Blimey, this is becoming a bad habit. The University of Connecticut School of Law fell from 58th to 64th in the 2023 US News rankings of law schools. The annual release of the rankings causes much anxiety among law school administrators.

Another plummet in the influential rankings will likely elicit a carefully written explanation of where US News went wrong again this year. After the college basketball playoff season concludes in a few days, UConn trustees may want to spare a few thoughts to the trouble at the state’s public law school. Asking administrators to consider their positions seems like a logical first step.

A 64th place finish this year. tied with Penn State and the University of San Diego, will not yield the sort of job interviews many law students seek.

Published March 31, 2022 (the 54th anniversary of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s announcement that he would not seek re-election).

Supreme Court Associate Justice Christine Keller announced Thursday that she will take senior status beginning Friday. The move, made only two years after Governor Ned Lamont appointed Keller to the high court, allows the Greenwich Democrat to fill the vacancy with a Democrat.

Had Keller waited until after the regular session of the legislature adjourns on May 4th, Lamont would have had authority to make only a temporary appointment. That would have raised the possibility of Republican Bob Stefanowski making an appointment for a full eight-year term if he scored an upset and defeats Lamont in November.

Keller, who was nominated to the Superior Court in 1993 by Governor Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., when her husband, lobbyist Thomas Ritter was Speaker of the House. The Hartford resident was nominated to the Appellate Court by Governor Dannel P. Malloy in 2013. Lamont elevated Keller to the top court in 2020 when her son, Matthew Ritter, was serving as the House Majority Leader.

The announcement in the land of steady connections comes one day before the Judicial Selection Commission meets to interview three applicants for elevation to the Supreme Court. Judges approved for promotion by the commission are placed on a list from which the governor may pick nominees. The interviews are scheduled for 30 minutes each. The commission will them adjourn for lunch and awards.

Published March 31, 2022.

State Representative Hilda Santiago’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for secretary of the state received a boost from dozens of Democratic elected and party officials. The first name on the list is U.S. Senator Chris Murphy. Santiago works in Murphy’s Connecticut office.

State Senator Joan Hartley is the rare member of the upper chamber supporting Santiago over her colleague Matt Lesser. Legislators are well-suited to influence local delegates in under-ticket races.

The endorsements come at a critical time for Santiago. The nominating convention is in early May. There Meriden Democrat’s campaign has been seen as facing a serious challenge from Lesser, with New Haven Democrat Maritza Bond showing some strength. Santiago is also facing a subtle hurdle that Murphy’s endorsement will highlight. Some party leaders are reluctant to have put Murphy acolytes on the state ticket. Comptroller candidate Sean Scanlon also worked on Murphy’s staff before his benefactors found a spot for him as executive director of Tweed-New Haven Airport.

Here’s Santiago’s Tuesday’s list of endorsers:

United States Senator Chris Murphy

State Senator Joan Hartley

State Representative Catherine Abercrombie

State Representative Raghib Allie-Brennan

State Representative David Arconti

State Representative Andre Baker

State Representative Jill Barry

State Representative Pat Boyd

State Representative Larry Butler

State Representative Julio Concepcion

State Representative Michael DiGiovancarlo

State Representative Bob Godfrey

State Representative Minnie Gonzalez

State Representative Ken Gucker

State Representative John Hampton

State Representative Joshua Hall

State Representative Geoff Luxenberg

State Representative Ron Napoli, Jr.

State Representative Anthony Nolan

State Representative Michael Quinn

State Representative Geraldo Reyes

State Representative Bobby Sanchez

State Representative Manny Sanchez

State Representative Charlie Stallworth

State Representative Peter Tercyak

State Representative Edwin Vargas

Meriden Deputy Mayor Michael Cardona

Manchester Deputy Mayor Sarah Jones

New London City Council President Efraín Dominguez, Jr.

