On the other hand, we do need what this job brings to the state

To the Editor:
Fortunately, comments, if quoted accurately, by one SBANE member related to the efficacy of the lieutenant governor’s office (“Can Rhode Island do without a Lieutenant Governor?” Oct. 11, 2010), do not reflect the opinions of the majority of the SBANE Rhode Island members and guests that were surveyed recently.
In a poll taken at the Oct. 13 SBANE Rhode Island breakfast meeting, 74 percent of the respondents think that the office should remain a separate independent office or be bracketed with the governor as a ticket. Only 26 percent of those polled think that the office should be eliminated.
The lieutenant governor’s office duties are important and defined by statute.
For instance, the Small Business Advisory Committee provides the small-business community with a seat at the table where small-business concerns can be addressed and solutions be discussed. The role of chair of this committee has been handled admirably by Lt. Gov. Elizabeth H. Roberts and by Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty before her.
Other statutory duties such as chairing the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council and the Emergency Management Advisory Council provide useful and necessary avenues to address issues and concerns related to Emergency Management and Long-Term Care.
Those who propose eliminating the position are probably not aware that, in the United States, there have been more than 20 gubernatorial successions in the last 10 years. Also, those who propose elimination don’t seem to offer a valid alternative process for gubernatorial succession in the event a sitting governor becomes incapacitated or incapable of performing his/her duties.
Through her official capacity as lieutenant governor, Elizabeth Roberts has always worked closely with SBANE and has been extremely supportive of the small-business community. We consider her office a strong and powerful vehicle for addressing small-business issues and problems. To assume that the lieutenant governor’s office “can’t do anything” is dramatically underestimating the impact of her work in small-business advocacy, health care reform, and emergency management.
Philip M. Papoojian
Vice Chairman
Smaller Business Association
of New England (SBANE)