Political Capitol

Jon Lender at The Hartford Courant wrote a piece today about G. Kenneth Bernhard, former Republican state Representative from Westport/current head of the state Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board, being guilty of violating the rules he’s supposed to uphold.

As we reported a few months ago when Bernhard assumed the chairmanship, he was off to a rocky start.

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By Brian Lockhart
Staff Writer
HARTFORD — The 4-year-old Office of State Ethics and its Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board’s mission is, according to the agency Web site, “to ensure honesty, integrity and accountability in state government.”
But an attorney with a precedent-setting case pending before the group is questioning whether that mission has been compromised by confusion about the validity of the appointment of the board’s newest chairman, G. Kenneth Bernhard, a former state representative from Westport.
The issues are technical, but attorney John Geida argued that if the board is going to uphold state laws, it must ensure its own decisions are fair and legal in fact and appearance.
Bernhard, an attorney who served in the General Assembly from 1996 until his defeat in 2004, was first appointed to the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board in November 2007 by House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk.
And on Thursday, Bernhard became the board’s newest chairman.
But in early September, Geida called for Bernhard’s disqualification from the board, claiming he was appointed illegally by Cafero.
“It’s not an attack on Mr. Bernhard,” Geida said Friday. “It’s seeking to uphold the rule of law.”
Geida is representing the defendant in the first public hearing held by the board since it was created in the wake of the scandals that led to the resignation of former Republican Gov. John Rowland.
Geida’s client, Priscilla Dickman, a former University of Connecticut Health Center medical technologist, stands accused of violating state ethics laws by using state property and resources “in furtherance of her private jewelry and travel consulting businesses.”
The board held hearings through September, and a decision about Dickman is pending.
The problem with Bernhard’s appointment, Geida wrote in a Sept. 1 letter to the Office of State Ethics, is it broke state rules by occurring within three years of Bernhard holding public office.
Citizen’s Advisory Board members, in an opinion issued last week by themselves and Office of State Ethics attorneys, agreed.
According to the opinion, Cafero first appointed Bernhard in a letter dated Nov. 15, 2007, for a term that began immediately and is to end Sept. 30, 2011.
That same day, Cafero, at the request of the Office of State Ethics, sent a corrected letter to Bernhard that specified his term instead began Jan. 1, 2008.
The problem, Geida said, is that Bernhard served in the General Assembly until Jan. 5, 2005, when his successor took office.
“Whether one reads the date of appointment as Nov. 15, 2007, or the start date of Jan. 1, 2008, the appointment was within three years of Mr. Bernhard serving as state representative,” Geida wrote.
The Office of State Ethics and the advisory board this week agreed, declaring Bernhard’s original appointment invalid.
But Geida remains concerned about Cafero’s efforts to clean up the confusion last month, when, on Sept. 9, he sent a third letter to Bernhard to make his appointment official.
“It has come to my attention that a question has been raised regarding my appointment of G. Kenneth Bernhard to the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board,” Cafero wrote. “To the extent that any defect may exist with respect to his appointment, I am, today, appointing G. Kenneth Bernhard to the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board to commence serving … immediately.”
The Ethics Advisory Board and the Office of State Ethics’ attorneys concluded this Sept. 9 appointment was proper and also determined that any of Bernhard’s actions taken during the past two years were valid despite his initial appointment being invalid.
Geida said Cafero jumped the gun and should have awaited a final decision on Bernhard’s status before sending the Sept. 9 letter.
“The appearance of it is rather suspect,” Geida said. “Rep. Cafero did not address the merits of the issue at all, seemed to sweep it under the rug and say, ‘Well, everything is OK now.’ … The second appointment I question legally because the first appointment at that point wasn’t found to be valid or invalid. It was a very unique situation. (Cafero) didn’t let the administrative process play itself out, so there are questions I believe we can raise to courts of higher authority.”
Geida said he is awaiting the board’s decision in the Dickman case before he and his client decide whether to question Bernhard’s status further.
Bernhard said Friday, “It appears that, despite all good intentions of everybody involved and the dedication of everybody involved, it was a technical flaw in my service.”
He said he was pleased with Cafero’s continued support and looks forward to serving as chairman and continuing the good work of his predecessor.
“We provide an extraordinarily valuable service to the state employees in maintaining the high standards Connecticut wants to aspire to in compliance with ethical issues,” Bernhard said.
Cafero said all along he was simply following the Office of State Ethics’ advice and trying to get things right.
“He’s a nice, wonderful man (and) well-respected on both sides of the aisle,” Cafero said of Bernhard, joking afterward, “I think I’ve (appointed) him nine times already.”

