PROVIDENCE – Jim Thorsen, a former high-ranking state official, has broken his silence about an email that alleges misconduct by another top state official during a business trip to Philadelphia in March, according to local news reports.
Thorsen, the former director of the R.I. Department of Administration, said through a statement from his attorney that he was aware that David Patten, the state property director, “was behaving strangely during this trip and was not representing the state in an appropriate or positive way,” when they visited Scout Ltd. on March 10 to redevelop the Cranston Street Armory.
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“This presented a dilemma on how to complete the meeting, but because of the time constraints, I endeavored to do so,” Thorsen’s statement said.
On June 8, Gov. Daniel J. McKee made public the email that detailed Patten’s misconduct under orders from Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.
The original email from Scout Ltd. centered around the behavior of Patten. The company claimed Patten displayed bizarre, offensive” behavior that was “blatantly sexist, racist and unprofessional” during the daylong trip. Scout officials also claimed Thorsen, who left his state job in April to rejoin the U.S. Treasury Department, failed to intervene.
The McKee administration fought for months to keep the email secret, but lost the battle when Neronha ruled in favor of WPRI-TV CBS 12 and The Providence Journal in an open-records complaint seeking the message.
Thorsen, through his attorney, said in his statement the clarification “of greatest importance” to him was that “I did not make any remark or make any statement to any person that was racially or sexually insensitive or inappropriate. I do not engage in that type of speech or conduct,” according to a WPRI report.
Thorsen in his statement claimed he “did not request or have anyone else request preferential treatment from Scout.” The Providence Journal said Thorsen also denied advising as causing “anyone else to advise Scout Ltd. that the way in which I was treated by Scout Ltd. would have any impact on the prospective awarding of state funding relating to the proposed Armory project.”
Thorsen also claimed he was “in the dark” that Patten demanded Scout to open a high-end Italian restaurant to serve the officials lunch that day in Philadelphia.
“I sat down to eat with two Scout Ltd. representatives at around 11 a.m.,” WPRI reported. “There were no other diners in the restaurant at that time. Because it was so early, I did not attach significance to that observation.”
Patten went on medical leave three days after the trip, WPRI reported on June 8. He stayed on medical leave until he was placed on administrative leave on May 30.
