Government Accountability, Efficiency, And Standards

Government Accountability, Efficiency, And Standards

Vision

A state government where elected and appointed officials are held accountable to the citizens of Connecticut, with nothing short of the highest expectations for ethics, efficiency, and standards.

Problems

For twelve long years, taxpayers shouldered the heavy expense of the Rowland and Rell administrations with little to show for it but more bureaucracy, more cronyism, more scandal, and less efficiency. As holdover political cronies of the Rowland era occupy positions of authority in the Rell government waiting for their pension eligibility, Connecticut deserves better. From expensive and useless consultants at Department of Children and Families

[1] to Department of Transportation employees taking bribes, the last ten years are a case study in cronyism. In one egregious example, the unaccountable staff of the quasi-public Connecticut Development Authority (CDA) gave away millions of taxpayer dollars for loans to companies that apparently had no intention of repaying them. It's safe to assume that had I not pushed for it, the CDA, and Governor Rell, would have kept the information regarding the bad loans to themselves.

None of these problems cropped up. After nine years in the Rowland Administration, Governor Rell knowingly inherited a government of waste, inefficiency and cronyism[2]. Instead of combating it, Governor Rell feigns "shock" and "horror" when the news media reports abuses under her watch. For example, the Governor recently professed to be "shocked" at the salaries being made by some officials in Connecticut's quasi-public agencies, despite numerous mentions in the Connecticut papers and a public investigation on the topic by state auditors.

Enough is enough.

[1] See Sirry and DeVore, both of whom received lucative deals. Sirry will lose $900k due to a court decision to recapture some of his deferred compensation. DeVore misrepresented himself to Maryland lawmakers to earn a moonlighting salary while still employed at a $120k job in Connecticut.

[2] http://www.jodirell06.com/jr_About_Jodi.htm highlights, "Governor Rell took office under some of the toughest circumstances in our state's history. She faced...[a] culture of corruption that plagued our state government"

Solutions

It is time for Connecticut to demand more from its Government. As Governor, I will clean house and restore efficiency, honesty, and integrity to State agency leadership. I will reform our quasi-public agencies to end political cronyism from the important and costly decisions being made with taxpayers' money.

Under my watch, Connecticut's investments in development assistance will demand the highest possible scrutiny. State funds will only go to companies that make real and lasting contributions to our state and our communities.

· Development assistance should bring great jobs, fair wages and good benefits to our citizens.

· No development assistance should ever be given to companies that fail to comply with environmental regulations, labor standards, or any other laws.

· Through postponement and back-loading of funding, companies receiving development assistance will be required to demonstrate that they have met agreed-upon goals before receiving assistance.

· I will enhance transparency and accountability for development assistance. Even when initial negotiations necessitate confidentiality, it is crucial that there be full disclosure and transparency during the approval process.

· Agencies will enforce claw back provisions and strengthen lien requirements to collect on dead-beat companies, a practice where the Rowland and Rell Administrations failed.

The past few years, the Legislature fought contentious battles over these corporate responsibility issues. The resulting legislation was watered down beyond effectiveness. I will work with the Legislature to revisit these laws, to produce legislation that has teeth and is enforceable.

For far too long, Governors and the commissioners approached State government with a top-down mentality, the implication being that the Governor's staff or the Commissioner's office always "knows what is best." I have found that's frequently not the case. I firmly believe that some of the best ideas for improving government efficiency and effectiveness result from collaboration. Frequently, it is the people on the front lines - municipal and State employees alike - who are best able to put forward innovative solutions for making programs or services more efficient.

As the chief executive for the City of Stamford, I give others the ability to make decisions about the most cost effective way to deliver City services. For example, the City recently pulled together a group of municipalities to jointly purchase prescription drugs, saving us about $500,000 per year. This idea came from the work of City staff trying to find ways to control drug costs. Obviously, I support paying less for prescriptions, but I empowered others to find the best way to accomplish that.

Experience has also taught me that when empowered, people will rise to the occasion. In Stamford, for example, I have challenged City employees to help government do more with less, and they have. We have implemented new technologies , found ways to reduce contract costs, and found ways to improve services without adding new resources. We are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by processing our bulk waste before sending it to a landfill. Our sewage treatment plant is state-of-the-art, yet continue to move forward, exploring how to convert sludge to energy to run the plant with reduced sludge-disposal costs. Rather than pay top dollar to an outside company, we are bringing revaluation in-house to reduce the cost to taxpayers while guaranteeing a more responsive process. Throughout the City, we seek out the best ways to reach our goals, and we implement them. Whether its community-oriented policing to reduce crime or inclusionary zoning to increase the supply of affordable housing, Stamford has led the way with new initiatives and new uses of good ideas.

I know proposals like thesehave been tried at the State level, but the State employees with whom I have spoken say these collaborations have been about lip-service rather than results. No more. When I am Governor, we will have these labor-management collaborations, and my commissioners and I will pay attention to the good ideas that are generated, implementing them where and when they make sense.

Finally, when I am Governor, the buck will stop at my desk - not at some commissioner's desk. When I am Governor, I will take responsibility for what occurs in the Executive Branch. Whereas the current administration too often avoids taking responsibility for problems in State government by acting as if the Governor "just found out" about whatever problem is at hand by reading the newspaper, I guarantee that you will not hear that excuse from me -- I will be about vision-driven management, effectiveness, openness and accountability.

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