Hartford City Council President Maly Rosado

Meriden City Council Majority Leader Sonya Jelks

Groton Town Councilor Aundré Bumgardner

Meriden City Councilor Yvette Cortez

Waterbury Alderman Sandra Martinez-McCarthy

Manchester Board of Directors Jessee Muñiz Poland

Plainville DTC Chair Rebecca Martinez

Manchester DTC Chair Mike Pohl

Meriden DTC Chair Millie Torres-Ferguson

DSCC Representative David Dumaine

DSCC Representative Larry Goldman

DSCC Representative Billy Taylor

Former Coventry DTC Chair Dorothy Grady

Former Norwich DTC Treasurer Susan Goldman

Former New Haven Chief of Staff Tomas Reyes

CHDC Chair Miguel Castro

CHDC Treasurer Frank Alvarado

CHDC Founding Member Yolanda Castillo

Published March 29, 2022.

Even the noble State Contracting Standards Board can become the home of a rat’s nest. Raised Bill 473, An Act Concerning the State Contracting Standards Board, creates an unusual exception for the Board’s executive director. It allows the Governor to appoint as executive director a retired executor director. There may soon be someone who fits the description.

David L. Guay, the board’s current executive director, is expected to retire soon. This legislation would make Guay eligible to continue in or return to his position as executive director if Governor Lamont chose to appoint him.

Disappointing that the board, which does consistently excellent work, would engage in a bid for an exemption from rules. But here it is:

Sec. 4. Subsections (f) to (h), inclusive, of section 4e-2 of the general

213  statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof

214  (Effective July 1, 2022):

215  (f) The Governor shall appoint an executive director of the board who

216  shall serve as an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the board. The

217  executive director shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions

218  of section 4-7 and may be removed from office for reasonable cause, in

219  accordance with chapter 67. The board may recommend that the

220  Governor appoint as executive director a person who has retired from

221  state service after serving as the executive director of the board. 

Published March 25, 2022.

Attorney General William Tong began his re-election campaign with a two-minute online ad. Tong maintains the oddly grim mood that pervaded his 2018 ads. Even surrounded by his children in their school uniforms getting ready for the school run, the Stamford maintains a sullen tone, telling viewers “every day is a struggle.”

Tong’s pessimism suggests not much progress has been made in Connecticut the past four years.

There is no joy in Tong’s Connecticut. Expect Governor Ned Lamont, also a Fairfield County Democrat, to sound more cheerful when he begins his first advertising blitz this spring.

Meanwhile, Republicans, who have not elected an attorney general in more than 60 years, have a candidate. Jessica Kordas, a Norwalk lawyer, has entered the race. Kordas, a criminal defense attorney, has recently become involved in local politics.

Published March 25, 2022.

Democratic congressional hopeful Muad Hrezi has caught the attention of the Federal Election Commission. In a March 13th letter, the FEC asked for an explanation of two salary payments made to Hrezi by his campaign.

Hrezi’s paid himself $1,500 on October 5th and another $1,500 on November 3rd. The payments violate the FEC’s rules against “personal use of campaign funds by the candidate.” Hrezi’s campaign finance report noted that the two payments were “Salary (to be paid back to committee).”

The $3,000 could be seen as a loan to the candidate but that would also be a violation of federal campaign finance laws. Hrezi’s error was in not waiting longer. Remarkably, a candidate may draw a salary from his or her own campaign committee after the last day to qualify for a primary. In Connecticut this year, that’s June 7th this year.

Hrezi hopes to force an August primary against 12-term incumbent John Larson. Democratic town committees are in the process of selecting delegates to the May nominating convention. Hrezi will need the support of 15% of the convention delegates or the signatures of 2% of the registered Democrats in the First District.

At moments like this the relationship between a campaign treasurer and a candidate can become adversarial. “The committee must,” according to the FEC letter, “seek reimbursement for the full amount of the personal use violation(s) from the candidate and notify the Commission of such a reimbursement.”

Muad for Congress has until April 18th to respond to the FEC letter.

Published March 22, 2022.

Ed Sullivan celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with Pat Rooney, Maureen O’Hara (who knew how to put over Danny Boy) and the great Rosemary Clooney.

And have a bit of Derry Girls. Sister Michael is a marvel–Protestants and Catholics can agree.

Published March 17, 2022, don’t you know.

State Senator Bob Duff spent the Friday of the Ritter Big East Break in his hometown of Norwalk. The Democrat, a source reports, has a notorious local reputation for ignoring red lights.

