Category — Posts

Erin Stewart will begin her campaign for a fifth term as mayor of New Britain on January 28th with a half-hour virtual fundraiser. Stewart has bucked a powerful trend that has seen many Connecticut Republicans lose what were seen as safe seats before Donald Trump took over their party.

Stewart’s 2019 win was big enough for Republicans to win a majority of New Britain’s city council. The win was a recovery after Stewart abandoned her 2018 bid for the Republican nomination for governor and was defeated in the party’s primary for lieutenant governor by Southington Republican Joe Markley.

Stewart is often included among prospective candidates for the 2022 Republican nomination for governor.

Former state Representative Kevin Skulczyck interviewed 2018 Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Stefanowski on his News Rocky program on Facebook Live Thursday. The Griswold Republican announced as the program neared its conclusion that he is “ready and prepared to endorse Bob Stefanowski” in the 2022 race.

Skulczyck served in the legislature when Themis Klarides was the Republican leader. His announcement will not be welcome news as she continues to make calls and attempt to create a campaign organization.

Skulczyck, who served one term in the House, supported former Trumbull first selectman Tim Herbst in the 2018 Republican contest. Herbst place 4th in the five candidate primary.

American enterprises with business interruption insurance have been surprised and disappointed to learn that their policies provide no coverage in a global pandemic.

Small businesses in Britain won a significant high court victory Friday. Learn more from this Sky News report.

The global pandemic has not slowed the state’s hackerama. Maureen Magnan, who served as chief of staff to former Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, has joined the University of Connecticut lobbying team. Magnan was not retained by the new speaker, Matthew Ritter.

The announcement was made Thursday shortly after Daily Ructions inquired about the hiring of the West Hartford Democrat. Longtime Magnan friend and UConn lobbyist Joann Lombardo wrote in an email she expected to fill the post later this year. “In the interim, I am pleased to announce that Maureen Magnan will be providing us with much needed assistance during the 2021 Legislative Session.”

UConn, which is part of state government, enjoys a lobbying staff of five to lobby state government. Last year UConn paid $180,000 to a Washington lobbying firm, Clark Hill PLC.

News that UConn has hired Magnan came on the morning the Labor Department revealed national first-time unemployment claims surged to 965,000 last week.

Salting higher education with unemployed Democrats was begun by former Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s administration. It was at first ignored by Governor Ned Lamont and now appears to have been adopted and enthusiastically continued by him as the state’s unemployment has soared.

UPDATE: “Magnan,” according to UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz, ” is being paid $70 an hour and is expected to work 25 hours per week or up to 35 hours with permission of her immediate supervisor. She is not filling the full-time position of director.” Magnan’s compensation will range between $1,750 and $2,450 a week.

Stamford Republicans are condemning Mayor David Martin for his unambiguous criticism of Donald Trump’s incitement of a murderous mob that invaded the Capitol on January 6th. “The events in our nation’s capitol are the result of the president and others turning honest debate into extreme populism based upon alternative facts and lives,” Martin wrote.

Stamford Republicans offered rides to the riot. On Tuesday, they equated Martin’s statement to the actions of the insurrectionists in a mewling Facebook post. The Stamford Republicans decline to condemn Trump’s role in the calamity, though they do include the obligatory call of Trump supporters for national healing through ignoring the attempt to overturn a democratic election.

The lower Fairfield Republican committee may want to engage in some quiet reflection on changing their symbol as they wash the incendiary rhetoric of the last five year.

This Facebook offer from Stamford Republicans to provide transportation to last week’s demonstration-turned-riot-turned failed insurrection continues to cause questions among local Republicans and others. Of most interest is who went and what did they do while there.

The email on the post is associated with local activist Arthur “Cort” Wrotnowski.

It is unusual to include in post a photo of gun laws in the jurisdiction where a political event is being held. That was an indication of the sort of travel plans likely passengers make. Something completely different than assurances that there would be time to stop for breakfast or if there’d be a way to charge phones in the livery.

There’s never a good time to be associated with an event that became a national trauma–at which a Capitol police office and veteran was murdered–but it is especially bad as Stamford Republicans might have been able to take advantage of a fractious Democratic contest for mayor this year.

