Carcieri still won't discuss 38 Studios

EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (WPRI) - Former Gov. Donald Carcieri still won't face taxpayers despite the stunning implosion of the $75 million loan guarantee he got them to give Curt Schilling's video game company, 38 Studios, less than two years ago.

WPRI 12's cameras tracked down the elusive Republican on Saturday in East Greenwich, his former hometown, after he was reported to be helping his daughter, Alison, pack up her family's house there.

Upon arrival, a woman who didn't identify herself told WPRI 12 the former governor would not answer any questions from reporters. She and others continued to pack up the house, and Carcieri was never spotted.

• Nesi's Notes: Full coverage of 38 Studios
• PDF: EDC fact sheet on 38 Studios
• Timeline: How the 38 Studios deal unfolded

Carcieri, 69, has avoided the limelight since leaving office in January 2011 and has made no public statements since 38 Studios' apparent insolvency became public earlier this month. He also refused to speak with reporters while dining with his former aides at the Cowesett Inn in West Warwick last week.

Carcieri began discussing the possibility of bringing fellow Republican Schilling and his company to Rhode Island after meeting the former Red Sox ace at a fundraiser in March 2010. Democratic legislative leaders and Keith Stokes, the R.I. Economic Development Corporation chief appointed by Carcieri, strongly supported the idea.

State lawmakers quickly expanded and enacted a new $125 million loan-guarantee program, and in late July the EDC board of directors, which was chaired by Carcieri, signed over $75 million of the program's resources to Schilling and 38 Studios. The company moved to Rhode Island the following April.

"I commend the RIEDC Board for its extensive due diligence and for taking this significant step to bring jobs to Rhode Island," Carcieri said the night the agency approved the loan to Schilling. "I welcome 38 Studios and am confident Rhode Island will provide the environment and workforce to make the company a leader in the interactive entertainment and video game industry."

A WPRI 12 poll later that year showed 54% of Rhode Island voters opposed the $75 million loan guarantee to 38 Studios, with just 28% in favor of the deal.

38 Studios laid off all its employees Thursday after defaulting on its loan agreement with Rhode Island earlier this month and then failing to make payroll after apparently running out of cash. There was no sign of activity outside its Empire Street headquarters on Saturday.

"There is only a risk if everything goes wrong," Carcieri later told The Providence Journal when asked about the wisdom of putting taxpayers on the hook to support a company in the massively multiplayer online game industry. Taxpayers could owe nearly $90 million in principal and interest payments if 38 Studios can't pay the loan.

Stokes, who was kept in place by Governor Chafee when he succeeded Carcieri despite his vocal opposition to the 38 Studios deal, resigned last week amid questions about the way he structured the loan and whether his agency kept a close enough eye on the company's fiscal condition.

Carcieri served two terms as governor of Rhode Island, from 2003 to 2011, and described himself as the state's first "CEO governor." He entered politics after a long career at Cookson Group, the London-based materials company, during which he eventually rose to become chief executive of its American operations.

Ted Nesi ( tnesi@wpri.com ) covers politics and the economy for WPRI.com and writes the Nesi's Notes blog. Follow him on Twitter: @tednesi