PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The head of Rhode Island’s Department of Transportation is defending a decision to shut down state government during a storm this week that eventually fizzled out.
Director Peter Alviti tells WPRO‘s Gene Valicenti that the decision to close government Wednesday was made when the forecast called for a much more dangerous storm with as much as a foot of snow.
Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo announced the decision with input from Alviti and others.
Alviti says he will not second-guess himself and he won’t apologize for standing by the advice he gave the governor because the decision was made “on the basis of people’s lives.”
Many Rhode Island school districts closed, prompting at least one superintendent to publicly apologize for cancelling classes for a storm that was not as bad as was first thought.
