Governor Ned Lamont’s deputy chief of staff, Nick Simmons, is expected to seek the 2024 Democratic nomination for state senator in the 36th District, Daily Ructions has learned. The seat is held by Republican Ryan Fazio. He’s likely to seek a third term.

Simmons may not enjoy a coronation to the Democratic nomination. Democrat Trevor Crow, who lost to Fazio in 2022 by 89 votes out of the 42,845 cast, may take a second run at Fazio. With that narrow margin, Crow would have a strong claim to the nomination. The district includes Greenwich and portions of Stamford and New Canaan. Fazio recaptured the traditionally Republican seat in the summer of 2021 in a special election caused by the resignation of Democrat Alex Kasser. Kasser claimed her contentious divorce made it impossible for her to continue to live in Greenwich.

Nick Simmons is the brother of Caroline Simmons, who is serving her first term as mayor of Stamford. She has been in a prolonged battle with local Democratic activists. They could use a low turnout summer primary between Simmons and Crow to send a firm message to the high-handed mayor about her own political prospects.

A former currency trader, Nick Simmons did a turn at the U.S. Department of Education before returning to the Lamont administration as deputy chief of staff at the start of the governor’s second term.

Published November 1, 2023.

Tuesday brought evidence of more growing pains in the ocean-based wind power industry. Orsted, the Danish wind power company, announced it is scuttling two significant wind proposals off the coast of New Jersey, according to the AP.

The company pointed to supply chain problems the big cost of financing with interest rates rising to unanticipated levels when the project was planned. Orsted is on the hook for a $100 million guarantee it posted in October for the completion of the projects.

Orsted said it will continue with its Revolution Wind project in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

“Today’s decision by Orsted to abandon its commitments to New Jersey is outrageous and calls into question the company’s credibility and competence,” Governor Phil Murphy said. Murphy has been an enthusiastic advocate of wind power to reduce carbon emissions. The blow comes a week before the state’s legislative elections in which the wind projects have been an issue in some contests.

Wind power developers and their state government partners have misjudged the economics of an industry that is new to the United States. Companies have complained that their government subsidies are inadequate to changing market conditions.

Avangrid announced a month ago that it was abandoning its Park City Wind project due to the same supply and financial challenges that it is incapable of withstanding. It will pay the state a $16 million penalty for terminating the deal.

Tuesday did bring good news for Dominion’s wind power ambitions. The Biden-Harris administration approved the energy giant’s plan to build 176 wind turbines 20 miles off the coast of Virginia.

Published November 1, 2023.

Old Lyme residents awoke Sunday to see swastikas painted on a Republican campaign sign.

A Democratic sign was defaced, though the message is not as clear.

Vandals revealed their obscene misogyny on a Republican campaign sign.

Published October 29, 2023.

Nearly 2,000 of the world’s sociologists have shared their view of the world and it is chilling. The sociologists issued a rant that condemns Israel amidst a load of pernicious nonsense.

Here is a sour helping of the ugly screed:

We are witnessing internationally supported genocide. This latest siege comes as a continuation and escalation of the daily violence Palestinians faced for decades from Israeli colonization; an apartheid regime whose occupation is in clear violation of international law, but persists with the support of powerful governments globally. In 2023 alone, the United States has sent $3.8 billion to prop up the Israeli military and consistently legitimized Israel’s human rights violations on a global stage. The European Union too has brazenly supported Israel’s aggression, while failing to reflect on the historical irony to “never again” commit genocide.

There is no mention of the more than 200 hostages Hamas terrorists continue to hold. Nor do the sociologists find space to mention the October 7th slaughter of Israelis by Hamas. (And they use “foregrounds” as a verb, which may reveal a telling detail about the process of obtaining an advance degree in sociology.)

The useful idiots are joined by University of Connecticut Associate Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies David G. Embrick. Mishal Khan, Yale postdoctoral fellow and Kayla Thomas, a Yale sociology PhD candidate, lent their names to the jumped-up harangue.

