Governor Rell, Tell Us It’s Not True. Snow White Working Lobbyists For Dough.

In the name of the Ethics Governor, the University of Hartford is soliciting contributions from lobbyists for the establishment of The Rell Center for Public Service.  Lobbyists received invitations to a December 7th fundraising event in Cromwell, seeking donations up to $5,000.00 to help fund the scheme to talk, talk, talk about integrity and ethics in public life.  Governor Rell’s early calling card in office was ethics reform after the debacle that was John Rowland’s moral compass.  The jewel in her spare crown of legislative accomplishments was the banning of political contributions from lobbyists and their spouses.  Under Rell’s law, a lobbyist’s spouse couldn’t give $50.00 to a candidate for governor but can give $5,000 in tribute to Rell.  Try to explain that.

The topic for the first symposium: Why would a governor hail the appointment of an independent ethics czarina at the start of her term and then not replace her when she leaves early in the administration?