Three of the five candidates for Rhode Island governor blasted Frank Caprio for telling bond rating agencies not to even review the proposed sale of $75 million of bonds to support the move of Curt Schilling's video game development company to Rhode Island.
The candidates meet for a gubernatorial forum Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick. The forum was sponsored by the Rhode Island Public Health Association.
General Treasurer Caprio's effort to kill the proposed the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.'s deal before it even gets final approval, caused Republican candidate John Robitaille to say, "He is basically saying to our EDC board, which is comprised of the best and brightest and most successful business people in this state, that he doesn't trust them. I think that sends a horrible message and will hurt economic development in this state going forward."
Fellow Republican Victor Moffitt said Caprio overstepped his bounds.
"As General Treasurer he should stay out of financial issues. I believe he's doing this just for grandstanding," he said.
Moderate Party candidate Ken Block agreed.
"At this point, I consider this a nasty political stunt -- to insert oneself and go right to the rating agency and try to affect their behavior. I significantly question the wisdom of that and I question the propriety of that, for sure," Block said.
Independent Lincoln Chafee, who is seen as Caprio's main rival for the office, actually applauded Caprio's move.
"The main thing is to stop the deal. That's what I've been advocating right along, sometimes alone. So it's great to have General Treasurer Caprio now join me," he said.
Caprio told NBC 10, "when I'm elected Governor, there's going to be potentially a $100 million bill that could come due because of this deal, and I'm not going to stand by and let the taxpayers dig into their pockets for another $100 million because this deal is unlike any other deal, and it's a bad deal."
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