The document descries “the dehumanizing language used by heads of state, military leaders, and journalists throughout the West,” but makes no mention of the October 7th slaughter of Israelis by Hamas. It refers to the violence of the last week, but Hamas’s barbarity was visited on Israelis 17 days ago. That goes unacknowledged.

“As educators, it is our duty to stand by the principles of critical inquiry and learning,” the poisonous bloviators continue, without calling for the release of more than 200 hostages held by Hamas.

A response by “the Israeli sociological community along with concerned sociologists and other academics from around the globe” expresses their sadness and disappointment over the letter. The response points out “the blatant lack of any recognition of the heinous massacre carried out by Hamas in the south of Israel on October 7th.”

Michael Oren explains Hamas and the way forward for Israel in this edition of Dan Senor’s Call Me Back podcast.

Published October 24, 2023.

One of their own inflicting “threatening and abusive behavior” on local housing authorities makes no impression on House Democratic leaders. Speaker of the House Matthew Ritter and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas will be the special guests at state Representative Geoffrey Luxenberg’s political action committee fundraiser marking his 40th birthday.

The Manchester Democrat has been the subject of complaints by mostly female housing authority employees who dealt with him and his real estate business. One West Hartford housing authority official wrote in an email, Luxenberg ”has consistently been abusive and unreasonable at a level I have never before experienced,” and that he is “just plain mean.”

Luxenberg threatened an unhappy prospective tenant in a text, writing, “They likely will just take away your voucher if you keep lying. I think you should just move out and get a new place.” The tenant told housing administrators she found Luxenberg “somewhat racist.” She wrote,  “I had the worst experience with Geoff demanding money.” When a unit he was attempting to rent to a tenant with a tenant eligible for a government rent subsidy failed inspections, Luxenberg claimed he was being “discriminated against regarding my learning disability.” 

None of this matters to House Democratic caucus leaders when measured against contributions and event ad book purchases flowing into campaign coffers.

Lobbyists and entities that do business with the state have received the tiered-donation invites. The October 30th birthday squeeze will take place at West Hartford’s GastroPark. Anyone who gives or raises $1,000 can be a “Birthday Celebration Host.” Raise more and you do have to be a host.

Hand over $40.00 and become a “Birthday Basher,” which may trigger painful memories from some who emerge feeling basked from contact with the volatile Luxenberg.

Published October 24, 2023.

For something completely different, read and subscribe to the new Substack newsletter Now You Know–The Cultural Lives of Others. This week’s guest is violinist and senator Gary Winfield.

The mask slips.

As the week began, the Wall Street Journal highlighted a nasty rant by CT SEIU executive director Kooper Caraway—who was forced to resign Thursday—declaring that workers’ enemies are CEOs capitalists and colonialists. Enemies are not in Gaza (where murderous Hamas terrorists hold 200 hostages). Caraway took a moment to weave birthday wishes to his partner, Puja, into his hymn to hate. It included a call to impose a regime of misery on her and the rest of the world. He announced, “there is no greater gift we could give her than to pledge that this will be the last birthday she has to celebrate under colonialism, under occupation, under capitalism and under imperialism.” Translation: a cliche-ridden nightmare.

Puja reciprocated Caraway’s dream of eradicating freedom to create and thrive under the rule of law. Puja announced on X (formerly Twitter) that she’s awfully proud of Caraway and just in case you had any doubts added the radical left’s call for genocide: From the river to the sea. There it is. It’s not about peace. They want a war that ends in the deaths of millions of Jews. It is the Hamas creed—embraced by some among us.

Published October 20, 2023.

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For something completely different, read and subscribe to Now You Know—The Cultural Lives of Others, a new and free Substack newsletter. Chief Justice Richard Robinson is this week’s guest and he does not disappoint.

A hard day on the communist far left. Justine Medina, former aide to U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Communist Party, is in a right royal fury that Kooper Caraway, Executive Director of the Connecticut division of the politically powerful SEIU, “was forced to resign for standing up for peace and justice everywhere.”

