Carcieri chides Roberts for comments on Lucas payment
4:28 PM Tue, Jun 16, 2009 | Permalink
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By Katherine Gregg PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Republican Governor Carcieri is lashing back at Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, a Democrat, for what he calls her "irresponsible and erroneous accusations'' about his administration's agreement to pay $370,000 to the Lucas Group for its consulting work on the state's Medicaid overhaul. "There is no wrong-doing by anyone in the Administration, and to imply such is grossly negligent,'' said a statement issued by the governor's office Tuesday. And, "there was never a "no-bid, no-contract agreement" with the Lucas Group,'' the statement said. The administration has been unable to produce a bid or contract for the Boston based company that has emerged as a major player in Carcieri's securing of a federal waiver giving the state unprecedented freedom in how it spends its Medicaid dollars on health care for the poor, the elderly and the disabled. In fact, the administration had insisted for months that John Stephen and the Lucas Group, the Boston company for which he works, had volunteered their time to the state's effort to win the waiver from the Bush administration. Carcieri's statement reiterated this series of events on the payment: "After several months of disagreement with the Lucas Group, a settlement was reached after intensive mediation facilitated by retired Associate Justice and former Attorney General Richard Israel.'' The statement acknowledges: "No formal contract was ever signed and or formal purchase order was ever issued to the Lucas Group for payment...[however] the Office of the Governor agrees with Justice Israel that the State did benefit, and payment to the Lucas Group is appropriate under the circumstances.'' On Monday, both Roberts and Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch publicly demanded details about the Lucas Group settlement, which came to light Friday, and a key state senator said the situation is "puzzling" enough to merit a Senate inquiry. Roberts said: "I am gravely concerned at the actions of the governor and the Department of Human Services that resulted in a no-bid contract for a personal friend of Secretary Alexander ... Circumventing procurement rules, bypassing contract procedures, misleading the public and employing cronyism at any level is unacceptable, and undermines the public's confidence in government, especially at this crucial time." A big chunk of the settlement -- $150,000 -- was paid last week, as required under the pact. Roberts sent the governor a letter Tuesday asking him to withhold any further payments in light of the "numerous questions [that] have arisen about the appropriateness of the relationship between'' the Lucas Group and the Department of Human Services. In an accompanying statement, she said: "State money cannot be spent without responsibly following purchasing and procurement laws and regulations...I call on Secretary Alexander to provide a detailed timeline of the events he set in motion surrounding the engagement of the Lucas Group and bring transparency to any negotiations with the Lucas Group before and after the apparent dispute over payment." 
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What in the heck was stated here? Was there any improprioties here. Cant this administration even answer a question regarding impropriety when obtaining work thru the bidding process? After all these years, what has this administration learned regarding simple governmental work? You all know what the questions are, please simply answer whether or not all state policies were followed by the administration when obtaining the services of this consulting firm.
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Until proven otherwise, I believe Elizabeth Roberts and not Carcieri and Alexander. I don't trust them for one moment. They try to say Dem's are the corrupt ones, but this is as corrupt as it comes.
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Here we go again. The poor governor didn't realize he was doing anything wrong as usual. I am sick and tired of hearing WPRO radio defending the governor all the time when he makes a "simple mistake". Governor Carcieri has proven from day one that he does what he wants and them askes for pity from the public. He lied when he was running against Fogerty saying the state has a surplus only to find out the week after the election that the state was deeply in the hole. Oh lets see, he takes a days pay away from the state workers, wants to give the medical examiner a 17,000.00 raise, and now pay his friends company 370,000.00 for work he first said was being done for free. FINE GOVERNOR CARCIERI
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