The Hartford Courant/Fox 61 are sponsoring Monday night in Hartford the first U.S. Senate debate between Attorney General Dick “20 Years in Office” Blumenthal and Merrick “For a Change” Alpert.

As Daniela Altimari at The Courant notes, this is a good opportunity for Alpert. The popular Blumenthal is the presumed Democratic nominee because his party has been fantasizing for years that he would run for either Governor or U.S. Senate.

(I don’t think Blumenthal has actually even acknowledged there is another Democrat interested in running since he announced this past January on the very day longtime Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd retired. I wonder if Blumenthal thinks Monday is just an hour of free air time for himself and will get a shock when he arrives to find the second podium …)

Alpert’s people are so eager for this face off that they are offering interested members of the press tickets to ensure we have a good seat should there be limited space for the media.

It was a pleasure earlier tonight to be a very last minute, back-up guest on Face the State with Dennis House along with Rick Green from the Hartford Courant (if you watch, this will explain my lack of a tie, if you care about such things…)

Republican gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel was the guest and appeared eager to answer our questions and use the opportunity to introduce himself to voters.

We managed to squeeze in several issues.

Something I wanted to know was why Griebel thinks he would be a better candidate than Lt. Governor Michael Fedele of Stamford?

Both men are running on their business experience, but Fedele has the added benefit of having served in office for the past three years.

Griebel was clearly reluctant to criticize Fedele and instead attempted to make the question about why he is the best candidate, period.

I pressed him to differentiate himself from Fedele.

Griebel said he believes he has so far offered more specifics than Fedele. Yeah, I would have liked a meatier answer as well, but I tried.

Perhaps more importantly we did get Griebel to differentiate himself from retiring Governor M. Jodi Rell and discuss a variety of topics, from economic growth, restructuring government and union concessions to highway tolls, Sunday liquor sales and tax hikes on the wealthy.

House has further details on his blog, and for the rest watch on Sunday.

Hearst Newspapers today carried a story about an altercation Wednesday night at an event attended by Lt. Governor Michael Fedele of Stamford, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Governor.

According to police Fedele was dining when a former state employee began loudly accusing him of planning to keep Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s sometimes controversial Chief of Staff M. Lisa Moody on board should he be elected the next Governor.

The man – Anthony Millo of Naugatuck, a retired probation officer – was charged with breach of peace and interfering with police.

Millo in our report disputed the police account of the incident, but did not deny he accused Fedele of wanting to keep Moody as his Chief-of-Staff.

I will stress here that in no way, shape or form am I making light of a situation in which police perceived a potential threat to the Lt. Governor.

But most observers and Moody, who I profiled a few months back, would say gubernatorial Chiefs of Staff are supposed to maintain a low profile. What does it say about your reputation when someone is willing to confront the Lt. Governor in public not about the job he’s doing or his boss is doing, but about your employment?

Capitol insiders could have saved Millo a court date because it is common knowledge Fedele and Moody don’t exactly see eye to eye.

And back in November Moody told me she has no plans to stay on after Rell retires.

“I could not do this for another Governor or individual,” she said.

The legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee today heard testimony on a bill the origins of which date back to last February’s savage chimpanzee attack in Stamford on Charla Nash.

The legislation would allow police officers who use lethal force on an animal in the line of duty to receive workers’ compensation benefits.

Stamford Police Officer Frank Chiafari responded to Travis the Chimp’s attack on his owner’s friend, Nash, last February and ultimately shot and killed the animal in self defense. His workers’ compensation claim related to post traumatic stress was rejected five days later by the city because state law technically only provides that benefit when a cop’s life is threatened by another human.

Stamford Police Sgt. Joseph Kennedy, president of the Stamford Police Association, testified the union was willing to share photos of the crime scene to give them insight into what Chiafari experienced.

“But I will only share these outside the room and in private,” Kennedy said.

A few legislators expressed interest in viewing the photos, including Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London, who said they could be valuable to understanding Chiafari’s trauma.

“We didn’t see that,” Hewett said.

Sitting in on the hearing was Sen. Kevin Witkos, R-Canton, a sergeant in his town’s police department.

Witkos told his colleagues that looking at the photos of the chimp attack will never convey what Chiafari has to deal with as someone who witnessed the gory scene first hand.

“Officers will have that picture engrained in their memory forever,” he said, adding police officers regularly are forced to confront grisly and troubling scenes.

“That picture book in your brain just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Witkos said.

UPDATE: Lawrence Cook, spokesman for the state Senate Democrats, said today (Friday) in an e-mail that despite the offer, the photos were never shared:

“I spoke today with Labor Committee Clerk Stephen Palmer and with Sgt. Joe Kennedy, president of the Stamford Police Association. Though he made the offer, Joe did not leave any photos with the committee, nor did any committee member take him up on his offer to view them.”

