Details: Joshua D. Saal, the former housing secretary who resigned after months of missteps reported by the Globe, has been hired by the state as a contractor.
The decision to have Saal return to state service as a contracted consultant was made by the governor’s office and the housing department, state department of administration spokeswoman Laura Hart told the Globe. Hart said the agreement was not required and is an “occasional practice” for departing state employees.

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more in the link.

So fired then rehired?

For clarity because at least for me, there’s a paywall…

> Former state Housing Secretary Josh Saal, who resigned under political pressure last month

> But he was criticized by top lawmakers for moving too slowly to put $250 million in budgeted federal funds for housing programs into action and for missing administrative deadlines.

> McKee announced Saal's resignation Jan. 11, less than a year after he was hired.

> Saal, who made $174,565 last year and $22,014 in January, will also receive $5,614 in unused vacation time, and the state will pay for his health insurance for three months

> The consulting contract provides Saal a minimum of 20 hours of work per week, meaning that by April 25 he would make at least $27,000 under the deal. The contract does not include a maximum of hours he can work, but sources familiar with the Housing Department indicated he was not expected to work full time over the three month period. If he did and worked 40 hours per week, he would receive more than $54,000 over three months.

Better call ….Saal?

That’s fucked. And these people are paid way WAY too much. Thanks for that.

Wow! Sounds like an essential asset to our state!

/s🤡

Classic bullshit local corruption: guy gets fired for being totally incompetent but gets brought back with a sweet deal as a consultant.

Fired at $83 an hour, re-hired as a contractor at $105 an hour. This is so fucked.

Tell me some news about Rhode Island without telling the news are about Rhode Island.

I get that there's sometimes a need to do this with a public official because you don't have a qualified replacement 100% ready to go. But there's not much evidence that Saal was qualified for this job in the first place and the results were somewhere between mediocre and terrible, by all accounts.

Booooooooo I love it

Wow another hilarious movie by Mckee

They have hired Stefan Pryor as the replacement, though. He already started.

And he had already been there as the deputy too, right? Like, he wasn't an outside hire coming in cold?