PROVIDENCE – Gary S. Sasse, director of both the R.I. Department of Administration and the Department of Revenue, will step down on March 1, the governor’s office announced Thursday.
Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, noted that the governor is in the final year of his term and barred by term limits from running again. “I think Gary is striking while the iron is hot,” she said. “He’s been approached with some great opportunities.”
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Kempe declined to elaborate on those opportunities, but said the resignation was timed so that it came after the governor released his budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. She also said Carceri and Sasse continued to have “a great relationship.”
The governor will likely name Sasse’s replacement in the coming days, Kempe said.
Carcieri appointed Sasse, 67, as the first director of the newly created Revenue Department in January 2008. Sasse had spent the previous three decades as executive director of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC), a business-backed research group that influenced the pushed for the new department’s creation.
A year later, the governor gave Sasse a second job as head of the Department of Administration, following the resignation of Jerome Williams.
While Kempe credited Sasse with playing a key role in crafting the fiscal 2011 budget the governor released on Tuesday, she said the administration felt comfortable with his departure because “he’s put some really good people in place.” She singled out for praise Tax Administrator David Sullivan and Paul L. Dion, chief of the Office of Revenue Analysis.
Kempe declined to make Sasse available for an interview, but in a statement he thanked Carcieri for allowing him to serve in the administration.
“It has been an honor and privilege working for Gov. Carcieri,” Sasse said. “I believe we have achieved significant accomplishments in delivering necessary services without raising taxes during these challenging economic times.”
Carcieri returned the praise.
“At the Department of Revenue, Gary implemented new policies to improve reporting and analysis, enhance revenue collections and successfully found operating efficiencies and cost savings across all divisions, while leading the state through the [Twin River] bankruptcy proceedings and the modernization of the [Department of Motor Vehicles],” the governor said in a statement.
“At Administration, Gary successfully negotiated the two-year pay reduction with all state employee unions, brought greater efficiencies throughout all state agencies, and helped craft balanced and responsible budgets,” Carcieri continued. “I extend my gratitude to Gary for his service to Rhode Island, and wish him the very best.”
Before taking the helm at RIPEC in 1977, Sasse worked for the city government in Memphis, Tenn., and in the administration of former Tennessee Gov. Winfield C. Dunn.
