Added Caprio campaign spokesman Nick Hemond: "This is a new low for the Chafee campaign.''

Chafee's call for the elder Caprio's resignation from the chairmanship of the board of governors came on the day The Journal drew attention to the father's role in the hiring of boxer Peter Manfredo Jr., who starred on television's "The Contender" five years ago.

With the aid of the senior Caprio, Manfredo landed a 20-hour a week job in the athletic department at the Community College of Rhode Island that pays $17,700 and, unlike the 20 or so other part-time positions in CCRI's athletic department, comes with health insurance worth another $19,000 a year.

Manfredo started work in July. He generally works weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., checking IDs in the weight room and guarding against theft; before he was hired, he says, some people were stealing dumbbells. He also works soccer and volleyball games, putting up chairs and tables, helping with the scoreboard, setting up the flags to mark the out-of-bounds, chasing down the balls when they go out of bounds. He also washes the teams' uniforms.

Nobody else was interviewed for the job, which wasn't posted. Caprio says that he thought Manfredo's hiring "would be a great thing for the college," but that the decision was ultimately CCRI's.

CCRI President Ray M. Di Pasquale, who reports to Caprio as Rhode Island's commissioner of higher education, said that he had the authority to hire Manfredo without a search because it's an "interim" position, and viewed the hiring as "a wonderful opportunity for us.''

"Peter is one of a kind. He's the world middleweight champion. He would be great motivating our student-athletes. Maybe he could even be involved in fundraising,'' Di Pasquale said.

But Jeffrey Heiser, president of the Professional Staff Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, said: "It gives the impression that somebody is doing someone a favor."

Echoed NEARI assistant executive director John Leidecker: "When a job comes someone's way through the influence of people in black robes, that's troubling ... This was an inside deal that no one else knew about, that no one else could apply for."

Manfredo's hiring came to light a week after The Journal reported that CCRI hired the wife of former state Rep. Vincent J. Mesolella Jr., after Caprio had passed her resumé on to the CCRI president.

Donna and Vincent Mesolella co-hosted a campaign fundraiser for state Treasurer Frank T.Caprio's campaign for governor at their Lincoln home on Aug. 25 that raised an estimated $30,000. The Caprios say that her hiring had nothing to do with politics.

Frank Caprio Sr. says that people frequently ask him to pass on resumés for college positions, and that he does so without any special recommendation or further involvement. Officials at CCRI say that Donna Mesolella was vetted by an internal search committee, which judged her the best candidate among nearly 50 applicants. She began work in July as a $41,000 academic coordinator.

The elder Caprio, a former city councilman and 1970 candidate for attorney general, has been a municipal court judge since he was appointed to the post in 1985 by then Providence Mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr.

At the time, he was also juggling roles as a lawyer, owner of three busy restaurants, including the Coast Guard House in Narragansett, a nursing home and federally subsidized apartments for the elderly in Johnston; and the Point Judith Lobster Co. "I have a genuine, sincere desire to serve," he replies. "It's really that simple."

Stephen P. Erickson, the former District Court judge who has emerged as a key advisor to the Chafee campaign, cited several sections of the Code of Judicial Conduct as the basis for Chafee's call for the senior Caprio's resignation.

One says the code applies to anyone "who is an officer of a judicial system and who performs judicial functions... (including) judges of probate, municipal and housing courts of the cities and towns.''

Another says: "A judge shall not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or others.''

A third says a judge shall not "attend political gatherings; or solicit funds for, pay an assessment to or make a contribution to a political organization or candidate, or purchase tickets fur political party dinners or other functions.''

Another key provision, cited by Erickson, says: "A judge shall not accept appointment to a governmental committee or commission or other governmental position that is concerned with issues of fact or policy on matters other than the improvement of the law, the legal system or the administration of justice. A judge may, however, represent a country; state or locality on ceremonial occasions or in connection with historical, educational or cultural activities.''

The judicial notes attached to this section say: "For example, service on the board of a public educational institution would be prohibited, unless it were a law school.''

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