State ethics chief Ben Bycel nearly self-destructed in January when, new to
the job, he tried to fast-track the hiring of an employee from the
governor's office without a competitive job search.
After a brief outcry, the hire was aborted. And you would have thought
there'd be no more questions about the firewall expected between
"independent" state agencies and the governor's office.
Bycel's blunder could be forgiven, only because he was a Connecticut
newcomer.
Jeffrey B. Garfield has no excuse. He's been running the State Elections
Enforcement Commission for more than a decade and is held in high regard by
lawmakers. It was unthinkable for him to slip settlement language to Gov. M.
Jodi Rell's campaign manager Kevin Dineen at a time when Garfield's agency
was conducting - supposedly - an investigation into charges of fundraising
violations by Rell commissioners.
Picture a judge in civil court deciding he wanted to make a case just go
away, then sliding settlement numbers and language to one of the attorneys
as a starting point. Inappropriate.
Garfield's action undermines his agency's credibility and raises serious
questions about his judgment.
Oh, and once again an ethical transgression occurs under Rell's nose and we
see her in full Sgt. Schultz mode - "I know nut-ting."
She insists she didn't know anything about John Rowland and the corruption
in his office - I believe her. She says didn't know anything about chief of
staff M. Lisa Moody suggesting to commissioners that they flout the law in
distributing invitations to a Rell campaign fundraiser - OK, benefit of the
doubt.
Now, Rell claims she didn't know her campaign manager was conversing with
the elections enforcement chief to make this embarrassing fundraising gaffe
go away - nah, not buying this one.
From the beginning, it was obvious no one wanted to punish the 16
commissioners, who, at Moody's urging, illegally distributed the
invitations. Chief State's Attorney Christopher Morano, whose appointment is
up for renewal by a Rell-appointed commission this year, passed on
prosecuting. Though violations were apparent, Morano said he couldn't prove
criminal intent. He handed it off to Garfield's agency, suggesting it would
have more leeway to act.
Garfield says he talked at least twice privately with Moody while this
investigation was underway, but never about the case. Uh huh.
It's still not clear if Moody and Dineen had conversations that led to
Dineen's intervention with Garfield. And, of course, if the two key Rell
associates did discuss the case, we're to believe that Rell was not informed
by either.
More fodder for the upcoming elections.
"There seems to be these overt attempts to curry favor with the governor's
office," said Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, a Democrat and the
state's chief elections officer. "I think there's a very disturbing pattern
of agencies, whether it's the chief state's attorney looking at an election
violations, a new ethics director calling the governor's office and asking
for suggestions about who to hire or Jeff Garfield appearing to be very
lenient on the commissioners."
Bysiewicz is proposing the formation of an independent panel to "watch the
watchdog."
Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan, also a Dem, said he sees an "environment where
everybody has been unwilling to put their hands on any of this."
Soon, a legislative committee will be investigating Garfield. Moody is once
again cast as a master manipulator.
And Rell is slowly losing the moral authority to speak about her central
campaign issue - integrity.
Stan Simpson's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He can be
heard live Saturday on WTIC NewsTalk 1080 from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.