No, if Caraway was forced to resigned it was because decency asserted itself in the aftermath of Caraway’s appalling comments in support of Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas terrorists slaughter and kidnapping of thousands of Israelis on October 7th. Caraway’s harangue against freedom and Western values caught the attention of Wall Street Journal columnist Alyssia Finlay. She wrote about the ugly rhetoric last weekend.

It would appear in a video of Caraway’s hollering posted by Comrade Medina that he found no time to call upon Hamas to release the 199 hostages the murderous terrorists are thought to be holding in Gaza. Dozens of those hostages are Americans.

Published October 19, 2023.

For something completely different, read and subscribe to Now You Know–The Cultural Lives of Others, my new free Substack newsletter.

This week’s guest is Chief Justice Richard Robinson.

Mayor Joseph Ganim, embroiled in a legal battle over his 251-vote September 12th primary victory, will mark his 64th birthday with a campaign fundraising event. Ganim for Bridgeport ’23 is accepting contributions in amounts up to $2,000.

The campaign event will take place at Redline Restoration on Saturday, October 21st, Ganim’s 64th birthday. If the past is any indicator of the future, contributions will be more appreciated than attendance. This year also marks the 35th anniversary of Ganim’s first campaign. He sought a seat in the state House Representatives in a 1988 Democratic primary, losing to incumbent Lee Samowitz by 150 votes.

The outlook for Ganim’s re-election campaign to a ninth term remains murky. Democratic opponent John Gomes has raised significant doubts about the number of absentee ballots that were cast and counted outside the state’s elections laws.

Published October 19, 2023.

For something completely different, read and subscribe to Now You Know–The Cultural Lives of Others, my new Substack newsletter.

This week’s guest is Chief Justice Richard Robinson.

Friends of Bridgeport Democrat Wanda Geter-Pataky will gather Thursday at 5 p.m. to protest “bias and injustice” as Geter-Pataky “faces allegations of ballot box tampering.” Organizers decry the media attention paid to a video of Geter-Pataky, an enthusiastic supporter of Bridgeport’s mayor, Joseph Ganim, appearing to make repeated deposits of absentee ballots in a ballot box located outside at the Margaret Morton Government Center.

“The black community believes that her case has received undue media scrutiny when compared to a white woman who engaged in similar alleged misconduct but remained largely untouched be the media’s spotlight.” The media is invited to Thursday’s event.

The spotlight is the result of the proliferation of cameras monitoring the ballot drop-boxes. The video of Geter-Pataky is made for a a social media age. She raised the attention her role received when she asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when she testified in Ganim rival John Gomes’ court challenge to Ganim’s September primary win by 251 vote.

Published October 18, 2023.

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This week’s guest is Chief Justice Richard Robinson.

Now and then, a story comes along that almost writes itself with primary documents. On Monday, October 16th, MDC Commissioner Andrew Adil sent an extraordinary email message to MDC CEO Scott Jellison. Adil complaining that his son Austin was suddenly terminated from the employment agency the MDC uses for seasonal conservation officers. The email is below and it tells a discouraging tale of entitlement and abuse of authority. It also reveals a misfire. 

Jellison’s reply, sent Tuesday afternoon, does not spare Adil or Austin. It sets forth the years MDC hired Austin. The message also discloses that claims for unemployment benefits by Austin and other temporary seasonal workers applied for and received unemployment benefits after the season ended. The MDC did not oppose their claims. 

As a result of those unemployment claims, the MDC switched to hiring seasonal workers through an employment agency. “MDC’s need for 2023 seasonal/temporary staff has ended,” Jellison writes to the grasping Adil. 

An intervention of this sort by a commissioner for his child (after six years of seasonal employment by MDC) ought to infuriate MDC commissioners, who are copied on Jellison’s carefully written and lethal message. This not how the regional water authority ought to work. Jellison kindly does not include the word grifter but it’s the only descriptive one he left out to rebuke and indict Adil. 

Adil was appointed to his MDC position by Governor Ned Lamont, who should demand his resignation by the time he reaches the end of this post. 

