They are partners in shame, reunited to punish Hartford. Former Trinity College president Evan Dobelle is raising money for felonious former Hartford mayor Eddie Perez’s mayoral campaign, Daily Ructions has learned. Perez worked for Dobelle when the former Pittsfield, Massachusetts, mayor was president of Trinity College.

Dobelle came to grief during his controversial tenure at Westfield State University, where he made profligate use of a university funds on travel, hotels, and meals. Massachusetts Inspector General Cunha, according to the Boston Globe, “found that criticisms of Dobelle’s spending were well-founded, concluding in July 2014 that he used hundreds of thousands of dollars from university accounts to pay for trips, electronics, and even a portrait of himself.” Dobelle sued Westfield State officials for their criticisms of his practices, claiming they had damaged his reputation and ought to pay him $1.6 million in compensation.

Rather than receive a payment, Dobelle settled claims against him by agreeing to pay $185,000. In addition, Dobelle  was “banned from working for — or even volunteering at — ‘any public institution of higher education within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ under the settlement,” according to the Globe, which exposed Dobelle’s spending.

Dobelle’s named was removed last year from the Middlesex Community College library. He served as president of that school from 1987-1990.

Perez, who was convicted of corruption during his tenure as mayor of Hartford, served as an assistant to Dobelle until he became mayor in 2001.

Dobelle has been making fundraising calls for Perez, who is challenging incumbent Luke Bronin for the Democratic nomination for mayor. Bronin got off to a fast start in the fundraising competition, collecting $500,000 mostly from donors outside Hartford. Bronin’s wife, who serves on the city’s zoning board, has been making unpleasant fundraising calls, a reminder that dubious fundraising surrogates are not limited to the Perez campaign.

Director of Public Works Bill Russo is running for mayor of Middletown. Russo, who has worked for the town’s government for 35 years, faces council member Mary Bartolotts in the contest for the Democratic nomination to succeed incumbent Dan Drew.

“To me, good government and Democratic values are all about making sure people get their money’s worth for the taxes they pay. We need to keep taxes down while making sure we have great parks, safe roads and streets, solid infrastructure and strong schools. It takes experience to make that happen, and I’ll put my experience and work ethic up against anyone who wants to run for this office,” Russo declared in a written statement.

Middletown’s Democratic politics have been more fractious than usual. A Democratic town committee challenge saw Drew supporters and others ousted on a winter night early last year. A chunk of delegates to last year’s Democratic state convention declined to support Susan Bysiewicz, a local Democrat, for governor or lieutenant governor.

Barlotta ran into some headwinds early in her campaign for mayor when her husband’s ugly Facebook posts came to light. Sebastian Barlotta issued the standard “to anyone who was offended” apology. Mary Barlotta disavowed his nasty sentiments and the view of the world they suggest.

Geen Thazhampallath, director of parking for Middletown, is also seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor.  He was a registered Republican until 2018. He was chief of staff to former mayor Sebastian Giuliano.

Connecticut Republican chairman hopeful David Mathus supported New York Democrat Charles Schumer in his 1998 bid for the United States Senate. Schumer defeated three term incumbent Alfonse D’Amato in a ferocious battle. Mathus donated $500 to the Schumer campaign.

Mathus, 60, has contributed to Republicans, including the presidential campaigns of John McCain, Mitt Romney, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush.

The Darien Republican has launched a website, BoldCTGOP.com, to set out his stall for the June contest to lead a party that lost considerable influence in managing the affairs of Connecticut in an anti-Trump suburban rout. Mathus may face incumbent J.R. Romano. Former party chair Dick Foley is also in the race.

The vulgarian Trumps were generous contributors to Schumer before they set out to destroy democratic norms via the Republican Party.

Honoré Daumier on Good Friday.

Connecticut dropped 1,300 jobs in March, even as the national job picture continued to be robust. The loss will frustrate state policymakers as they continue to wrestle with shaping a balanced budget for the next two fiscal years. The Hartford Business Journal has more.

