House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, a few days ago told me he was concerned the new House Speaker – Rep. Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden – is too closely allied to the state unions whose cooperation lawmakers need to help address the budget crisis.
Donovan, the former House Majority Leader, has made a career out of working for unions.
He has said he will step down from his current job representing the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges Local 1973 to avoid criticism it is a conflict-of-interest.
But today The Hartford Courant reported this.
[...] Cafero has cautioned he believes Donovan is too close to the very employee unions that may be asked to make concessions [...]
East Sider,
I don’t disagree.
I suspect folks like Cafero who want to make an issue of Donovan’s close alliance with unions will see this as further proof he will not break his ties with organized labor when he becomes Speaker.
I don’t get why Donovan’s hire would earn a “But…” from you. It makes perfect sense that Donovan would hire people that he has known from his past professional and political work. The fact that Melita is a political ally is no suprise. Why shouldn’t he hire people he knows are good?