DeJoy bought up to $305,000 in bonds from USPS board chair's investment firm

[blogslug]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/08/13/dejoy-usps-bloom-bonds-brookfield

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy purchased up to $305,000 in bonds from an investment firm whose managing partner also chairs the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board, the independent body responsible for evaluating DeJoy’s performance.

Between October and April, DeJoy purchased 11 bonds from Brookfield Asset Management each worth between $1,000 and $15,000, or $15,000 and $50,000, according to DeJoy’s financial disclosure paperwork. Ron Bloom, a Brookfield senior executive who manages the firm’s private equity division, has served on the postal board since 2019 and was elected its chairman in February.

DeJoy’s financial adviser purchased the bonds on the open market, Postal Service spokesman Jeffrey Adams said, and Bloom manages a division of Brookfield separate from the one that sells public securities.
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Two ethics experts interviewed about the transaction disagreed over whether the bond purchases could cause conflict-of-interest issues in the agency’s top ranks. One argued that the transactions raise questions about oversight and governance at the nation’s mail service, which has taken on newfound prominence during the coronavirus pandemic and after the November election, in which nearly half of all voters cast their ballots through the mail. The other said financial connections between government officials could give off the appearance of conflicts without necessarily causing ethics problems...

[Botany]

1. And let me guess Mr. Ron Bloom is the person blocking Louis DeJoy from being fired as Postmaster ...

... General?

[Hoyt]

2. Bloom doesn't sound like someone we should hate.

"From 2009 to 2011, Bloom served the Obama Administration, first as a senior advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury helping to lead the U.S. auto industry restructuring following the 2008 recession. After the restructuring, he led the Treasury’s Oversight of GM and Chrysler, including GM’s Initial Public Offering — at the time the largest IPO in U.S. history.

"In 2011, President Obama appointed Bloom to serve as Assistant to the President on Manufacturing Policy. He provided leadership on policy development and strategic planning for the Administration’s agenda to revitalize the manufacturing sector.

"Prior to that, Bloom served for 13 years as a Special Assistant to the President of the United Steelworkers, leading the union’s efforts to restructure the North American steel industry. He was responsible for collective bargaining program in the union’s core jurisdictions and also coordinated union relationships with both public and private investors. Before joining the Steelworkers, Bloom was one of the founding partners of the investment banking firm of Keilin and Bloom.

"Bloom earlier served as a research and negotiating specialist for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). He began his career as the New England Regional Director of the Jewish Labor Committee."

https://about.usps.com/who/leadership/board-governors/ron-bloom.htm