True cost of vegan cheese and Philadelphia’s best croissants: a $5,000 ethics fine

A $500 private lunch at an Italian restaurant in south Philadelphia’s Bok building last year is now costing one former state official $5,000 in fines.

Former state property director David Patten agreed to a $5,000 settlement with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission on Tuesday, after ethics investigators found “probable cause” of four ethical violations Patten committed during a business trip to Philadelphia in March 2023 — including the lunch in question. 

Former administration director James Thorsen, Patten’s boss, continues to fight the three alleged ethical violations from a separate probe into his own behavior and actions on the trip. 

Speaking to reporters outside the elevator at the commission’s eighth floor Providence office, Thorsen refused to admit wrongdoing or to settle with the commission. Instead, his alleged violations will be reviewed further under a quasi-judicial, administrative hearing, a date for which has not been scheduled as of Tuesday.

His declaration lasted seconds before he and his attorney fled the barrage of reporters amid further questions.

The pair of investigatory reports were shared publicly following a three-hour long meeting held mostly behind closed doors, in which commission members spoke with Thorsen, Patten and their respective attorneys.

Most of the damning information laid out in the documents has already been made public through emails released under the attorney general’s order last June, showing a string of inappropriate comments made by Patten, including racist remarks and sexual advances toward members of Scout Ltd., the Philadelphia development team under contract with the state to redevelop the Cranston Street Armory.

Patten’s demands for vegan cheese and breakfast croissants spawned punchlines, while his racist and sexist behavior drew scathing criticism. 

However, it was the gifts, including the lunch Patten wanted to have at Irwin’s, the Sicilian restaurant inside the Bok building that Scout redeveloped, that formed the basis for his ethical violations, according to the report. 

“The Ethics Commission can’t impose penalties for offensive behavior,” Executive Director Jason Gramitt said, speaking to reporters after the meeting on Tuesday.

‘Call in a favor if you want $55M’

The $5,000 fine covers two of the four violations for which state investigators found probable cause, both of which stem from Patten’s acceptance of gifts over $25 — banned both by the state ethics code and a separate state law prohibiting procurement officials from taking gifts from state vendors.

The $524 lunch included a $131.15 “per person” charge, plus a $200 fee to open the restaurant which would normally have been closed, in addition to the $202 bill for food and drinks, according to the report.

Two other violations for which investigators found “probable cause” — both relating to Patten’s use of position for personal gain and to influence the outcome of the contractor’s request for more state funding — were dismissed with prejudice under the settlement. 

While these violations were dismissed, the ethics report lays out evidence and examples of Patten’s ethical abuse of his position. When a Scout employee first told Patten that the restaurant he wanted to eat lunch at would be closed during their trip, he allegedly responded, “Well, you can call in a favor if you want $55M in funding,” according to the report.

In a separate text asking the contractors to have coffee and “the best croissant in Philadelphia” ready for his arrival, Patten also wrote, “You have three hours to convince us to give you $55M,” the report stated.

The settlement was approved by a 6-1 vote of the commission, with member Hugo Ricci casting the sole vote in opposition. Ricci originally wanted to fine Patten $10,000 but no other commissioners supported his proposal, according to a public reading of the prior, closed-door discussion.

Ricci refused to comment Tuesday.

John Marion, executive director for Common Cause Rhode Island, characterized the $5,000 fine as “in line” with what the commission has imposed in recent years for other, serious violations.

Most offenders of the ethics code pay a few hundred dollars for minor infractions; the most significant fine levied was $130,000 against former state Sen. John Celona in 2006. Celona was found to have violated the ethics code under 10 separate counts for doing paid work for CVS Corp., among other companies, while in state office.

The commission can fine up to $25,000 per ethics violation; the separate state law for procurement officers carries a maximum $2,000 penalty, according to Gramitt.

Patten, who spoke to the commission in private with his attorney Michael Lynch, deferred questions to Lynch. 

