Chuck Boyce, the Chairman of the New Castle County Republican Committee, today filed a Freedom of Information request with the Delaware Department of Finance concerning the alleged pending hire of Democratic Rep. Helene Keeley as the director of the State Lottery Office.

“This is an open secret in political circles,” said Boyce. “It is widely known that Helene Keeley has a deal in place to take a significant position in the State Lottery Office, perhaps even as director, to collect her substantial legislative pension and add a hefty state paycheck to that. I’m aware of political events where Democratic elected officials have laughed openly at the arrangement. I think the public has a right to know if this is true.”

The FOIA request seeks any communication between the Department of Finance, Lottery officials, Rep. Keeley, and/or the Governor’s office concerning the potential hire. The full FOIA request is as follows:

“Any and all communications including emails, letters of any kind, texts, phone recordings, visitor logs/sign in books from the State Lottery Office, regarding the hiring, potential hiring or contemplated hiring of Helene M. Keeley to any position within the State Lottery Office. The period of the document request is from September 1, 2016 through October 17, 2018. Parties involved in the communications should include any employees of the State Lottery Office, Governor’s office, Department of Finance or the Delaware Department of Human Resources.”

 A response to the FOIA request must be provided within 15 business days of the filing.

 “Like Sen. Patti Blevins before her, it appears that Rep. Keeley has found a soft place to land inside state government following her years of service,” said Mr. Boyce. “If this widely-held rumor is true, it is another example of the soft corruption that plagues our state under one-party rule. If it is true, it is just wrong, and it needs to be revealed to the public before the election, not after.”