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Not every Ann Lamont email is in my column this week. The Greenwich venture capitalist has been surprised at the organized opposition to Governor Ned Lamont’s comprehensive toll proposals. Greenwich activist and Lamont neighbor Hilary Gunn caught Mrs. Lamont’s attention.

Ann Lamont asks friend Lisa Stuart if she knows “this crazy girl Hillary Gunn who is on the RTM..stalking Ned with anti-toll signs…part of what he signed up for but a little weird to have it be a GCDS girl who lives on our street be a stalker!”

Stuart promises to “do some sleuthing.”

Oh for the days of 2006 when dissent was patriotism and a fella could be hailed for spending $20 million to challenge a U.S. senator who supported the war in Iraq and free trade.

Year-end changes in the Capitol village. Governor Ned Lamont’s legislative liaison, popular former state legislator Chris Soto, will take up a post at the education department.

Susan Bysiewicz aide Jimmy Tickey will depart the lieutenant governor’s office to become district director for U.S. Representative Jim Himes. With the Fairfield County Democrat at the center of the House’s impeachment inquiry, it should be a time like no other to work for him.

Connecticut Democrats have announced that Chris Pitts “has joined our team as Interim Data Director.” Pitts, who federal law enforcement authorities identified as a conduit, a mule, a stooge in a bribery scandal that shook New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration and brought the 2018 conviction of the Democrat’s top aide, Joseph Percoco.

Connecticut Democrat Peter Galbraith Kelly, Jr., was also snagged in the scandal. Kelly made $300,000 in payments to Percoco’s wife through Pitts for sham energy education work in exchange for Kelly getting access to her influential husband, once referred to as Mario Cuomo’s third son. Pitts, a Canterbury Democrat, was named at Kelly’s trial.

State Democrats will be keeping Pitts on the payroll after they find a permanent data chief. He’ll be doing “some organizing in the second congressional district for the 2020 election cycle.”

Dear Ructions,

There’s not much room for a Connecticut Democrat to rise since the 2018 election cemented some new leaders into place. What does an ambitious Democrat do to get ahead or get away?

Sign me, 

Looking for a ladder

Dear Ladder,

You are right that the most promising opportunities were seized and won last year. Plenty of 2018 Democrats who failed to appear on that autumn ballot are searching for places to go. Not everyone can apply to become a judge. 

Go north. Find a presidential candidate you like and volunteer to help in New Hampshire. Hold signs, knock on doors, make phone calls, and attend events. Become conversant in your candidate’s stands and you may be able to serve as a surrogate at some small gatherings around the state that loves its primary marathon. You could thrust yourself onto the state with nothing but stages for the next two months. You may catch the eye of a campaign professional who will move on to another state on primary night. 

Even a losing campaign can be a path to something bigger. Supporters and staffers from losing campaigns migrate to the winners as the scope of the campaign grows. It helps to be conversant in a couple of issues. Experts get special attention. Faux experts do too. Just ask the loquacious George Papadopoulos. You don’t want to be like him. 

Don’t forget what may happen back in your own backyard. There may be volunteers here you can mobilize to spend time in southern New Hampshire, which is not far, or make calls to voters from here. Now and then the Connecticut’s primary gets some attention. In 2020, it’s part of the April 28th Acela primary of six states in the northeast corridor: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. If the nomination has not been decided by then, April 28th could be decisive. National campaigns always appreciate someone who knows the local landscape, especially state election laws. 

While you are helping your candidate, make some friends on the other campaigns. Your paths will cross again before this is done. One of them may be your lifeline to something new. 

Governor Ned Lamont and legislative leaders are meeting at this hour behind the iron gates of the Governor’s Residence. Lamont is taking a holiday week run at convincing the leaders of the four legislative caucuses to support a plan–any plan–that puts tolls on several state highways.

Lamont has proposed several plans that have met with tepid responses from Democratic and Republican leaders.

Dear Ructions,

Thanksgiving. Crowded family dinner. A of couple of voluble relatives with nothing but opinions about him. You know who I mean. How do we resist the provocations that are certain to grow through the afternoon and evening. Last year’s touch football game became a tournament of rage.

Fixin’ for a fight

Dear Fixin’,

Expand the pool of guests. Some college students are unable to spend Thanksgiving with family due to distance or athletics team commitments. Ask your hosts if you might bring a couple of them. Their presence may serve as a silent enforcer of courtesy. Make sure the students are on your football team, a caution against older players’ boozy delusions of prowess. 

