Projo Politics Blog

08:34 AM EST on Monday, January 29, 2007

Little more than a year after Governor Carcieri gave him a coveted — albeit unpaid — seat on the State Investment Commission, political operative Jeff Britt has quit.

In a late-December resignation letter to Carcieri, Britt said: “I do not believe it is in the best interests of your administration and policies to have me continue to occupy a seat on the SIC if I cannot foresee being able to attend future meetings on a regular basis.”

In an interview Friday, Britt — who is also a close political ally of new state treasurer and Democrat Frank T. Caprio — acknowledged that he quit to pursue lobbying/consulting gigs that could pose a conflict with his duties on the board that oversees the investment of $7.9 billion in state pension fund assets, $7.6 billion in CollegeBound funds and the short-term investment of about $397 million in other state money.

Britt said he had already lined up one lobbying/consulting client hoping to “raise its profile” in the Rhode Island political arena — Dimeo Construction.

“I don’t have any clients doing business now with the treasurer’s office. Is it likely to happen? Boy, I hope so,” he said.

“People hire a lobbyist because they have access to whoever you need. You know, you hire a legislative lobbyist on the House side because they can get [Speaker] Billy Murphy on the telephone — which is why you don’t hire me for that,” he said.

But, “I think I could probably get the governor’s office on the phone. I think I could probably get the treasurer’s office on the phone. … That’s where my value as a lobbyist is.”

Britt, of course, was the behind-the-scenes player with close ties to the dissidents seeking to dethrone Murphy during the last two-year session who was also Republican Carcieri’s liaison to those he called “reform Democrats.”

His 12 years in the investment banking business included a stint at the former Tucker Anthony before he ran what he has described as a private partnership within Paine Webber before the firm and his partnership — Britt/Goodreau — were bought out by UBS Paine Webber about six years ago.

To cover his bases, Britt has asked the state Ethics Commission for an opinion on what he can or cannot do as a recently departed member of the State Investment Commission.

“In my professional capacity as a government relations consultant, I may potentially interact and lobby the Rhode Island General Assembly and all statewide elected officials and their respective departments. What, if any, restrictions do I have?” he wrote the commission on Dec. 21. He awaits a reply.

Meanwhile, the nine-member investment panel limps along with three vacancies and a snagged reappointment. The governor has not yet submitted a nominee to replace Britt.

But on Jan. 17, Caprio nominated, subject to Senate confirmation, CPA Robert Giudici, a partner at Ward Fisher & Co., to a two-year appointment, and Andrew K. Reilly, managing director of the venture capital firm Thomas Keenan Ventures, to a one-year term. Carcieri is expected to renominate J. Michael Costello, of Baldwin Brothers Investment Advisors. The nomination languished in the Senate last session.

--By Katherine Gregg, Elizabeth Gudraisand Scott Mayerowitz
Journal State House Bureau

 

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