Foulkes blasts McKee over Rhode Island bridge safety

From “cooking the books” to threats from Alviti

Campaign Blasts McKee Administration for Removing Bridges from Safety Reporting

Providence, RI — In response to WPRI reporting that the McKee administration cooked the books by removing more than 700 state bridges from the list to try to claim it met its safety and inspection goals, Helena Buonanno Foulkes issued the following statement:

“The McKee Administration has a pattern of putting politics over competence, and this is just the latest example,” said Helena. “You can’t cook the books and then gaslight the people of Rhode Island; Governor McKee has failed Rhode Islanders, and his dishonesty only makes it worse.

Foulkes Campaign Not Worried About “Hearing Forcefully” From Resigned McKee Admin Transportation Director

Providence, RI — Yesterday, after announcing his resignation and cooking the books to make it look like he met RIDOT’s bridge safety goal, RIDOT Director Peter Alviti posted a bizarre “open letter” on the taxpayer-funded RIDOT website. After claiming over and over again that he wasn’t fired, he ended the letter stating: “And if anyone lies or misrepresents the facts for personal gain, they will be hearing forcefully from me."

In reply, Foulkes campaign communications director Angelika Pellegrino released the following statement:

“Empty threats aside, Mr. Alviti should know there is no need to misrepresent any facts to point out that Dan McKee caused months of delay when he bungled the bid process to repair the Washington Bridge, that Director Alviti couldn’t remember the name of the safety inspector in his own agency when under oath last fall, and that Rhode Islanders have to sit in traffic daily—and will have to do so for years to come—because of the McKee Administration’s failures. ”