On Friday at noon, a local driver who has witnessed Duff flouting the law in the past, saw the Senate majority leader at it again. All the ingredients were there at the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Main Street: red light, traffic, white Subaru with legislative license plate, and the privileged driver.

A driver nearby thought if the past is any predictor of future performance, Duff was about to do it again. The driver aimed his phone and recorded Duff ignoring the traffic signal and turning left. What were the chances? Close to a sure thing.

Your instincts are right, Daily Ructions readers. The dog in the backseat seems more alert to the surroundings than the driver does.

Posted March 12, 2022.

The CT Mirror’s Dave Altimari adds a clearer lens to the growing school construction scandal. The people of Bristol complained that their community was not served by a proper highway. No more. The Bristol-Tolland express served some well-connected traffic.

Altimari’s revelation leaves in tatters Governor Ned Lamont’s churlish claim that we must be careful about calling this a scandal. Nevertheless, some dare not call it a scandal if it might affect this November’s state election.

The no-bid contract to replace Tolland’s Brich Grove Primary School was very, very good to Bristol’s D’Amato Construction Company. It had never built a school until it mysteriously snagged the $46 million Tolland project in 2019. We learned last month from Dr. Walter Willett, Tolland’s superintendent, that Kostantinos Diamantis, the head of the state’s school construction grants program, bullied Tolland into using D’Amato and Construction Advocacy Professionals (CAP).

What a school construction roll D’Amato was on in 2019. The company also won a Bristol school construction bid for the Memorial Boulevard Intradistrict Arts Magnet School Project (though it was not the lowest bidder). One member of Bristol’s building committee was Stephan Masotti of Masotti Electric. He cast some helpful votes for D’Amato Construction as a member of the committee.

Several months later, according to Altimari, Masotti Electric received a $2.4 million contract from D’Amato on the Tolland project. What are the odds? “He’s a Bristol guy, and his company has done work for us for more than 30 years,” Tony D’Amato told Altimari. “There’s absolutely no correlation between the two projects. We use his company all of the time.” That declaration is unlikely to be helpful to either D’Amato or Masotti.

D’Amato and Marotto, of course, are from Bristol. Diamantis represented Bristol in the state House of Representatives. Antonietta Roy, owner of CAP, began her business in Bristol. They are, among other things, a vivid reminder of the corrosive nature of no-bid contracts.

The federal criminal investigation continues as potential witnesses submit to interviews by assistant U.S. attorneys, FBI agents, and IRS investigators. D’Amato and Diamantis have denied any wrongdoing.

Published March 9, 2022.

Hostility to competitive bidding in the Lamont administration was documented in a December Department of Administrative Services (DAS) internal memorandum.

DAS project manager Lisa Humble wrote a detailed memo about a nine-minute December 8, 2021 telephone conversation with Mike Sanders, a member of the Hazardous Materials Expertise staff at DAS. Humble was relaying a request from Keith Epstein, Vice President of Infrastructure, Planning & Real Estate at the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU). Epstein was seeking three bids for the Haz-Mat demolition and remediation work at Norwalk Community College.

Sanders was not interested in providing more thanone bid—-from DAS favorite Asbestos Abatement and Insulation Services (AAIS). Sanders, according to Humble’s memorandum, said there was no need to obtain more bids. No company would offer a better deal than AAIS.

AAIS, according to the CT Mirror’s Dave Altimari, received 70% of the state’s hazardous waste and asbestos abatement contracts from 2017. AAIS appeared on a 2016 list of companies that could be used for no-bid emergency contracts. Abuse of the list grew as it was regularly used for contacts that did not involve emergencies. No-bid contracts raised no alarms in the Lamont administration, which has been hostile to tradition notions of transparency.

Sanders died under “suspicious circumstances” of a drug overdose in Old Saybrook, according to police. nine days after his conversation with Humble.

Humble’s memorandum suggests that the failure to of DAS to engage in traditional competitive bidding had begun to engage the attention of DAS employees. A memo to a file, however, is unlikely to attract much notice. It does raise the question of why Josh Geballe, the DAS commissioner who resigned this month, seemed unaware of an alleged contract steering scheme in his department for the three years he was in charge.

Posted March 8, 2022.