Democrats Accuse Rell Of Spending Taxpayer Money Improperly
POLITICS
By JON LENDER and
CHRISTOPHER KEATING
October 9, 2009
Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s
administration came under fire
Thursday, accused of spending
taxpayer money for personal political
purposes by hiring a University of
Connecticut polling expert to conduct
a study on issues, including whether
citizens hold the governor in “high
regard” as a leader.
The controversy involves a “focus
group” of nine people in Wethersfield
that dealt with opinions of the
relative leadership qualities of Rell
and a potential 2010 Democratic
opponent, Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal.
Observing participants from behind
the one-way mirror were two Rell
aides, Matthew Fritz, and Rell’s
intensely political chief of staff, M.
Lisa Moody, according to Kenneth
Dautrich, the UConn professor who
ran the focus group.
Moody’s improper fundraising
activities on the job at the Capitol in
2005 drew a two-week suspension.
Now, her involvement with Dautrich’s
$220,000 study — shown in e-mails
and memorandums — has again
drawn criticism.
Democrats slammed Rell after The
Day of New London reported that
Dautrich, a Moody confidant, has
been studying how to streamline
government — and has suggested
political stances for Rell to Moody
and other aides.
“When asked if Governor Rell or
Attorney General Blumenthal fit
these [leadership] characteristics”
such as “principled” and “consistent”
“many of the participants agreed that
Blumenthal fit the characteristics
well. ... Most held the governor
in high regard. ... We recommend
emphasis not only on solving the
budget deficit by eliminating waste,
but also on the governor’s vision for
the future of Connecticut,” Dautrich
wrote to Moody and Fritz after the
focus group.
Rell’s office and Dautrich both
insisted that nothing was amiss.
Dautrich said the focus group was
only a $2,200 part of a larger study
that dealt with big issues and, he said,
has helped to save millions.
Dautrich said the discussion of Rell’s
and Blumenthal’s leadership emerged
spontaneously during the focus group,
intended to help the administration
deal with budget deficits, adding that
it was legitimate to find out what
citizens want from their leaders.
Blumenthal since then has taken
himself out of the running for
his party’s 2010 gubernatorial
nomination. But Stamford Mayor
Dannel Malloy is still running, and
he said it “appears that Gov. Rell used
taxpayer money for her own political
benefit. ... If true, it means she paid to
find out what people wanted to hear,
and then she told them exactly that
— knowing it wasn’t true, but that it
might work for her politically.”
Documents show that in June 2008
Dautrich crafted a 27-question poll
matching Rell against Democrats
Blumenthal and then-House Speaker
James Amann for the 2010 election.
But Dautrich said the poll idea was
dropped.
Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy
DiNardo said that an investigation is
needed by the state attorney general,
state ethics officials, state auditors
— or all of them. “It’s beyond
outrageous that Gov. M. Jodi Rell
used ... taxpayer dollars to fund
what was, in essence, a focus group
to gauge support for her possible
re-election bid next year,” DiNardo
said. “We also have Chief of Staff M.
Lisa Moody centrally involved in yet
another ethical lapse.”
Democrats have blasted Rell’s office
over its recent failure to produce a
potentially embarrassing Moody e-
mail requested by The Courant. The
e-mail was released only after sources
said it had been withheld.
Rell’s exploratory campaign
committee for 2010 did a poll earlier
this year, and Dautrich looked over
the questions and results before
and after it was performed by a
New Jersey firm he has hired in
his research. Democrats suggested
that Dautrich’s actions amounted
to an illegal “in-kind” campaign
contribution to Rell. He said his
discussion of the partisan poll — with
someone he wouldn’t identify — was
unrelated to his state study.
Rell’s office would not confirm
or deny Dautrich’s account of the
presence of Moody and Fritz at the
focus group.
Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant