Rhode Island is investigating ‘disturbing’ behavior during official trip

It was a great opportunity for a Philadelphia developer who had won a contract on a $55 million project in Providence, RI, to show what he could do.

But even before two Rhode Island state officials arrived for a tour of a building the company had redeveloped, one of them made some very unorthodox demands.

“Please have fresh coffee (with milk and sugar) and the best croissant in Philadelphia ready for me upon arrival,” the official, David Patten, the director of the Rhode Island Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, wrote in a text message to officials. at the firm, Scout, which he sent for the tour at midnight, the developer later told in an email.

“Director Thorsen likes Diet Coke,” added Mr. Patten, referring to his colleague James E. Thorsen, who was director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration. “Leave a cold six-pack on the table in your conference room. You have three hours to convince us to give you $55 million.

The text message foreshadowed what was to come: “a series of bizarre, offensive and unprofessional actions” by Mr Patten that stunned the developer and enraged local business owners, the Scout email said.

The Rhode Island governor’s office said in a statement that it had asked state police and state personnel officials to conduct investigations related to the tour, but did not provide further details.

The episode took place on March 10, when Scout welcomed the two Rhode Island officials to the Bok buildinga former vocational high school in Philadelphia that the company had converted into a home for more than 200 companies, artists and nonprofits.

The officials arrived as Scout sought state funding from Rhode Island for a contract it had won redevelop a former state-owned armory in Providence, at a cost of $55 million.

The email detailing the visit was signed by Scout’s managing partner, Lindsey Scannapieco, and another Scout executive, and was sent on March 12 to the company’s Rhode Island lobbyist, who forwarded it to the chief of staff of the United States. governor of Rhode Island.

The email was released Thursday after the Rhode Island Attorney General instructed the administration from Governor Daniel McKee to comply with a request for public records along The magazine of Providence And WPRI, a Providence news channel.

According to the e-mail, Mr. Patten said to Ms. Scannapieco as they got their morning coffee, “If I knew your husband wasn’t here, I would have come last night.”

While touring the Bok building, Mr. Patten insisted on taking items — including vegan cheese and a pair of sneakers — from tenants, making them “very uncomfortable,” the email said.

The email claims that Mr. Patten insisted on having lunch at Irwin’s, a Sicilian restaurant in the building that Bon Appétit magazine named one of the 10 Best New Restaurants in America in 2022even after being told it wasn’t open for lunch.

“Well, you can ask a favor if you want $55 million in funding,” Mr. Patten told Ms. Scannapieco, according to the email. Scout then arranged for a “private lunch” at Irwin’s, “which has never happened in the project’s history,” the email said.

Mr. Patten went on medical leave on March 13 and he is now on administrative leave, according to Laura Hart, a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Administration.

Mr Thorsen tendered his resignation in February, before the tour, and it took effect April 30, Ms Hart said. That’s what the Rhode Island governor’s office said a statement that Mr. Thorsen had gone to work for the US Treasury Department, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Scout’s email did not accuse Mr Thorsen of making offensive comments, but said he had allowed Mr Patten’s behavior “to continue, even after we pulled him aside to indicate that it had to be fuses”.

According to the email, when Mr Patten got a pair of sneakers from Diadora, a sportswear company in the Bok building, he said he hoped they weren’t made in China “because I really hate China.”

Mr. Patten then turned to an Asian-American woman in the room and said, “No offense, honey,” Scout’s email states.

At a health clinic in the building, Mr. Patten urges a doctor to state his ethnic background and last name, the email says. When the doctor said he was Jewish, Mr Patten said, “Mazel tov,” the email said.

In a statement released after releasing the email, Governor McKee said: “The allegations regarding Mr. Patten’s conduct, if true, are distressing, unacceptable and inappropriate for anyone, especially an employee representing the state represents and who expects to be in the service of the state. .”

Michael P. Lynch, a lawyer for Mr Patten, said his client was “certainly ashamed and humiliated, not only for himself and the impact this has had on his family, but also for those who placed so much trust in him as a director . .”

Mr Lynch said Mr Patten’s behavior was the result of “an acute stress event” that had built up over the past three years following the deaths of his sister, father-in-law and best friend.

“He hadn’t been taking care of himself and was trying to deal with stressors through his work,” Mr Lynch said. He added that while Mr Patten “didn’t hide” from his actions, “the comments and statements described in that email just weren’t in or part of his fiber.”

Mr Thorsen said in a statement from his lawyer that he was aware that Mr Patten was “behaving strangely” and not “representing the state in an appropriate or positive manner”.

After flying back to Providence, Mr. Thorsen said, he went straight to a meeting he arranged with the state’s personnel office to discuss Mr. Patten’s conduct. He later said he spoke with state police.

Mr Thorsen said he had not asked Scout for preferential treatment and had not advised anyone that Scout’s treatment of him would have any impact on the allocation of government funding for the Providence weapons project.

Of lunch at Irwin’s, Mr. Thorsen said he had not asked about it in advance and that he paid for the meal after learning that the restaurant had opened early for his visit.

“It is of the utmost importance that I have not made any comment or made any statement to any person who was racially or sexually insensitive or inappropriate,” said Mr Thorsen. “I don’t engage in that kind of behavior or speech.”

Scout’s email indicates that Ms. Scannapieco and her colleagues are “disgusted” by Mr. Patten’s behavior.

“We do not want to work with people who casually support racism and sexism and are appalled at how this reflects on the state of Rhode Island and the lack of competence there,” the email states.

Ms. Scannapieco said in an email Tuesday that Scout was solely focused on his plan to redevelop the former armory in Providence. The project, which she said could create 400 jobs, still needs $55 million in funding.