Divert. At the first opportunity, which sounds like it will come early, announce the most important vote facing America is the one on The Voice. Everyone ought to agree an injustice will occur if the magnificent Katie Kadan does not win. There are certain to be other fans of the Chicago wonder at the family gathering. Make sure everyone is registered to vote for The Voice. That should kill some time and lead to other topics that have nothing to do with our fraught politics. 

Katie Kadan’s sensational turns may be causing me to overestimating the power of talent to unite for a few hours. You may be powerless to stop family members (I hope they are in-laws) from hailing, minimizing or excusing their hero’s embrace of dictators and nutty conspiracy theories. Ask them if they were in peril who they would rather have on their side: Jim Jordan, Devan Nunes and Elise Stefanik or Fiona Hill, Bill Taylor and Alexander Vindman? 

Leave early. Thanksgiving continues to be shortened by encroaching retail hours. Best Buy must be offering something you absolutely must have for on of your relatives at a never-before-low-price that is only available to the first 50 customers. Whisper that you are getting that television that includes Alexa for a niece or nephew everyone holds in great affection. 

Bargains will soothe the sharpest partisan divides. You will be free to go without incident.

If you are impaled on the horns of a dilemma and want to risk receiving advice, send a message to kfr@dailyructions.com. Identities will be protected. Messages may be edited.

November 22, 1963 was a Friday. Here’s the WTIC radio, a regional powerhouse at the time, covered the breaking news from Dallas as it carried on with its venerable Mic Line afternoon program.

Dennis House provided more on Face the State on the 50th anniversary of that day that changed the world.

Office of Policy and Management (OPM) Secretary Melissa McCaw made a major announcement Wednesday. McCaw’s friend Konstantinos Diamantis will serve as her deputy undersecretary beginning Thursday. Diamantis has been at the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) overseeing the state’s school construction program.

Diamantis will be bringing the school construction program to DAS. That means political operator Robert Ficeto, who is a Diamantis subordinate at DAS, will be moving to OPM. McCaw’s decision to bring the DAS duo to OPM has caused concerns within the political and professional ranks of state government. McCaw’s oddly fulsome email announcing Diamantis’s appointment will do nothing to relax furrowed foreheads.

You can read the long announcement/testimonial/valentine here:

From: McCaw, Melissa <Melissa.McCaw@ct.gov
Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2019 4:12 PM
To: OPM-DL OPM All Staff <OPM-DLOPMAllStaff@ct.gov>
Subject: Agency Appointment

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis as Deputy Secretary for the Office of Policy and Management.

Kosta brings a unique and diverse background and skillset to his position as Deputy Secretary, with over 30 years of experience combined in the public and private sectors; practicing law, serving in the state legislature, and most recently, working at the Department of Administrative Services. Throughout these experiences, he has developed a deep understanding of the legal, legislative, policy, financial, and operational functions of state government and his role in strategic negotiations makes him uniquely qualified to support me and the Office of Policy and Management.

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis as Deputy Secretary for the Office of Policy and Management. 

Kosta holds a J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law School and was a sole practitioner for over 28 years. His practice focused on criminal defense, including work in juvenile court, abuse neglect cases, and contracts.  Additionally, Kosta served in the General Assembly from 1992 through 2006, and followed with a role as Special Counsel to the Speaker of the House James Amann. During his legislative tenure, he was named House Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee and served as the House Subcommittee Chair of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Judicial and Corrections. His legislative work also includes service on various committees, such Executive and Legislative Nominations, Insurance, and Health and Human Services. Kosta will immediately begin to support the agency’s work in the areas of Intergovernmental, Criminal Justice, Capital and other programs and policy.

Some of you may know Kosta from his time at DAS, where he previously served as the Director of School Construction, Grants and Review and most recently the Director of Construction Management. Together with his team, he continues the mission to provide adequate learning environments and facilities to meet the programmatic needs for our students as well provide state of the art facilities, while simultaneously maintaining frugality with state resources and over time reducing the annual outlay of required bond allocations from $850 million to under $500 million through active management of design, construction process, change order review, site review and payments.

In order to ensure the cost efficiencies in administering the school construction program and consistent with OPM’s responsibility to administer various municipal grants and municipal aid programs, Kosta will continue to supervise the school construction program, whose staff will be relocated from DAS to OPM in the near future.  For this reason, Kosta’s functional title will be Deputy Secretary for the Office of Policy and Management and Director of School Construction Grants, Review and Audit.  In addition, efforts will be made in the upcoming legislative session to transfer the statutory responsibility for the administration of school construction grants from DAS to OPM. The OSCGR unit and function will leverage synergies with OPM’s extensive work supporting our municipalities.  