State Senator Gary Winfield (D-New Haven) is right to be concerned. A Twitter account that follows no one and has no followers declares, “Or we can just take justice in our own hands. Hopefully the sanitation system will pick up the carcass.” The comment by “Greg Tubby” was in reaction to a statement by State Senator Rob Sampson criticizing last year’s police legislation.

“I will be counting on my community to help me create public pressure to force the majority party to have this conversation whether they want to or not. Stay tuned.” Sampson included a link to a CTnewsjunkie.com article about Winfield, co-chair of the legislature’s judiciary committee, and his intention to make no changes in last year’s legislation.

The Tubby comment was caught by Mel Medina of the Connecticut office of the ACLU and an advocate of defunding the police and closing prisons, according to his Twitter profile.

Legislators should pay close attention to the comments their posts attract and react without delay when menacing, incendiary ones appear in their feeds. The Capitol Police should provide a protocol for legislators to report threatening comments, and legislators must recognize this is no ordinary time as they communicate with their constituents.

The statement I wrote and read on the January 10th edition of Face the State: “Comedian Joan Rivers lived by a wise code: Walk through any open door. Say yes to opportunity. I was delighted to follow that advice when I accepted WFSB’s invitation to co-host Face the State last fall. Duby and I arrived as a team and leave as one. I’ll do what I usually do: Write a column for the Sunday edition of The Hartford Courant and report news on my website, Daily Ructions. I’ll continue to say yes to opportunities—and I hope you will too.”

You learn to apply concealer and embrace the teleprompter, and what does it get you? Fired from Connecticut’s venerable public affairs program, Face the State. That’s show business, innit? The unhappy details are here.

I hope you enjoyed the 13 programs the talented staff at WFSB, Duby McDowell and I created. We are grateful to our guests, who offered their knowledge and insights with viewers in these perilous times. Producer Tracy Furey shared our enthusiasm for finding a diverse array of guests. She was a peerless guide into a new role and leads a crew of professionals who offer and welcome ideas.

Thank you for the kind, encouraging and amusing messages friends and readers have sent since Tuesday’s unilateral decision became known Friday.

Daily Ructions readers are accustomed to video garnishes, often with music, that enhance written content. Judy Garland’s variety show lasted one season but has endured for more than 50 years as 26 episodes of excellence. The custom of the time was to close a series show with the same brief number each week. This post required a closer and the video above is cued to one that gives a jolly winks to the camera.

Let’s get back to the news.

Eversource Executive Vice President and General Counsel Greg Butler used his Facebook account to blame “the left and the media” for Donald Trump’s incitement of an insurrection against the nation’s democratic government. The stunning accusation of the Republican fundraiser and spouse of former Republican legislator Themis Klarides, came in response to a comment posted on Butler’s busy Facebook page.

Butler’s initial post blamed Trump and the rioters, declaring “everyone who has stormed the capital are criminals and should be treated as such….” He added, “This IS the president’s fault…..” Butler retreated in the face of disagreement from David Allen Ridenour, of National Center of Public Policy Research. Ridenour commented, “…though the president deserves some blame–we cannot forget that this was a year in which the left encouraged lawlessness.”

Butler matched that dose of whataboutism by blaming “the left and the media” for creating an atmosphere that caused Wednesday’s attempt to overthrow the government. The astounding comment is posted above. He did not elaborate.

Klarides is expected to make a bid for the 2022 Republican nomination for governor of Connecticut. Butler served on the gubernatorial transition teams of Democrats Dannel P. Malloy and Ned Lamont.

Mayor Luke Bronin has chosen an Indiana ally of Secretary of Transportation-designate Pete Buttigieg to serve as Hartford’s Chief Financial Officer/Director of the Office of Management, Budget, and Grants. Bronin has requested the city council confirm Jennifer Hockenhull the appointment at its January 11th meeting.

Hockenhull served in Buttigieg’s South Bend, Indiana, administration for four years as Deputy City Controller and City Controller. A certified public account, Hockenhull has recently been working in the private sector. She moved from South Bend to Washington State, where her family lives.

Bronin, who has known the former South Bend mayor since 2005, was a Buttigieg surrogate during last year’s Democratic presidential primary campaign. Bronin is said to have hopes of finding a berth in the Biden administration. Buttigieg is a Biden favorite and will have some influence helming the massive transportation department.