The Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council held its 56th Annual Meeting Oct. 13, bestowing Robert M. Goodrich Distinguished Public Public Service Awards upon Roberta Richmond and Paul R. Pion. RIPEC also elected its officers and board of directors. University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger, who served as President of the Massachusetts Senate from 1978 until retiring in 1996, delivered the keynote address.
RIPEC President Dr. E. Gordon Gee, president of Brown University, said the organization’s operating program for the next few years is dedicated to helping put in place “solutions to complex and ongoing public policy issues.”
RIPEC’s 2000 Operating Program will focus on the areas of school finance, tax policy, and organizational efficiency in Rhode Island government and urban strategy.
Richmond is the Women’s Facilities Warden at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. She has authored several articles regarding women in prison. Pion is a supervisor in the City of Pawtucket’s Parks and Recreation Department. He worked to transform the former Slater Park Zoo – which sat dormant for five years – into Daggett Farm, which features a community garden with picnic grounds, a petting zoo and horseback riding.
Gee was re-elected as RIPEC’s president. Bernard V. Buonanno, a partner at Edwards & Angell, was elected secretary of the board. Robert Fournier, managing partner at Ernst & Young, was elected treasurer. Lawrence J. Reilly, president and chief executive officer at Narragansett Electric, was elected to RIPEC’s board for the first time.
