April 19, 2005
Rowland's Post-Resignation Consulting Is Being Investigated
By WILLIAM YARDLEY NY TIMES

LINK

HARTFORD, April 18 - Lawmakers raised questions on Monday about consulting work undertaken by former Gov. John G. Rowland after his resignation for two companies that earned millions in state contracts during his administration.

Several said that Mr. Rowland's work, on behalf of a building contracting company that paid him $5,000 per month and a nonprofit educational software company that paid him $10,000 per month, reflected his persistent flouting of ethics laws and heightened the state's need for reform.

The former governor, who resigned on July 1 amid an impeachment inquiry and federal criminal investigation, pleaded guilty in December to accepting more than $107,000 in gifts from people doing business with the state and to not paying taxes on the gifts. On April 1, he began a yearlong sentence in federal prison.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, testifying before the legislature's Government Administration and Elections Committee, described Mr. Rowland's work after leaving office as "deeply troubling and highly suspicious," though he said his office was just beginning to investigate.

"Principally," he said, "what did former Governor Rowland do for the money?"

One week after he left office, Mr. Rowland went to work for $5,000 per month as a consultant to the Klewin Building Company of Norwich, which had won more than $100 million in state work during his tenure. He later entered into a contract to receive $10,000 per month as a consultant to the National Science Center Foundation, a nonprofit organization that sells educational software to schools. The foundation received about $1.6 million from the state under a contract that ended this year.

The existence of those contracts was revealed at Mr. Rowland's sentencing in March. Federal prosecutors claimed then that Mr. Rowland may have violated laws against state officials lobbying after they leave office. They also said the income he earned proved he was not in the financial straits he claimed.

The legislative hearing on Monday was one of several reactions to news of the contracts. On Friday, Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who has proposed a series of ethics and campaign reforms, announced that anyone or any company doing business with the state must file an affidavit disclosing all consulting agreements.

Richard Zeisler, a lawyer representing Klewin, which built the Foxwoods casino in eastern Connecticut, told lawmakers on Monday that Mr. Rowland had helped arrange a meeting between Klewin and developers who want to build Indian casinos in New York State. He said that Mr. Rowland had also helped arrange a meeting with a top executive at St. Paul Travelers, an insurance company, to help Klewin secure bonding for various projects.

Another meeting questioned by lawmakers involved Mr. Rowland's attempt to resolve a contract dispute between Klewin and the University of Connecticut.

Lorraine M. Aronson, a vice president and the chief financial officer of the university, told lawmakers on Monday that she had agreed to meet Mr. Rowland for breakfast on Nov. 11. She said she expected him to ask for support and perhaps a reference from the university, as he faced criminal prosecution.

Ms. Aronson said she was surprised when Mr. Rowland turned the conversation to Klewin and suggested that the school agree to a settlement the company proposed.

"I thought that the conversation was inappropriate," she said.

Ms. Aronson said that Mr. Rowland never mentioned he was working for Klewin and that she had not understood his intentions. She said she told him that contract disputes had to be formally resolved through the university.

Mr. Zeisler said that executives at Klewin thought the former governor, who was once head of the Republican Governors Association, could open doors for them nationwide. Mr. Klewin said he had advised them against hiring Mr. Rowland from the start.

"The governor," he said after the hearing, "was a problem."

Connecticut Governor John Rowland Resigns and Leaves Issues of Accountability and Government Corruption


Resources on Sentencing Law