PROVIDENCE – Another one of Gov. Daniel J. McKee’s cabinet members has left.
Guillermo Tello, the state’s revenue director, has returned to work for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, according to Matthew Sheaff, a spokesperson for McKee. The governor has named Jane Cole to step in to lead the R.I. Department of Revenue on a temporary basis, Sheaff said in an email on Friday.
Tello’s departure is the latest in a string of resignations and retirements by appointed state administrators. As of late June, nearly one-third of state cabinet positions were filled with temporary – rather than permanent – directors or secretaries, according to an analysis by WPRI-TV CBS 12.
Since then, those in charge of the state’s Office of Energy Resources and Department of Human Services have also left, although DHS has not had a permanent director in over a year.
Tello was named as the state’s revenue director about a year ago, and previously worked for the U.S. Treasury, where he is now returning. Cole, who will serve as acting director, has worked in state service since 2005, and with the Department of Revenue since 2015, where she was its chief of staff and chief financial officer, according to Sheaff.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