Yesterday state Senate Democrats held a press conference in Meriden to promote what their spokesman referred to as “growing momentum” behind the jobs-creation package they unveiled earlier this month.

But a key element of the proposal – a surcharge on bonuses paid Connecticut executives working for federally-bailed-out banks and insurers – is in trouble.

Last week I reported that the Senate Democrats proposed the surcharge, intended to pay for small business loans, without a clear plan and without an actual, written legal opinion from their own attorneys. I’ve attached my story below.

Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell met with legislative leaders earlier this week to find common ground on jobs legislation.

During an event today at Norwalk Community College, I asked her if she is prepared to support the bonus tax.

“There is a question of whether or not it’s legal” and there are differing opinions on the matter, Rell said.

She also said it is unclear how lawmakers could identify bonus recipients based on tax filings.

“I’m not sure you can cull that out and tax that separately,” she said.

Some critics have argued it is not fair to single out these executives for a special tax. I asked Rell even if the surcharge was legal and doable, is it a fair proposal?

“I don’t think it’s legal,” Rell said. “And if it’s not legal it certainly wouldn’t be fair.”

The Senate Democrats may wind up with enough votes to pass the surcharge later this session, but were Rell to veto it, it would likely be a dead issue. Republicans are not prepared to support any new taxes and that means the Senate Democrats need all 24 members to override a gubernatorial veto. Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, told me she opposes the surcharge and Sens. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk and Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, have raised questions about the proposal.

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Dems want bonus surcharge, but is it legal?

It’s been over three months since Lt. Governor Michael Fedele of Stamford said he had the personal endorsement of his boss, retiring Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, and she subsequently told reporters she was not ready to back any candidate.

Asked during a visit this morning to Norwalk Community College if she was finally prepared to endorse any of the Republicans vying for the party’s nomination in May, Rell still said no.

Rell said she is waiting to see if even more GOP loyalists step forward for the job, adding she has already been surprised by some of the additions to the 2010 race for her job.

I pressed further, pointing out it appears odd to some that she has not publicly endorsed the man she tapped as her running mate in 2006 and who has worked with her for the past three years.

But she repeated she is still waiting for other candidates to emerge.

“It’s only fair to let them have their say and make their case,” Rell said.

She would not say when she will be ready to endorse someone.

Tom Dudchik over at Capitol Report discovered an ongoing effort on Facebook to recruit attorney Ross Garber to run for Attorney General.

Garber is a Republican and his name was one of the first mentioned to me when current Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in January announced plans to, after 20 years in office, run for U.S. Senate.

I’ve found Garber to be an easy guy to deal with and he has a sense of humor. But I’ve also wondered whether voters would want to replace the popular Blumenthal – who has this “defender of the people” reputation – with a candidate who:

1. Represented former Connecticut Republican Gov. John Rowland during his pre-impeachment hearings.

2. Represented failed insurance giant AIG last year when the Connecticut legislature’s Banks Committee and Blumenthal subpoened Fairfield County executives who had received much-reviled bonuses.

3. Represented Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford late last year when that state’s legislature was weighing impeaching the chief executive.

In an e-mail I asked Garber how he might handle any criticism about his clients that would likely be lobbed his way were he ever to run for Attorney General. Here’s what he had to say:

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Fair question.

First, I represented the Office of the Governor, not John Rowland personally. It was a challenging engagement with interesting Constitutional issues. I was honored to be able to do it. (By the way, Dick Blumenthal also represents the Office of the Governor.).

I’m also lucky enough to be engaged to do other challenging cases for all sorts of clients, some of whom are high profile, most of whom aren’t. I hope I’m engaged because clients in difficult cases know I work hard and do a good job and am dedicated.

I have handled many cases in which I work cooperatively with the government, including the Attorney General’s Office. I’ve also done cases cooperatively with the Department of Justice and other regulators. In just the past few months I was successful in recovering hundreds of thousands of dollars in Medicare payments for the federal government.

I’m also a contributing author of the book “Ethical Standards in the Public Sector”. I was appointed by the Chief Federal District Judge as a member of the panel that oversees attorney ethics. I chair the panel that oversees ethics issues involving state judges. I lecture and write about legal issues.

I’m a member of the board of directors of Connecticut Legal Services and the Connecticut Foundation For Open Government.

This is all by way of saying that I take the practice of law very seriously. I try to do a good job. And yes, I’m fortunate enough that some high profile clients have hired me to do interesting cases of note.