Tides of change The Carcieri administration’s flurry of personnel moves is part business as usual, although it also points the way to the 2006 election season BY IAN DONNIS

WHEN CHRISTOPHER F. Koller — arguably the best in a slew of fast and furious recent personnel changes in the Carcieri administration — was unveiled January 13 as the nominee to become the state’s first insurance commissioner, the governor’s State House news conference played out as something of an executive-legislative love-fest. During the start of the event, Carcieri prominently credited Senator Elizabeth Roberts (D-Cranston) and Representative Steven Constantino (D-Providence), chairs of the Joint Committee on Healthcare Oversight, for working to create the new post. Constantino, in turn, cited the effort as a prime example of how "legislative oversight and executive function can come together in a really harmonious way." Tying it all together, several speakers pointed to pressing local needs in terms of raising the access, quality, and affordability of health-care.

For Carcieri, this kind of muscular imagery — of moving forward and facing the state’s leading issues — jibes with the sense of mission he has tried to project since he emerged as a highly successful rookie candidate in 2002. It masks the governor’s strains with the legislature, particularly after he backed Representative John DeSimone’s failing attempt to topple House Speaker William P. Murphy. And though there’s a certain business-as-usual quality about some of the recent personnel moves, the pace of change — coming as the businessman-turned-politician heads into the second half of his four-year term — suggests how Carcieri is trying to rev up his administration’s momentum before the fast-approaching 2006 campaign season.

The stakes can be seen in how the governor sketched an ambitious agenda this week during his third State of the State address, touting plans to boost college scholarships, cut taxes over five years, examine the state’s over-reliance on property taxes, and raise the focus on health-care co-pays and pensions for public employees, among other things.

The rapid amount of recent personnel change in the administration, a contrast with the governor’s maintenance of holdovers after he came into office, was enough to leave some casual observers scratching their heads. The changes are the kind of thing that someone with more government experience may have made sooner. As one State House observer says, "At the beginning of the Carcieri administration, there was very little turnover, and often governors come in and replace a fairly significant number of cabinet positions. Governor Carcieri didn’t do that — individual administrations like to learn their own style — and what he’s doing is to bring in people to set a tone for his administration."

CARCIERI STARTED on January 5 by naming 14 new members to the Lottery Commission and the Coastal Resources Management Council, successfully seizing the initiative in the unfolding implementation of separation of powers. Replacing the director of the Department of Business Regulation in the same week, he was just warming up for a fresh fusillade of moves. During the second week in January, Carcieri names a new child advocate, nominated a man who could become the state’s first Hispanic judge, and changed directors at the state departments of Health, and Children, Youth and Families. Less publicized moves, from plugging holes for press and policy positions in the governor’s office, to the departure of two officials at the Department of Administration, were also unfolding. (In contrast, in a move that draws concern from some environmentalists, the Department of Environmental Management continues to operate with a temporary director, Fred Vincent, after the November 2003 resignation of Jan Reitsma.)

The timing of the fast flurry of moves can be partially attributed to the start earlier this month of the new legislative season. Asked about the quantity of personnel changes, Carcieri says, "I’m halfway through my term, and you look at where are the areas where you think we need to do a better job, and want some new ideas, some new creativity. I’ve been going through that process over the last couple of months. Unfortunately, things sort of come together at one time. A lot of these things have been worked on. You can’t always specifically or exactly set the timing."

Indeed, some of the switches, such as the moving out of Patricia Nolan at the Department of Health, and Jay G. Lindgren Jr. at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, can be understood in the context of how such directors, each of whom has served for about a decade, typically change after a period of time. Timing also worked against Nolan in terms of much-publicized problems involving the oversight and regulation of nursing homes.

Carcieri, who was rapped by minority groups for perceived insensitivity early in his tenure, continues to mend fences, getting two-fers in the nominations of Jametta Alston, president of the Rhode Island Bar Association, as child advocate, Providence lawyer Rafafel A. Ovalles as a district court judge, and Patricia Martinez, a former longtime director of the Central Falls human service agency Progreso Latino, as Children, Youth and Families director.

Some of the other changes, such as the departure of chief purchasing officer Peter Corr, who had raised concerns about the state’s ill-fated decision to award an employee health-care contract to UnitedHealthcare, are more complex, but more about these later.

The qualifications of the governor’s host of nominees vary in length and breadth of experience. Dr. David R. Gifford, for example, who Carcieri named to be the next director of the Department of Health, has a high degree of expertise on elder care, although less familiarity with some other elements of his prospective bailiwick. Similarly, although Martinez is well regarded and has a strong share of community support, she lacks previous experience in running such a large government bureaucracy.

When WJAR-TV (Channel 10) reporter Bill Rappleye picked up on this during the news conference unveiling Martinez’s nomination — asking, quite reasonably, about the largest budget and staff she has overseen — the governor quickly interceded, questioning the relevance of the query. Although the governor can certainly dominate the floor during his news conferences in the rarefied confines of the State Room, he won’t be able to shield his nominees from such relevant questions during confirmation hearings in the Senate.

On Smith Hill, relations between Carcieri and the legislature have deteriorated since the governor came into office in 2003, and without a degree of reconciliation, the kind of executive-legislative bonhomie found at Christopher Koller’s news conference could prove to be in short supply. Meanwhile, although 2005 is just beginning, the foundations are being laid for what promises to be an active local political season in 2006, when high-profile contests will unfold for governor and US Senate.