Random header image... Refresh for more!

Finance and Education Committees to Meet Monday Morning on School Construction Scandal.

The state legislature’s finance and education committees will hold a rare joint meeting to learn more about the school construction financing scandal dogging the Lamont administration. The committees will hear from Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Commissioner Michelle Gilman and Noel Petra, Deputy Commissioner of Real Estate and Construction Services.

If Gilman’s Tuesday confirmation hearing is an indication of the answers she will offer Monday, legislators will have to persist in seeking substantive responses to their questions. Word salads have become the dish of choice for Governor Ned Lamont and his officials when facing questions about the alleged contract steering scheme.

Here are some questions legislators may want to ask:

According to a review by the CT Mirror, two contractors, AAIS and Bestech, “got all but 15 of the 284 purchase orders issued by the state for hazardous waste disposal and demolition from fiscal year 2017 through 2022.” Why did no one at DAS notice that one of those companies, AAIS, was getting more than 70% of those contracts? If they did notice, why did no one say something? You can see the Causes, Effects, Consequences, and Solutions of Illegal Dumping here

Commissioner Gilman offered considerable praise for former budget secretary Melissa McCaw when Lamont announced her resignation on February 25th. Is she satisfied with McCaw’s oversight of the school construction grants program?

After months of questions, no one from DAS or the governor’s office has explained one fundamental decision: How and why was D’Amato Construction, which had never built a school, chosen from the start as the contractor for the $46 million Birch Grove School in Tolland? Will you please tell us?

Tolland’s superintendent, Dr. Walter Willett, said Kostantinos Diamantis, – former head of the school construction grant program, told him there would be problems with the Birch Grove School project if the town did not hire D’Amato and Construction Advocacy Professions (CAP). Why do you think Tolland officials felt they had no one in authority to turn to rescue them from those alleged threats?

How can you be certain that the same people at DAS who appeared to have noticed nothing about this growing scandal are capable of initiating and overseeing changes in it?

Mr. Petra is a vocal opponent of oversight, as shown by his harsh criticism of the State Properties Review Board that has saved taxpayers millions. Do you share his hostility to independent oversight?

Why is DAS auditing records of projects only from 2018 when federal investigators have subpoenaed state records from January 1, 2022?

On NBC Connecticut’s Face the Facts this weekend, Commissioner Gilman told reporter Mike Hydeck that the governor raised concerns about moving the school construction grant program to OPM. How and to whom did he raise those concerns? Was it a mistake for Governor Lamont to allow the program to move to OPM with Mr. Diamantis?

How many people at DAS typically work on a school construction project?

Were DAS employees afraid to cross Mr. Diamantis?

What happens to portable classrooms when a town is done using them?

Have any DAS employees been interviewed by federal criminal investigators? Have any received a subpoena to appear before the grand jury empaneled to investigate corruption in the Lamont administration? 

What will you do if any DAS employee refuses to cooperate with federal criminal investigators?

How long did it take for DAS to provide investigators information sought in the federal subpoena? How long will it take DAS to provide that information to anyone seeking it under the Freedom of Information Act? 

How long does it take DAS to respond to a request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act? What have you done so far to improve DAS’s response to FOI requests?