Please join me in welcoming Kosta to OPM effective Thursday, November 21 and wish him success in his new role. I am confident I can count on each of you to orient Kosta to our great agency and the important work we do in the service of our great State. Without a doubt, he will come to know and appreciate the outstanding expertise and team members we are fortunate to have in OPM.

Best regards,

Melissa

McCaw’s plan to win retroactive legislative approval of her de facto transfer of the administration of school construction grants from DAS to OPM may prompt considerable scrutiny. Diamantis will not need to spend much time getting to know and appreciate team members at OPM. McCaw’s tribute announcement suggests the synergies are ready to launch.

The position was briefly held at the start of the Lamont administration by Natalie Wagner.

Republican Chris Williams, one of three Republicans on the West Hartford town council, will support popular West Hartford Democrat Beth Kerrigan when the council meets tonight to elect a mayor and deputy mayor, Daily Ructions can report. The new council, elected on November 5th, will continue to be comprised of six Democrats and three Republicans.

The council Democrats decided in private–without Kerrigan–to upend the local tradition of electing as deputy mayor the second highest town council and dump Kerrigan. Democrat Shari Cantor placed first and will be re-elected as mayor by the council.

The council Democrats plan to replace Kerrigan with incumbent Democrat Leon Davidoff, who was first elected to the council as a Republican. The Democrats have declined to comment on their plan to demote Kerrigan. If the three council Republicans join Kerrigan Tuesday night, she will need one other Democrat to break ranks and continue a longstanding local political tradition.

Dear Ructions,

With local elections and Governor Lamont’s transportation plan unveiling done, this feels like the right time to start looking at changes in 2020.

There aren’t many openings for progressive Connecticut Democrats. A meaningful vacancy may not appear for years. People waiting for a challenger to step forward. What would be the harm to an ambitious rookie in running for Congress and taking the fight to one of our long term representatives? Many counsel patience. Why should someone itching to run wait?

Sign me,

Ready to be part of something big

Dear Ready,

Why indeed? If you wait until there is a vacancy, one of those tiresome establishment figures will leave you where you are now—tending to that aching heart. “Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you,” declared Margaret Thatcher. There was little she did not know about tipping over the established order.

Here’s some advice to anyone contemplating a run at an incumbent. The First Congressional District fits the profile of districts with primary voters receptive to a challenge. You will need to begin with some supporters, savvy family members and loyal friends, who are committed to you alone. Without them, the logistics can become overwhelming. 

Town committees are chosen in January. That may provide opportunities to make friends among the discontented. The 2018 quiet revolution on the Middletown Democratic Town Committee had far reaching consequences. Start sniffing around West Hartford. Fury at the treatment of second highest town council candidate Beth Kerrigan may be the start of something. A rebellion there will help you identify potential allies in a significant town. 

Plenty of Washington consultants have been wondering when 2018’s rumblings along the Queens to Boston fault line will be felt in Hartford. Raise some money and hire a few pros—and listen to them. Start reciting the incumbent’s fundraising sources in 11 campaigns. They won’t change in the 12th. Put some feelers out to former staff members, several of whom are said to be, (what is the right description to use?) disgruntled and looking for someone to listen to their tales. No honest environmentalist can be anything but appalled at the Larson plan for a tunnel through Hartford and under the Connecticut River. Others who pay attention to who gets what in politics shake their heads at the jobs given to one family at the expense of qualified candidates. 

There will be no statewide primaries next August. You can petition your way onto the ballot for a primary that will attract a low turnout. Anything can happen. After 22 years, an incumbent’s ties to local party organizations fray. (He won his first term in the state Senate by defeating an incumbent in a primary almost 40 years ago.) Find a veteran of the 2006 Lieberman v. Lamont primary. Quit your job in January. Watch what local camps form around Democratic presidential candidates. Go to their events. Make supporters out of their supporters. Devote your full measure to leapfrogging the timid entitled who crowd our elected offices. 

You will feel discouraged now and then but you must not show it. The worst that can happen is you return to where you are now. The best? You know the answer. Proceed to the starting gate.

If you are impaled on the horns of a dilemma and want to risk receiving advice, send a message to kfr@dailyructions.com. Identities will be protected. Messages may be edited.