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Dear Ructions,

My days and nights are filled with events attended by strangers. Not exactly strangers. People I met while campaigning whose names I never knew or have forgotten. I have run out of ways to feign recognition. Guessing with confidence and getting the name wrong has caused some uncomfortable moments. People notice. How can I do better at recognizIng these people—whose help I will need again?

Sign me,

Blanking

Dear Blank,

Do this in a pinch. If you come across someone whose name you realize you should know but don’t, immediately announce your contacts were scrambled when you transferred them to your iPhone 11 before the first iOS update. Before they say one word, they must AirDrop their contact to you. You’ll then see the name and flatter the well-wisher into thinking you had their contact information all along.

Use that device sparingly. For the long term, take these steps. Start directing your attention away from yourself. You may be the center of your own universe, but no one else’s. Ask for a list of attendees expected to be at each event. When you meet someone, stop looking around to see if someone more useful is nearby. Repeat the person’s name upon hearing it, use it in the conversation and when saying goodbye.  After the event, make a list of the people you have met. 

You can practice this method at sparsely attended events. Get Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz’s schedule and show up at some of her meetings—almost no one goes to them but she needs to justify a full-time driver.

A final bit of counsel. Don’t try to get away with using endearments on women in the 21st century.  Abandon calling unfamiliar men “Buddy”. I offer this from experience. Anyone who calls me “Buddy” does not know me. I am certain I am not alone in this. Need I caution you

About what someone your age sounds like saying “Dude”?

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.

Richard Nixon knew what he’d done. They always know and they always deny it until cornered. Read more here.

Norwalk resident Jonathan Riddle is seeking the Republican nomination in Connecticut’s 4th CD to face Democratic incumbent Jim Himes. Riddle grew up in Westchester County and works in Westport. He works in banking with wealthy customers.

Expect a campaign with many football references.

Perhaps some time on the campaign trail will iron out the early wrinkles. The most prominent photo on Riddle’s campaign website appears to feature the building that houses Purdue Pharma, ground zero for the opioid crisis and an odd choice for a campaign photo. The campaign consultants, Praetorian Strategy Group, ought to have noticed.

Here’s a link to his campaign video.

Dear Ructions:

Connecticut is not the easiest place to find a job. A public agency has been looking for a new executive director. My background is in the area of the agency’s authority. I have plenty of experience but am concerned my lack of political connections dooms my chances. I keep hearing the job is wired for a politician with paltry qualifications other than friends in politics.

A direct challenge to the selection process won’t help me. What can I do to make the case for merit?

Sign me,

Disadvantaged

Dear Dis,

Government by cronies continues to deepen its thirsty roots in Connecticut. Our public higher education system has become the capital of hackery—and the state’s new governor seems not at all interested in whacking away at it. 

This may be one more stitch up, a rigged job. You are not without tools. Persuasion guru Stephen Martin advises that having others introduce your accomplishments enhances your power to move an audience. Deploy your allies to contact the organization’s board members and the people who appointed them to highlight your talents with examples of achievement.

The hack relies on the qualified to retreat in the face of political thumbs on the scale. Make more than your fight alone. Every politician looking for another high-paying public job (Is it ever enough?) has some detractors and rivals. Commence a hunt to identify them. They may discover a new-found taste for fairness and lend a hand. 

During your interview, find a way to demonstrate you know your way around the Freedom of Information Act, which is a skill they ought to appreciate in a job prospect. This will remind the interlocutors that much of the selection process will be subject to public scrutiny. If they have subordinated their public trust to political pressure they will learn that sunshine is a powerful disinfectant. If they have any doubts, they might examine the tatters of the Connecticut Port Authority. 

Execute these steps and you will be ready for takeoff.

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.

The great mentioner has had a busy day. Republican National Committeewoman Leora Levy nomination to serve as the nation’s ambassador to Chile means Levy’s seat on the slavish Trump party committee may become vacant. Levy may retain her spot on the committee while her nomination is pending before the U.S. Senate. The pace of business in Washington may slow with the commencement of impeachment proceedings against the loathsome demagogue.

Levy, who lives in Greenwich, has in recent years listed her occupation as “retired” on campaign finance reports. She has been a prolific donor to Republican candidates and committees. She also gave $1,000 to lobbyist and former U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd for his 1992 re-election campaign. That’s a curious donation because Levy, who with her family fled the murderous Castro regime. Dodd was often a supporter of anti-democratic Latin America regimes.

The competition to succeed Levy will be quietly intense. On Friday, the list of a possible successor, to be chosen by the state party committee, include state Representative Themis Klarides (R-Madison, Hartford, and Derby), Fairfield Republican campaign consultant Liz Kurantowicz, former party vice chair Catherine Marx of Hebron, state party committee member Amy Stefanowski-a full time Madison resident, and former party vice chair Annalisa Stravato, of Wilton.

There will be more.