The state has lost 3,400 jobs in the first three months of this year.

More confirmation that self-regard rules in the Office of the Attorney General. Tahoe-driving, faux environmentalist William Tong sent a message to all office employees late Monday afternoon to let them know that Thursday will be his 100th day in office. This appears not to have been on office calendars nor on the minds of the state’s busy civil lawyers.

To celebrate his epoch, HRH Tong has engaged in the sort of noblesse oblige that they used to learn at fancy private schools. He invites the office masses to don as a tribute to him on Thursday “any tasteful and appropriate clothing in which you are comfortable.”

One measure of how tone-deaf Tong is on employee relations? Even Richard Blumenthal never issued such a decree during his 20 years in the office.

There may be some tensions in the Shipman & Goodwin lunchroom. Former DCF commissioner Joette Katz joined the firm several months ago after leaving state government. Perry Zinn Rowthorn served as former Attorney General George Jepsen’s deputy before they both left office in January and joined Shipman & Goodwin.

Katz was unsparing and vulgar in her criticism of Rowthorn in text messages to former Office of Policy and Management deputy secretary Natalie Wagner. Katz and Rowthorn clashed when the attorney general’s office raised objections to a settlement of the Juan F. DCF consent agreement. The deal negotiated by Katz and outside counsel would have required the legislature to guarantee a minimum level of funding for DCF, taking away much of its budgetary discretion.

The frantic search for legacies within the Malloy administration raised the temperature on discussion of the proposed lifting of the consent agreement. Katz had been hoping it would be hers.

Wagner was one of the OPM officials assigned to DCF matters. She and Katz exchanged many messages on a wide variety of topics and personalities.

Katz’s messages are shaded in the selection above.

Former Office of Policy and Management (OPM) official Natalie Wagner and Joette Katz, the former commissioner of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) carried on an intense, opinionated text message exchange in 2017 and 2018 that came to the attention of Lamont administration officials early this year. The two expressed demeaning opinions of state Representative Toni Walker (D-New Haven) and state Senator Len Fasano (R-North Haven) over the legislators’ opposition to a controversial and expensive proposal to end the Juan F. consent agreement that has kept a federal monitor in place at DCF for decades.

Wagner and Katz speculated on a sexual relationship between the two legislators in their malicious messages. After Katz reviewed Walker and Fasano at a hearing, she texted Wagner, “Just watched Len and tony (sic) from yesterday. Why don’t they just get a room” Wagner replied, “Maybe they have”.

Two weeks later, Wagner texted Katz, “Len was channeling DTrump (sic) with his excessive alternative facts. And I think Toni’s remarks were some kind of code about where they should meet up for an afternoon delight.” The sexual innuendo between a man and a woman working together on an issue is the sort of anti-feminist trope that women have had to overcome for decades. Some would be surprised to see it coming from Wagner and Katz. Others would not.

The messages between Katz and Wagner came to light when lawyers for a litigant with a matter against DCF sought Katz’s texts. Some became available only after the former high court justice turned in her phone at the end of her controversial tenure at DCF as the Malloy administration came to a conclusion. Katz’s message is shaded in the exchange above.

Wagner left the Malloy administration in 2018 to join the Hartford law firm Shipman & Goodwin. She left private practice to become the number two person at OPM early this year. Wagner’s leaving that post was announced in a terse email in early February–after the discovery of the text messages.

Southbury Republicans are reacting to charges of anti-Semitism against First Selectman Jeff Manville by Ruby Corby O’Neill, a Southbury resident who ran for the Republican nomination for Congress from the 5th CD in 2018. O’Neill submitted a letter to Southbury selectmen last month setting forth her claims against Manville. The public response began at Thursday’s selectmen’s meeting.

Here’s O’Neill’s letter:

The Lamont administration is seeking a Deputy Commissioner of Business Development. The position includes a wide range of duties, including attracting new businesses to Connecticut and retaining the ones already here.

The annual salary ranges from $109,673 to $225,937. Read more here.