate John Loughlin won those three towns by 2,976 votes in 2010 and North Smithfield and Smithfield were, by percentage, his largest victories in the district. > >The key for the former Providence Mayor would be the addition of South Providence, which would make more than 70 percent of the capital city part of the 1st District. Cicilline won Providence in 2010 with 69.2 percent of the 17,681 votes cast in the city.

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Proof-Variation7005 t1_j9gkm6k wrote

Even ignoring that his upward mobiility in the party was effectively blocked AND his party lost control of the House, I don't think it's any mystery why a person would leave a job paying under $200,000 a year for a job that will pay north of a million.

It'd be more confusing if a person didn't make that move.

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wenestvedt t1_j9gnr4d wrote

Oh! I hadn't heard, and I am in a couple of non-profits, and kind of keep an ear open for this stuff.

Dang, then I have to agree that Cicilline must have known the opening was coming. It adds to the credibility of the suggestion that he's miffed over being squeezed out of the Dem leadership in the new house.

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SweatyCockroach8212 t1_j9grh9q wrote

Because the nature of a primary is that candidates beat each other up. Did Trillo beat up Fung enough in the primary that it turned independent voters to Gina? There's a lot more than just math involved in elections.

0

therealDrA t1_j9h01ss wrote

Duh! Trillo didn't run in primary. Patricia Morgan did. No voters went to Gina based on Trillo's talking points about Fung I can assure you.So if she had 50+, Trillo was not a factor

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mrmom456 t1_j9h375t wrote

He led Providence to near bankruptcy and pretty much helped the entire country the same way. Once he sees the $$$ he bails looking out for himself. POS

0

mkmck t1_j9h6sni wrote

>Do you pay for access to articles that will take you 30 seconds to read and never look at again?

Nope...but I don't bitch about it either. Reporters deserve to get paid for their work just like anyone else. If it's not worth it to you, don't click the link, and don't expect to read it. The length of the article is irrelevant. Anybody with one iota of common sense knows a Globe article ain't coming for free.

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quahaug1945 t1_j9hgv9e wrote

He's powerless in a Republican controlled Congress. Someone needs to closely monitor the financial books at the Rhode Island Foundation.

−2

nathanaz t1_j9hradi wrote

I mean…. If I could get a gigantic raise and not work with the douchenozzles in the House, I’d leave too. No brainer at this point.

−1

Debadoo27 t1_j9iepe9 wrote

Not liking this. Despite all the negative comments about his days as mayor, I appreciated how vocal he was during the Trump administration (if that is what it was). He did not sit quietly by and watch what a circus it was.

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AdmirablePiccolo t1_j9j7p4a wrote

The worst thing that could happen is that Mitch McConnell's crack whore Helena Foulkes decide she wants to carry the institutional backing from her gubernatorial race into this one. Everyone's so busy arguing and bitching about stupid shit in chat I don't think they realize how fucking awful it is for us to get a shitty Democrat in this position because we'll be stuck with them for 20 years and do you really want to have our representative exist only to lobby for CVS for 20 years? This is not a partisan competitive district so whichever Democrat wins here is not going to be challenged anytime soon and nobody's going to vote in a fucking primary especially for a special election so every single one of your votes counts in preventing a real catastrophe here.

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mkmck t1_j9jmn4v wrote

Not sure that's accurate. This is from the RI Sec of State's website:

If you want to run for a Rhode Island office, you must be a registered voter in Rhode Island and live within the district for the office you seek.

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Common_Abnormal t1_j9jqnhe wrote

The current CEO is making about $1,000,000 of this "non-profit".

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mkmck t1_j9jv2s3 wrote

You are correct. Maybe that rule only applies to local offices, not federal. I know the US Constitution only requires that you live in the state, not the district, but I believe states have the right to add requirements to their election rules. Interesting.

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anevilpotatoe t1_j9l75ie wrote

Thank you for the time to answer.

And I agree. Someone has to pay for it. No argument there. Paywalls are here, not going anywhere and they pay my rent, it's all been timelessly drilled into our minds time and time again as we navigate a digital space since its early days. But given the current structure of how journalism is incentivized, and the threat it actually poses to equal access to information, Democracy. Wouldn't you think the model needs to be revisited to ensure that we all have equal access to public information? Fairly and transparently?

Journalism was meant to hold power into account. A primary pillar of Democracy before and still today. However, given the state of disinformation and misinformation today, and the demand for accountability and truth in the general public, How can the arbiters (journalists) today truly be a measurable tenet of truth and justice today if that is what truly defines the state it is in? In essence, I'd argue like many others that the integrity of journalism has largely turned its back on people with this digital methodology when other models have yet to be explored or are lacking.

This isn't to harp at journalists, but a call for integrity, truth, and accountability in the model that defines it today. It's leaving a lot of people left out and very simply concerned, even for the uninformed. The integrity of information is key to reconciling many of the issues we will face in a challenging future. It's in some aspects dangerously undermining democratic processes, it's being disingenuous to the American public, to democracy, and the foundations of coveted ideals today. It can change, instead of selling out.

1

revertothemiddle t1_j9mfozf wrote

If someone offered me almost a mil to work a cushy job, I wouldn't refuse either. But honestly it was a bit heartbreaking to hear him talking on the radio about how he would make a greater difference at the foundation than in Congress. Yes there are 435 of them so his influence is probably not as great as we think. But how will he be able to advocate for universal healthcare in RI? I don't anything about RI Foundation and I don't wish him ill. It's just, like I said, a little heartbreaking. We need a fighter for the people now more than ever. I feel like we're just falling farther and farther behind with healthcare, housing, cost of living and everything. When will it get better?

1

buffymiffington t1_j9naqxj wrote

I’m not sure the specifics. I was really surprised to find out - I only found out because there were so many people jumping into the CD2 race that didn’t even live in the district. I know for local offices living in the district or ward is absolutely a requirement.

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No_Rule_9059 t1_j9nsljy wrote

Why did he wait till right after the election. He must have been in talks for the job before the election. Should have retired then

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No_Rule_9059 t1_j9nsz5n wrote

Allan Waters will probably run again. Could have a chance this time

1