Political Capitol

Last week it was Dan Malloy’s fundraising activities and a prior, closed investigation about contract steering while mayor of Stamford.

This week Democrat Ned Lamont’s campaign is tossing out another issue it hopes will steer primary voters away from backing Malloy for the gubernatorial nomination at the polls Tuesday – Malloy’s alleged abuse in 2009 of his city vehicle during his final year as mayor to campaign for governor.

Here’s the web video the Lamont team crafted on the charge.

Lamont claims Malloy “who in two debates has made limiting the use of government cars a central aspect of his plan to cut the budget, drove more than 45,000 miles between April and November of 2009. Using the widely-accepted federal reimbursement rate for 2009, his use of the car would have cost Stamford taxpayers $26,330.70, yet his campaign paid only $3,430.32 in reimbursements.”

Malloy’s staff countered “Ned Lamont isn’t a very good storyteller – he always forgets the end. He says Dan drove his city-provided car, but uses unsubstantiated numbers to make the claim, and he forgets to mention that the Malloy Campaign spoke with city officials about using the car outside of Stamford, and then reimbursed the city for the gas in full accordance with that determination.”

We’re taking a look at the paperwork Lamont is using to make his case. We’ve also asked the Malloy campaign to produce any documentation it has about this agreement it says the campaign made with city officials and the identities of those officials.

In the meantime, here’s a pair of stories former Stamford Advocate reporter Donna Porstner wrote back in 2005 and 2006 when Malloy last campaigned for governor and the use of his mayoral wheels was questioned. Malloy eventually decided it was easier for his campaign to lease a separate vehicle rather than deal with reimbursing Stamford, something he did not do in 2009:

2/17/05
STAMFORD – Mayor Dannel Malloy has reimbursed the city nearly $5,000 for using his city vehicle to campaign for governor.
Records show Malloy has paid the city $4,885.61 for taking his city-owned 2004 Ford Explorer XLT all over the state while he campaigned for governor during the past year.
Malloy said he knows of no limits on his use of the vehicle, but he chose to pay the city for the travel because it is unrelated to his job as mayor.
“I felt that was very clearly outside of an anticipated use, so I decided the campaign should reimburse the city for that use,” he said. “We did it without anyone asking or anyone writing.”
The mayor started reimbursing the city in September, when he made a payment of $1,012.57 for his use of the vehicle from February through August 2004. Since October, Malloy has made monthly payments and detailed his destinations and mileage on the campaign trail.
Last month’s report, for example, shows Malloy traveled 1,196 miles on his campaign, going to Wilton, North Haven, Voluntown, East Lyme, Waterbury, Wallingford, Newington, Windsor Locks and Plainville. Using the 2004 Internal Revenue Service mileage rate of 37.5 cents a mile, Malloy reimbursed the city $448.52.
Taxpayers will have spent $28,917 on the Explorer when the lease expires in March 2006. The city then may purchase it for $1.
Malloy estimates he has put 24,000 to 29,000 miles on the vehicle in its first year. He could not say precisely how much mileage he racked up, campaign or otherwise, since getting the Explorer in March.
When he wasn’t campaigning, Malloy drove an average of about 20,000 miles a year.
The vehicle-use policy requires employees maintain daily mileage reports that separate their commuting mileage from mileage on the job, but Malloy is exempt. The four-page policy lists 36 job classifications that may be assigned a city vehicle. Mayor is not among them.
Malloy said he is not aware of any mileage cap or other limits on his use of the Explorer.
Personnel Specialist Fred Manfredonia agreed the mayor is not subject to the same restrictions as other city employees assigned cars.
“It’s one of the perks that comes with the job,” Manfredonia said.
Records show Malloy is one of about 60 city employees assigned vehicles for their exclusive use.
In 2003, Malloy took away commuting privileges for 19 of the 60 employees whose mileage to and from work accounted for more than 60 percent of their total mileage. Unions representing the employees filed grievances, which are pending. Manfredonia said the city is waiting for the state Board of Labor Relations to rule.
Health Director Dr. Johnnie Lee uses his personal vehicle for work-related travel and gets a $2,500 annual car allowance.
When Lee signed his contract in 2003, he had the option of getting mileage reimbursement or the car allowance. Lee said he chose the latter so he would not have to log mileage. At the time, he didn’t anticipate traveling to Hartford for meetings two or three times a month, regional public health meetings and meetings on emergency preparedness, Lee said.
Next year’s proposed capital budget includes $35,000 to buy Lee a sport utility vehicle.
Lee, who lives in Wilton, said it was suggested that he have a four-wheel-drive vehicle so he could get to Stamford quickly in bad weather.
“It’s really to ensure that I would be able to get back to the Emergency Communications Center in the event of an emergency,” he said.

4/18/06
STAMFORD – After two years and 37,000 miles on the campaign trail, the mayor has put the brakes on using a city-owned vehicle to stump for governor.
Mayor Dannel Malloy stopped using the Ford Explorer with its signature “1 ST” license plates to hobnob with state Democrats on Feb. 16, when his gubernatorial campaign began paying the cost of leasing a GMC Envoy that’s become his primary mode of transportation.
Malloy has been crisscrossing the state meeting as many Democrats as he can in hopes they will nominate him over New Haven Mayor John DeStefano to run against Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell in November.
Malloy started submitting mileage reimbursement checks in August 2004 after Water Pollution Control Authority member Louis Casale, a Republican, wrote to the Board of Finance saying taxpayers shouldn’t have to subsidize a gubernatorial campaign by paying for his vehicle and gasoline.
The Explorer cost Stamford taxpayers $28,917.
Malloy responded by reimbursing the city $14,927 for taking the sport utility vehicle to campaign events from February 2004 to February 2006.
But with the price of gasoline rising and campaign trips taking up more of his time – the mayor is clocking about 1,200 miles a week – Malloy said it became impractical to submit reimbursements every month.
“I have somebody who drives me now for all campaign functions,” Malloy said. “When my travel increased, it just made sense. I can get a lot more done using another car with another driver.”
Asked whether campaign workers drove the city vehicle, Malloy said only occasionally when he was too tired to drive.
If he is between campaign events and needs to attend a function in his role as mayor, campaign workers drive him in the Envoy, Malloy said.
“I’m just spending more time on the campaign, so it’s just better for everyone involved,” he said. “This seems to work for the life I’m living at the moment.”
His competition, DeStefano, has been splitting his time behind the wheel between a Toyota Prius owned by the city of New Haven and his campaign’s Buick LeSabre.
DeStefano spokesman Derek Slap said the New Haven mayor has never used his city vehicle to campaign. DeStefano did not want to send the city a check for mileage because, as mayor, he would be approving his own reimbursement, Slap said.
“He doesn’t think it is appropriate for the campaign and the city to be exchanging money,” Slap said.
If the day’s schedule is a mix of city functions and campaign events, DeStefano takes the LeSabre.
“He may end up taking the campaign car to a city event but not the other way around,” Slap said.
Before DeStefano got the LeSabre a little more than a year ago, campaign workers would drive him to campaign events in their personal vehicles, Slap said.
A spokeswoman for the city of New Haven said the mayor is the only municipal employee who has unrestricted use of a city vehicle.
Malloy has no restrictions on his use of the city-owned Explorer. Other Stamford employees who are assigned cars must maintain daily mileage reports that separate commuting from on-the-job driving, but Human Resources Director Dennis Murphy said Malloy can take his vehicle anywhere, anytime, no questions asked.
“It’s just a tradition that, because it’s a 24-hour job, the mayor just gets a car,” Murphy said.