McKee sends top aide to RIDOT to monitor response to Washington Bridge investigation. What to know.

PROVIDENCE – Gov. Dan McKee is sending a retired police lieutenant and key member of his State House team across the street from the capitol to monitor the Department of Transportation's response to the Washington Bridge fiasco and a federal investigation.

McKee is dispatching his senior deputy chief of staff, Joseph Almond, to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

McKee has not lost confidence in RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, according to his chief spokeswoman Andrea Palagi. But when asked if the DOT director would now be reporting to Almond, she said: "Alviti is still the director of the Department of Transportation. He's still the expert on the engineering, more so than Joe Almond. He is still leading.

"Joe Almond is there to coordinate. He is there to oversee, make sure information is flowing in all directions and we're moving together as one-team." Put another way: Alviti will "be running everything related to the bridge through Joe Almond to make sure we are all on the same page," she said.

The move comes days after the governor's office announced McKee wanted a direct briefing by the engineers working to untangle what happened to the bridge and what to do next. That is expected to happen this week.

Potential sore points with Alviti: McKee wasn't told until close to 3 p.m on December 11 of Alviti's plan to shut down the westbound span of the Washington Bridge at 5 p.m. that day, causing instant chaos, and more recently, was not told until early afternoon on Friday that the U.S. Attorney's office had delivered a document demand to RIDOT at 10:20 a.m. that day.

U.S. DOJ investigating the Washington Bridge

The Almond announcement comes three days after the U.S. Attorney and the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation demanded bridge construction and inspection records dating back to Jan. 1, 2015 in connection with alleged "false claims" for payment.

What will Almond be doing?

In a statement issued Monday morning, the governor's office said Almond will be charged with "providing oversight and cross-agency coordination for all operations related to the Washington Bridge."

"Joe has a background in both municipal leadership and public safety that will position him well for this role," the statement said.

Almond had been the elected Lincoln Town Administrator for 15 years when McKee hired him as his deputy chief of staff within his first two weeks as governor, after former Gov. Gina Raimondo's mid-term resignation in March 2021 to become U.S. Commerce Secretary,

Asked at the time why he was making the leap, Almond said: "Because the opportunity presented itself and I just consider it an honor to be asked to take a position like that and work for somebody that I consider … a friend and that I also admire."

His current pay: $192,708 a year.

Almond said his friendship with McKee dates back to the years when McKee was mayor of Cumberland. "We were in office together from pretty much the first day and worked on dozens of projects together … and we maintained a close relationship all the time he has been lieutenant governor."

A retired police lieutenant, Almond was first elected to serve a two-year term as town administrator in 2006, then re-elected for an additional two-year term in 2008. In 2010, the town amended its charter to extend the administrator’s term to four years. He won reelection each election year since.

Almond's uncle, the late Lincoln Almond, was the Lincoln town administrator before becoming a U.S. attorney and later, governor.

McKee asks for 'flexibility' from FEMA

Also on Monday, the governor's office reported McKee's call over the weekend to the head of FEMA, Deanne Criswell, to ask "flexibility."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency had "originally indicated that the State of Rhode Island would not qualify for funding/reimbursement under the Stafford Act if the Governor was to issue a Declaration of Emergency Disaster in response to the Washington Bridge."

It is not known what impact the governor's call may have had.

In December, another arm of the federal government, the U.S. Small Business Administration, approved the governor's request for a Declaration of Economic Injury Disaster for the Washington Bridge and the impact it has had on local businesses. This declaration allows for small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations who were impacted by the closure of the Washington Bridge, to apply for long-term, sub-market rate, and working capital loans.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Washington Bridge fiasco: McKee sends top aide to oversee investigation