The Witman campaign promised them $60 to $120 for work on Election Day, they say, but now she won't answer their calls seeking payment.

PROVIDENCE — Former Latino community outreach workers from the Providence mayoral campaign of Dianne "Dee Dee" Witman say that more than 20 poll-site workers have yet to be paid for their work on Election Day, and have yet to obtain a response to their concerns from Witman.

They provided The Journal with a list of 24 Spanish-speakers who were assigned to work the polls on Nov. 6 and said there were others who did not want to be identified.

Campaign finance records show that only five people on the list received any payment from the Witman campaign.

"Those people have not been paid yet," said Ernesto Figueroa, an outreach worker who helped recruit many of the workers. "They were supposed to be paid $60 for working a half-day and $120 for a full day."

"I have just never seen anything like this," said Hamlet Lopez, a veteran of several political campaigns who also did outreach work for Witman. "It has put a bad taste in my mouth, and I have helped a lot of politicians."

"These people have been waiting patiently and not making noise," he continued. "They trusted people like myself and Ernesto Figueroa."

Witman did not respond to multiple email and telephone requests for comment.

Her former campaign manager, Michael Iarossi, said that everyone with the proper work documentation had been paid.

"Any workers who have provided documentation to the campaign [such as a contract or W9 form] have been paid," Iarossi said. "If we do not have documentation, we cannot pay people."

The workers say they did fill out and submit documentation to the campaign.

Carlos Roquez, 74, said he still has not been paid for working at the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex polling location from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Election Day.

"I was walking around in the rain all day and getting soaking wet," he said in Spanish. "I'm retired and disabled from polio that I had as a kid. I need that money."

His son, John David Roquez, 46, says he worked for the campaign at the Roger Williams Park Casino polling location and also remains unpaid.

"For me, the worst part is the lack of communication," he said. "I have called [Witman] on several occasions, and she does not respond. Once, she answered and I asked if she spoke Spanish, and she just hung up.

"I feel like if I spoke English we would not be treated like this."

Both said that they filled out the proper paperwork and were told they were to be paid for their time.

Iarossi said there was no language issue hampering communication between the campaign higher-ups and non-English-speaking election day workers.

Witman's former community outreach workers — who said they themselves did work as unpaid volunteers — said they have also been brushed aside when they bring the workers' concerns forward. This included a visit by one of them, Laura Perez, to Witman's East Side home.

They did not meet face to face, but exchanged texts while Perez was outside, Perez said.

"Mrs. Dee Dee, I went to your house for help. I need to solve the payment that was promised to the volunteers," she texted. "They want to get pay."

"People like myself and Ernesto get all the calls because they cannot speak English," Lopez said, adding that he has attempted to contact Witman on the matter since Election Day. "I am a little bit disappointed in the results."

"That was a rough day. We were all wet," said Ercilia Cano, another of those claiming to be waiting for payment after working from 6 a.m. to around 9 p.m. at the Elmwood Community Center. "They took us to fill out our tax forms and have copies of our ID. You do not do that if you are not paying for work.

"I wanted a change in mayor, and I do not regret working for her in that sense," she continued. "However, I am regretful in the sense that no one likes to be lied to."

Cano said she was paid $40 on Election Day for canvassing done during the campaign, not for her work at the polling location.

The last reported expenditures of the Witman campaign took place on Dec. 2 — about $307,000 paid to the candidate herself to reimburse money she loaned to her campaign and accounts-payable charges she made at the outset. The campaign still had $62,190.72 as of its last filing on Dec. 3.

"She needs to pay us what we are owed," said Raisa Lozada, who said she worked alongside Cano on Election Day and is currently unemployed. "I do not understand it. I want my money and I need my money, which I earned after working all that time in the cold and rain."

Witman faced similar accusations shortly after the election, when several African-American polling site workers recruited by former mayoral candidate Kobi Dennis claimed to have not been paid. The campaign has since paid those workers.

The president of the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee, Joseph Molina Flynn, has said he has also been met with silence after several attempts to contact Witman.

"It is truly unfortunate that Ms. Witman found an opportunity to prey upon those most vulnerable in the city to pursue her failed political agenda," he said Thursday, in a statement to The Journal. "While she can afford to lend herself hundreds of thousands of dollars, many of these people were depending on the payment from Election Day to help make ends meet. She needs to do better by our community."

"Minorities do not get involved in politics because they feel like they get stiffed at the end," Lopez said. "I can bring people together, but when they get shafted like that it is hard for them not to become disillusioned."

The elder Roquez said that he still does not regret having worked for the campaign.

"I want to see change in Providence," he said. "And even after this, I still want that, so I do not regret having worked for her."

"I beg to differ [from my father]," his son said. "I feel incredibly disrespected by her campaign. It is not right for her to treat people like this."

— kandrade@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7646

On Twitter: @Kevprojo