It’s that time of year again. State Representative John Frey needs to replenish his airline and hotel fund–formally known as Leadership Connecticut PAC. Chris Christie, the Dannel Malloy of New Jersey, will headline an October 3rd “Evening of Cigar, Cocktails and Politics” at a Waterbury restaurant. Christie ended his second term as governor in 2017 with a 15% approval rating.

Public revulsion at Bridgegate, a failed presidential campaign, toadying to Donald Trump, and a remarkable beach photograph combined to cause the people of New Jersey to agree on one thing: they loathed Christie.

Frey serves on the Republican National Committee and uses most of the money his committee raised to pay for flights and accommodations to and from committee events. The minimum suggested contribution for next week’s event is $140 for individuals, $1,000 for federal PACs.

In 2018, according to campaign finance records, Frey spent $16,770 on administrative travel and lodging and made $12,000 in campaign contributions.

State Representative Raghib Allie-Brennan (D-Bethel) has strong words for Governor Ned Lamont as the freshman Democrat tries to put some distance between himself and the budget he supported. As a reminder, the budget included a tax increase on food of more then $100 million in the next two years. The language that Allie-Brennan supported and the non-partisan professionals in the Department of Revenue Services interpreted by its plain meaning is still the law of Connecticut.

The higher and expanded tax is a result of the language in the budget. Unless that changes, it could be imposed at any time. The meals tax is not rescinded. On Tuesday, the tax on prepared foods at restaurants and grocery stores will rise by 15%.

Allie-Brennan concludes his post with a warning to Lamont. “I will continue to be vigilant and hold the administration accountable for enforcing the law fairly and appropriately.” Duly noted on the second floor and in other places.

Governor Ned Lamont’s administration has been expressing anger at emails from Senate Democrats to their constituents claiming they convinced the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) to retreat from its initial interpretation of the grocery tax the Democrats slipped into the state budget.

The emails, like the one above, are garnering sneers and resentment in Lamont’s office and other arms of state government, Daily Ructions has learned. This is a great post to read to understand the contempt for the Senate Democrats’ claim and how it grows from a stalwart ally–the truth. The change in the interpretation came completely from within the executive branch. The Senate Democrats did not stop the grocery tax “again”, they created it with the plain language of their budget and it remains on the books.

Others note that the email fails to mention the Senate Democrats leave out a $100 million piece of the budget pie–their support for a regressive 15% increase in the sales tax on prepared foods sold in restaurants and grocery stores.

This is the sort of weasel maneuvering that a governor’s office keeps on file for future deployment.

Deputy Secretary of the State Scott Bates will select precincts from September 10th’s municipal primary for audits. The selection will take place at 11 a.m. on September 26th at the Secretary of State’s Office on Trinity Street in Hartford.

Bates doesn’t not come to mind as a guardian of good government practices. A growing scandal at the Connecticut Port Authority (CPA) over favoring friends and family with authority funds forced Bates, an ambitious Stonington Democrat, to resign from the board.

No word on whether any officials from the Croatian consulate will attend the precinct drawing. Bates does like some pomp when he’s on display.

Dear Ructions,

I need to quell an insurrection. The boss in our office continues to engage in ostentatious displays of wealth. No one among her subordinates enjoys her means—which do not come from her labors at our workplace. Her schedule is repeat with personal pampering appointments while everyone else is at work. She may have lit the fuse by letting people know she was pondering the purchase of a $20,000 handbag while on vacation at a city known as a center for international fashion.

The incident has roiled the ranks who detect a “let them eat cake” aura from our leader. How might a few of us defuse the seething resentment? We do not want anyone to become unemployed for mouthing off about Ms. Antionette’s expensive accoutrements.

Sign me,

Hermesed in America

Dear Hermesed,

The tyranny of the handbag continues. This cannot be what Louis Vuitton and Judith Lieber intended when they created their luxury goods long ago. Still, a moment is upon us and you are right to confront it.

The benefits of capitalism will never be extinguished by those who struggle to advance themselves. The danger comes from the garish clueless. Too bad the boss has no friend outside the office who could—as Her Majesty the Queen does for her prime minister—caution and warn against ill-considered acts.

Your decision not to send a photo of the revealing handbag suggests you may possess the discretion to bring a wary peace. Vulgarity on the march remains a potent force for ill, as each day reminds us. It is not easy to make a telling point to those who believe pricey consumer goods fill their empty core. 

One or two of you must go to New York and have a wander to Canal Street. There you will find replicas of the offending handbag. Scoop up an armful. Distribute them among the budding mutineers. On the rare day when the boss is in residence at work, plan a small celebration around a birthday or leave-taking. Have everyone carry her new handbag. (If it’s a Birkin or Kelly bag, it’s always open.) One of the jolliest among you should point out that someone gave the boss one too! What a sport she is for using it. If she insists on declaring hers is an original, you have done your best and the rebellion will take root.

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.