Speaking to reporters, Lynch characterized Patten’s behavior as the result of a “medical crisis,” reiterating prior comments about an “acute stress event” for which he blamed Patten’s behavior during the trip. 

“This is a long, expensive process,” Lynch said of the ethics probe. “Hopefully now, he’s going to be able to move forward.”

Patten resigned from his post as state properties director on the heels of the damning emails being released. He declined to comment Tuesday when asked about current or future employment, quickly leaving the offices after his settlement was signed. 

While Lynch struck a conciliatory tone on behalf of his client, expressing that Patten was apologetic, Thorsen took an opposite approach, refusing to admit wrongdoing despite the investigation’s conclusions.

“If I thought I did wrong, I wouldn’t be here right now,” Thorsen said. “It would have been settled a long time ago. I believe I behaved in a responsible manner, took the appropriate steps with HR and the governor’s chief of staff.”

The ethics report suggests otherwise. While Thorsen did not demand, in writing at least, a free lunch or other gifts, he was aware of Patten’s solicitations, even adding in the initial email discussion about the pending lunch that he was allergic to calamari when asked for dietary restrictions. He never asked for a bill for his meal until three days later, after he had returned home. Thorsen’s half of the meal, $262.30, was reimbursed to the contractor in April, three weeks later, according to the report.

The investigation found evidence that Patten violated the same ethics clause banning gifts over $25, as well as a second ethics violation for using his public office for personal financial gain over the same free lunch. He also violated the same state law as Patten, separate from the ethics code, banning procurement officials from accepting gifts from state vendors

However, the report failed to find probable cause on the fourth charge, of soliciting gifts or factors in return for a “favorable judgment” — in this case, the state funding Scout needed to move forward with its Providence redevelopment project.

Thorsen contests case

Thorsen faces up to $52,000 in fines based on the three violations for which probable cause was found; however, he has not yet agreed to pay anything, instead turning to the adjudicate hearing process for contested cases. The quasi-judicial, public hearing offers each side the chance to present evidence and question witnesses, after which fines or other enforcement orders may be imposed.

It’s unusual for officials charged with ethics complaints to contest the findings, particularly in this case since the complaint stemmed from within the commission itself, Marion said.

However, Thorsen’s case may not be as clear-cut as his former partner in crime, since Patten was the person engaged in the most egregious ethical violations and alleged misbehavior. 

Thorsen also has a high-ranking position which could be at stake; he left for a job with the U.S. Department of Treasury in April 2023, before the emails were published or the ethics investigation commenced.

Both reports mention correspondence with McKee’s office, including a senior advisor contacted about the behavior of his former cabinet members after the trip.

Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKee’s office, offered an emailed response Tuesday afternoon.

“We appreciate the time and effort that the Ethics Commission has made to review this matter,” DaRocha said. “The Ethics Commission has a constitutional and statutory duty to fulfill and we must allow them to do their job and let the process continue.

McKee faced a separate ethics complaint lodged by the Rhode Island GOP for letting Scout Ltd.’s lobbyist pay for a lunch meeting at The Capital Grille in Providence, though the complaint was dismissed in January, with the report finding no evidence that McKee’s violation was “knowing and willful.”

Meanwhile, McKee’s administration canceled its contract with Scout in July 2023, citing the $72 million cost estimate to renovate the vacant Cranston Street Armory as reason for the termination of the contract inked a year before. 

The long-term future of the early 20th-century building, once home to the Rhode Island National Guard, remains in limbo, though it was temporarily leased for six months beginning in December by a Disney-owned production company for its filming of “Ella McCay.”

McKee’s fiscal 2025 budget proposal includes $7.4 million in long-term capital project spending over the next five years for the Armory for “asset protection work,” while a reuse plan is being refined, according to Derek Gomes, a DOA spokesperson.

Updated to include comment from Gov. Dan McKee’s office.