Andrew Adil’s email:

Scott, 

As you know, my son Austin was working with the temp agency that covered Reservoir 1 & 6 along with Barkhamsted.  He was grateful for the position and strived to be the best Conservation Officer they had.  

Late last week he was informed that the agency was no longer needed effective (essentially) immediately.  

Please provide me with a detailed explanation of how this occurred.  

As a Commissioner I’m deeply concerned and if this happened as I’m told it did, truthfully embarrassed to be part of an organization that would do that to a contractor which provided us with such excellent service.  In my son’s case, he never missed a day or work, even when he had woken up just hours before reporting to work suffering from food poisoning!  The people he worked with were very pleased with his work ethic and he is rewarded by being told last Thursday with essentially no notice that they had been terminated?  

I don’t believe that the MDC should not be doing business this way.  We have had an excellent reputation in the community for many many years.  I hope that this is not some indication of business methods to come.  Thank you.  

Sincerely,

Commissioner Adil 

Scott Jellison’s reply-which included the bold italics:

Commissioner,

Thank you for your email below, I apologize for the delayed response.

I am not sure what actions, if any, you are requesting of me as the CEO. You are an MDC Commissioner, and father of a seasonal/temporary summer employee retained by the MDC who was employed in the past through the MDC’s College Intern Program (2017-2020) and more recently through a private temporary employment agency (2022-2023).  I note that your email makes specific references to your son, his work attendance, his work ethic, and his “termination”. It is unclear to me whether your email is an attempt to influence my decisions as the CEO to make business decisions for the MDC, or merely informational. 

For years the MDC has retained college interns and seasonal/temporary staff. As noted, your son has benefited from this initiative. As I have done for many others, and without any guarantee of employment, I tried to guide you and your son with recommendations on which college courses and programs could help him qualify for applying to a permanent MDC position, including identifying minimum qualifications for taking and passing the CT DPH Water Treatment Operator certification test. 

And yet more recently, even though your son was no longer enrolled in college, and therefore not qualified to work under the MDC Intern summer program, at the request of others, MDC rehired your son in 2019 as seasonal/temporary summer staff at the Water Treatment Facility. 

In 2020, again at the request of others, Austin was hired as a seasonal/temporary summer Water Treatment Plant Maintainer thru August.

To our surprise, in September 2020, some of those individuals, including Austin, applied for and received unemployment benefits after only working 3-4 months for the MDC. While we did not contest the application for benefits, we addressed this situation prospectively by moving away from directly retaining part-time staff to working through a temporary employment agency. Contrary to your assumptions in your email, we continue to use a temp agency, which brings the added benefit of flexibility to add or reduce staffing levels, on a real-time basis, as necessary to meet the needs of the MDC.  Austin was, and I assume continues to be, employed by that same agency.

MDC’s need for 2023 seasonal/temporary staff has ended. This was an administrative business decision supported by the program’s administrator and based upon the resource needs of the MDC.

As to notice regarding your son’s “termination”,  as well as others which you haven’t raised the same concerns, because the needs of the MDC’s resources may change on a weekly, perhaps daily basis, there is no specific requirements of prior notice to the temp agency when we decide to increase or reduce temporary staff. In fact, one of the benefits of using a temp agency is the fact that they have staff readily available to meet our needs, and in turn, can reassign its personnel to other clients as necessary. 

For your information, MDC has been very consistent in reducing staff “termination” starting in September right after labor day.  This year 6 staff were secured through the temp agency and in September, 2 staff were relieved of duty, not Austin. As you indicated your son, as well as 2 other temp agency staff, were relieved of their duty last Friday, Oct 13, 2023. The remaining individual will also be relieved at the appropriate time in November.

I trust this addresses your concerns.

Thank you

Scott W. Jellison, P.E.

Jellison’s email does more than address Adil’s concerns. It raises far more serious ones for commission members, leaders of member towns and Governor Lamont.

Jellison leaves one question without an answer: Who are these “others”?

Published October 18, 2023.

For something completely different, read and subscribe to Now You Know–The Cultural Lives of Others. This week’s guest is Chief Justice Richard Robinson.