Testimony of Phil Sherwood
Before the GAE, Monday, February 25th, 2008
Good morning Senator Slossberg, Representative Caruso and other members of the GAE committee. My name is Phil Sherwood, I am the Legislative Director for the Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG). CCAG has approximately 30,000 member families across CT and I appreciate the opportunity to comment on several bills before your committee today.
Four years ago today, John Rowland told us he wasn't the sort of guy to take illicit gifts. A week later he said that wasn't exactly true. A month later he went on TV to admit he'd lied. He swore he did nothing for his benefactors — a monumental whopper made worse for being offered up in the midst of a supposed confession.
A year later Rowland admitted that and more to a federal judge. By the time he decamped for a 10-month stint in a Pennsylvania prison, we knew his greed had cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
Everyone claimed to learn a lesson. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Common Cause and the Connecticut Citizen Action Group leaned on reluctant legislators to enact comprehensive campaign finance reform and, after some misfires, less comprehensive ethics reform.
Time passes. Memory fades. We connect Rowland's name to the words "hot tub," but recall less about rigged bids, Enron and sweetheart deals. We forget our own numbness and mounting anger as stories of his clothes, vacations and credit cards dripped out.
HARTFORD, Conn. - A new report says it's easier for the public to learn about state contracts, economic development subsidies and lobbying activities in Connecticut than any other state in the country.
The Washington, D.C.-based Good Jobs First organization released its study of the quality and quantity of state government disclosure on the Internet. The Nutmeg State ranks Number 1.
The group promotes corporate and government accountability. It looked at how easy it is to find information on the web, such as the state contracts awarded to specific companies. In the wake of the corruption scandal that ensnared former Gov. John G. Rowland, Connecticut has tried to make it easier to find such information.
But Tom Swan, director of Connecticut Citizen Action Group, says the state still lags behind in reporting economic subsidies.
The Connecticut Citizen Action Group, like many others, was full of hope when longtime community activist Eddie Perez was first elected mayor of Hartford. His election provided promise for all of us who have worked to strengthen our democracy and toiled to transform Hartford into a capital city that will make Connecticut proud.
The news reports over the past few weeks have unfortunately led us to conclude that Mayor Perez must go. Given Eddie's grass-roots organizing credentials and his "boy makes good" story, our decision brings no satisfaction. CCAG has not and will not make an endorsement before the mayoral primary in Hartford.
The Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG) had called for the formation of a bipartisan committee to review Mr. DeLuca's actions and praised the Senate for doing so.
The first Republican senator called Wednesday for the resignation of Sen. Louis C. DeLuca, only hours after top senators announced the formation of a special committee to investigate DeLuca's guilty plea for conspiring to threaten his granddaughter's husband.
Sen. David Cappiello, of Danbury, who has known DeLuca for 15 years, said calling for the resignation of the former top GOP leader was difficult.
"We all know Lou is a good man who got caught up in a bad thing," Cappiello said Wednesday night. "Many of us were hoping he would do the right thing and step down before further legislative action was taken. ... I think Lou, when he steps back, frankly will do the right thing. I don't want to see him, or my colleagues, go through what we would go through over the next three months."
HARTFORD A statewide advocacy group is urging the state Senate to conduct a bipartisan investigation of former Senate Minority Leader Louis C. DeLuca.
The Connecticut Citizen Action Group says DeLuca's admissions to conspiring with a reputed mobster and offering to use his position to help the suspected racketeer cast a cloud over the legislature.
CCAG Executive Director Tom Swan said Democrats and Republicans need to investigate DeLuca, R-Woodbury, to dispel public doubts and suspicions.
"I think there is a hesitancy to act," he said.
On Thursday, Swan wrote Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, asking them to appoint a bipartisan committee to look into DeLuca.
Williams and McKinney said they haven't reached any agreements other than to continue to discuss the idea.
The Connecticut Citizen Action Group is asking the Senate to convene a bipartisan committee of inquiry to investigate Sen. Louis C. DeLuca, who asked a trash-hauler with alleged mob connections to intimidate a man suspected of abusing his adult granddaughter.
In a letter sent today to Senate President President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, the liberal activist group urged them to appoint a committee similar to one employed by the House to investigate Gov. John G. Rowland.
"We are confident that you can follow this example and put together a committee that will get to the bottom of what really transpired and made appropriate recommendations," wrote Tom Swan, the executive director of CCAG.
DeLuca resigned as minority leader after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to threaten, but he remains a member of the Senate. CCAG's request comes as new details were released in the DeLuca case.
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