PELTO: Governor Malloy's attraction to the concept of "MAJOR" initiatives

by: ctblogger

Tue Feb 05, 2013 at 11:38:19 AM EST

Faced with a projected $1.2 billion budget deficit for next year and $63 billion in overall state debt and unfunded liabilities - giving Connecticut the largest debt burden per capita in the nation - Governor Malloy recently proposed a $1.5 billion initiative for UConn, a program to augment the existing $2.3 billion 1995-2017 UConn 2000/21st Century UConn program that was designed to rebuild, renew and expand the state's public research university.

When confronted about moving forward with increased borrowing during this period of fiscal distress, the Governor responded, "Listen, Connecticut is not going to move forward doing the same things that we did unsuccessfully for 22 years," Malloy said Friday. "This is a big idea."

The concept of focusing on major initiatives, even in the face of unparalleled fiscal problems, is not new for Connecticut's governor.  As observers have come to recognize, Governor Malloy wants people to see him as a "big" thinker.

A new investigative report by the CTMirror and WNPR highlights this issue extremely well.

There is more below the fold...

"Plagued by mismanagement, faulty equipment and a botched $105 million upgrade, Stamford's Water Pollution Control Authority has come under fire for sending hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into Long Island Sound in recent years.

Part of the problem was that three top city officials - the mayor, who is now Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy; his aide, Ben Barnes, now the state's budget chief; and the sewage plant's longtime director, Jeanette Brown, who resigned in 2011 - were focused on an exciting new technology that aimed to turn waste into energy.

Unfortunately, their plan had a few glitches."

The two part investigative report can be read here Striving for innovation, spending millions, Stamford leaders ignored major problems and here Stamford's failed attempt at energy innovation cost taxpayers tens of millions