That really wasn't how the EDC operated, and the governor had a bias towards keeping the EDC meetings open."Įventually the EDC did go into closed-door "executive sessions" to discuss 38 Studios, but even then, Foulkes found the lack of options presented to them frustrating. "So one of the things that was hard for me being on the EDC board was that all of the meetings were public meetings, and during this time there was a lot of sensitive private information," Foulkes told lawyers for the defendants, "and so in a perfect world I was used to an environment where we could close the door, keep everyone else out, get all the facts on the table, understand it and debate as a board what our options were. One dispute was over how often the EDC board should meet behind closed doors to discuss sensitive information about the company and what should be done with it.
She did remember her disagreements with Chafee, but described them as a matter of stylistic differences rather than specific policy disagreements. She described May 2012, when 38 Studios nosedived, as a "blurry mayhem month" and couldn't pinpoint exactly when she left the board or who was supposed to be monitoring the 38 Studios loan. Like many who gave sworn testimony in the case, Foulkes' memory of the crucial days of 38 Studios' implosion was a little hazy by the time of her deposition in August 2014. They questioned more than 60 people, including Foulkes and Chafee, about their roles in what went wrong.
"It should give someone pause when considering her candidacy." Foulkes: 'I think Linc and I remember this differently'Īsked about Chafee's criticisms, Foulkes this week said, "I think Linc and I remember this differently," but would not elaborate on what she remembers or what her thoughts were on giving 38 Studios more money.Īs it turns out, attorneys contesting the state lawsuit to recover money from 38 Studios looked into the question in the years immediately following the company's collapse. The EDC board never voted on 38 Studios' tax credits, but Chafee said that in private Foulkes and other members of the board advocated for granting them.Īt one point, Chafee recalls, board members were talked out of putting it on an upcoming emergency meeting agenda by attorney Jon Savage.įoulkes wanted to continue an "asinine use of taxpayer money on a retired baseball player," Chafee said. In May 2012, 38 Studios defaulted on one of those terms, a $1.1-million payment, and by June had filed bankruptcy papers on the road to liquidation. Curt could not explain how that $15 million would lead to any more success than he had had at that point."ģ8 Studios had preliminary approval for $14.3 million in state film tax credits and was planning to seek another $6.5 million, but the Chafee administration refused to approve them or let the company slide on any of the terms of its loan. "That was the proposal Curt Schilling was lobbying for, to have access to film tax credits," Chafee told The Journal on Wednesday. "Foulkes was one of the leaders advocating for that. I was vehemently opposed. Specifically, she wanted to allow 38 Studios to claim more than $14 million in state film tax credits that the company was counting on and had pledged as collateral on a bank loan, he said.
Chafee: Foulkes 'was one of the leaders' backing $14M in film tax creditsĬhafee on Wednesday said that back in the spring of 2012, when 38 Studios was sinking toward bankruptcy, Foulkes wanted to extend the company a financial lifeline, something he opposed. The rift never healed, and now, as Foulkes looks to become governor herself, Chafee is questioning her decision-making during that crisis period when Rhode Island's jobless rate was sky high and its Hail Mary play to lure an ex-Red Sox star had become a national punchline. By the summer of 2012, Foulkes had quit the EDC board before being replaced as Chafee's top lieutenant, and, on her way out the door, she criticized his hands-off management style and dysfunction at the agency.
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