Ray Berberick on why Rhode Island needs an inspector general

Portsmouth resident also shares ideas for his hometown's future

By Jim McGaw
Posted 8/16/17

PORTSMOUTH — Ray Berberick has had a rough year.

In March, his 31-year-old daughter Stephanie died after an illness.

Shortly afterwards Mr. Berberick was diagnosed with Stage 4A …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Ray Berberick on why Rhode Island needs an inspector general

Portsmouth resident also shares ideas for his hometown's future

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Ray Berberick has had a rough year.

In March, his 31-year-old daughter Stephanie died after an illness.

Shortly afterward Mr. Berberick was diagnosed with Stage 4A throat cancer, for which he’s being treated. Mr. Berberick, 60, says he’s got one chemotherapy and seven radiation sessions left to go.

Despite it all, he’s started a personal campaign to get the state to hire an inspector general to watchdog over wasteful government spending.

An ROTC candidate at Davidson College in North Carolina in the 1970s, Mr. Berberick was commissioned to second lieutenant in artillery in 1979. He was stationed in Germany, Korea, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas before his last assignment at the Quinta Gamelin Reserve Center in Bristol. 

We chatted with him last week at his Robin Road home, where he lives with his wife of 34 years, Gael Berberick, a school music educator.

How do you feel? “Mentally and spiritually, pretty good, but the back of the throat’s killing me. I’m not formally working now, but I’ve got some part-time work that I’m helping other people with.”

How did the role of inspector general begin? “The very first inspector general in this country was Baron von Steuben (1730-1794). He was a Prussian general who came over and helped Washington train the troops. The inspector general concept has been in the military ever since then. As luck will have it, I was inspector general at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, so I actually know the military side of it. There are differences, but the concepts and the end states are virtually the same; you are looking for systemic issues to improve efficiency and effectiveness and you focus on fraud, waste and abuse — not individuals.”

What about in state government? “Massachusetts was the first state to have an inspector general, in 1981. In the ’60s in Massachusetts, there were a bunch of bad construction deals going on and people were getting upset. They put together the Ward Commission which said it was political preference and not qualifications that gets you a contract. That needs to change and we need an agency to watchdog this, and we’re going to call it the inspector general.”

Why do we need one in Rhode Island? “It came from the Sakonnet (Bridge) tolls. The locals were pounding the legislators with, ‘You’re gonna kill us with this stupid toll.’ (The lawmakers) are saying, ‘Well, if you don’t have a toll, what do you guys suggest we do to find that money?’ Wait a minute, isn’t that your job? So, we sat down and found 12 items to recommend to the state. One was, ‘Let’s do an inspector general,’ because I knew from experience that they can go in and find millions of dollars.”

Millions? “A few years ago, the Pennsylvania IG caused the return of $87 million to their state funds in fraudulent welfare funds. The state budget in Rhode Island has increased 70 percent in the last 10 years; that’s from Jim Hummel. That’s nuts. The state is spending 40 percent more per capita than the national average. Are you telling me every dollar is being wisely spent? That’s why we need an IG, because an IG will tell you where it’s going. And if it’s not going where it’s supposed to, they can redirect it back into, God forbid, the general fund. But, then they can use it to do the car tax and the free tuition and all that stuff. They’re killing us up there now.”

How many states have an inspector general? “Twelve.”

Why so few? “I would guess because it’s similar to what we’re seeing in this state: Fear of the unknown. As an interesting aside, Florida does not have one state IG. They have 26 IGs — one for each agency. IGs have the best return on investment of any government entity. It’s all on my website: www.iginri.wordpress.com.”

How confident are you about your campaign? “It’s going to be a David-and-Goliath thing. If I can get enough members of the General Assembly to put in an IG, that will be time well-spent.”

When did you come to this area? “Twenty years ago. I was on the (Portsmouth) Economic Development Committee from 2009 up until 2014 and ran the committee for two years. The path I was going was not the direction the town wanted to go. Economic development in Portsmouth is going to be difficult no matter who’s in charge. First, we don’t have sewers. Two, we’re not a destination town. And three, we just don’t have enough support from the people.”

Which direction do you think the town should go? “If I were king, I’d take advantage of the new Newport/Bristol Chamber co-op and instead of competing with them, become adjunct with them — become part of the destination menu. If money and time were no object, I’d use eminent domain and take all those houses out in Island Park and put in a Water’s Edge, like they have in Old Saybrook (Conn.) It’s a functional facility — brides, swimming pool, condos, townhouses. I’d have a water taxi go from Glen Manor up to Water’s Edge and back and forth.”

What else? “I would take upper East Main Road and make it like Scituate Harbor or Duxbury Harbor or downtown Hingham (Mass.). I would take the Boston Freedom Trail and call it the Portsmouth Freedom Trail; I’ve got 35 sites in town that can all be linked by walking. Then all of a sudden, there’s a whole bunch of people spending money in Portsmouth.”

What are the chances of that happening? “That’s not really where the town wants to go. The people want this to be a nice, quiet little bedroom town. Can’t say that I blame them, but our taxes are going to go through the roof if we don’t bring in more revenue.”

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.