Governor Ned Lamont would signal he has given up on economic development and affordable housing in Connecticut by appointing Mary Glassman to a new, top position in his office. Glassman’s eight terms as Simsbury’s first selectman were marked most notably by the departure of The Harford from the affluent community.

The Hartford was Simsbury’s largest employer and taxpayer when its 2015 announcement that it would be closing its campus caught the detached incumbent by surprise. The previously undeveloped northern portion of The Hartford site is now home to apartments, an assisted living facility, and 11,000 square feet of commercial space. The site of the demolished buildings remains vacant.

Glassman, who contributed $500 to former Republican John Rowland’s 2002 re-election campaign, served as the head of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM). Executive Director Joseph DeLong this week confessed, “Our organization for years has really focused on local control, making sure that one size did not fit all, and things that, frankly, were probably a hindrance to some of these efforts.” 

A 2019 survey found 4.74% of Simsbury’s housing units were deemed affordable.

Glassman recently deregistered as a lobbyist.

The state budget deficit and the workload in Governor Ned Lamont’s office must have eased considerably in the aftermath of the coronavirus surge this spring. The Greenwich Democrat is creating a position for former Simsbury first selectman Mary Glassman, Daily Ructions has learned.

The Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) created the Office for Regional Efficiencies for Glassman in 2015 after a charter change in Simsbury reduced the scope of her position as that affluent community’s chief elected official. Glassman was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2006. She sought the governor’s job in 2010 but dropped out of the race to become Lamont’s running mate in their losing primary contest with Dannel P. Malloy and Nancy Wyman.

U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes won a landslide victory over party-endorsed Glassman in their 2018 primary contest to replace embattled incumbent Elizabeth Esty. Glassman left no footprints in jobs she held in the House and Senate Democratic caucases before she worked on Kevin Sullivan’s staff when he became lieutenant governor upon the July 1, 2004 resignation of then-Governor John G. Rowland.

Glassman’s precise duties in Lamont’s office have not been determined. If history is any guide, they will be light by practice, if not by design.

Attorney General William Tong will appeal a federal court ruling requiring the state to provide services to special education students until they are 22.

“In June, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Haight Jr. ruled that the Connecticut State Board of Education’s decision to limit services to special education students after their 21st birthdays violates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,” CTNewsJunkie reports. The decision was not accompanied by the lust for attention that has marked the Tahoe-driving environmentalist’s 18 months in office. No press conference on the courthouse steps for Tong to ballyhoo his assault on special education.

The Stamford Democrat announced earlier this month that he would challenge the Trump administration’s misbegotten decision to cancel visas of students attending colleges and universities that offer only online courses in the upcoming academic year. That decision was abandoned shortly after it was announced. Older special education students in Connecticut, however, are still without minimal services they sued to obtain.

Connecticut State Police on Saturday recovered an assault weapon stolen from an officer’s car a week ago in eastern Connecticut. The rifle was found in Hartford. At least one arrest has been made.

State police information officers have declined to provide details of the dangerous theft other than to disclose the car was not equipped with an alarm. They would not say if the car was locked when the crime occurred or if the rifle was secured in the vehicle.

There is dismay in the leadership and ranks of the Connecticut State Police over the weekend theft from a police vehicle of a high-powered rifle, ammunition and other items. The Connecticut State Police Union has offered a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the recovery of the lost items.

A press release from the union confirms that the vehicle from which the weapon was stolen was driven by a member of the State Police Command Staff, “and not a member of the State Police Union. we understand the importance of providing our assistance and support due to the dangerous circumstances.”

The release reveals that in addition to the assault rifle, other stolen “items include, but are not limited to, a plastic container containing 70 rounds of .45 nd .223 caliber ammunition, two sets of body armor (one with velcro ‘State Police’ patches on the front and back of the vest, a ‘State Police’ raid jacket, a black straight baton with black plastic holder, and a black gas mask.”

The union asks that anyone with information contact Detective Dan Bruell of Troop D in Danielson at 860-779-4900. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call the union at 860-568-0500.

Connecticut State Police issued an alert Sunday in the aftermath of an AR-15 assault weapon and 100 rounds of ammunition were stolen from a police vehicle in eastern Connecticut. The perpetrators are thought to  be driving a silver 2014 Ford Escape stolen from a Woodstock home.

State Police investigators and the public will want to know more details on the theft of a lethal weapon from a police vehicle.

Matt Lieberman, son of former Connecticut U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, is falling out of contention in Georgia’s race to fill an open Senate seat, according to a Public Policy Polling survey of 734 registered voters. Former U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson left office late last year due to ill-health.

Lieberman had been competitive in early polling before the race took shape. No more. He trails in 4th place with 11% of the vote in the open special election. The top two contenders–from among all the candidates–will face each other in the final round.

The Liebermans are a far-flung political family. While representing Connecticut in the U.S. Senate, Joseph Lieberman moved to New Hampshire in a futile attempt to win that state’s 2004 presidential primary. He returned to Connecticut to run for re-election in 2006 and faced a strong challenge from wealthy self-funder Ned Lamont. In an epic contest, Lamont defeated Lieberman in that year’s Democratic primary. Lieberman trudged in as a petitioning candidate and trounced Lamont three months later.

U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes will not be silent. The first term Fifth District Democrat and national teacher of the year has examined Governor Ned Lamont’s fall school reopening plan and found it wanting.

Hayes expresses her disappointment with her fellow Democrat in a Thursday night tweet. Full marks to Hayes for sharing a critical opinion of a fellow Democrat, breaking the poisonous spell of political tribalism. Hayes reminds us that diversity of opinions is a crucial liberal value.

Nantucket red will never be the same. Former Vineyard Vines executive Anne Dauer has sued the preppy Fairfield County clothing manufacturer and its founders for age and gender discrimination in a federal lawsuit. Dauer alleges the company favored young men over experienced female employees.

Dauer’s complaint, according to Daniela Altimari’s Hartford Courant story, claims co-founder Ian Murray often mewled that there were “too many middle-age women around the table” when executives met. Dauer also alleges that young men were paid better than more experienced women.

In 2014, Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s administration gave the company a low interest forgivable $6 million loan to build a new headquarters in Stamford. The company could also be eligible “for $8 million in state tax credits, as well as $500,000 in sales and use tax exemptions,” according to The Courant.

Malloy hailed the crony capitalism deal as a “great Connecticut story of two brothers who, fed up with corporate life and determined to make it on their own, began selling their own line of ties nearly 20 years ago.” Co-founder Shep Murray declared at the time, “Our new office space will put into practice the core values on which we founded Vineyard Vines, one of which is making Vineyard Vines a great place to work.” Dauer disagrees.

Connecticut added 25,800 jobs in May after losing more 269,000 jobs in April, according to the Department of Labor. The number portends a slow economic recovery for Connecticut, which was in a more than decade-long struggle to restore economic growth after the 2008-2009 recession.

Creating the conditions for jobs and opportunity to thrive in Connecticut has been the state’s policymaker’s challenge for more than 30 years. The global pandemic has added another high hurdle.