Scully Communications

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will go to court to revoke the pension of former Hartford mayor—and now convicted felon—Eddie Perez. The move is required under a law passed by the General Assembly in 2008 that targets the pensions of corrupt elected officials. But hold on. It’s not all that simple.

The law gives the power over the pension to a judge who can choose to divert some or all of the convicted official’s pension to an innocent family member. It is well-known that Perez’s wife has been in ill health and in fact, collapsed in the courtroom when the verdict—guilty on five of six counts—was read.

Blumenthal says he hopes it’s a deterrent. “We hope the court will send that message loud and clear,” he said.

Imagine being able to take a commuter train from Waterbury to Manhattan’s Penn Station and being able to work on your computer via WiFi the entire way. That’s just one of the results of the transportation improvement plan being floated by Democratic candidate for governor Ned Lamont.

Lamont gets it right when he proposes improving commuter rail services instead of expanding highways or the proposed busway between New Britain and Hartford. One of the most important pieces of the puzzle though, is missing. How will he pay for it? The Shad remembers constant talk of bringing Metro North trains down to Penn Station in addition to Grand Central Station in Manhattan during the years I worked there. And while Lamont says his plan can be done “without breaking the bank,” cost was always be the problem because Metro North Commuter Trains cannot fit in existing subway lines. Lamont, in any event, is on the right track.

The Shad is well aware that most people will be hitting the beaches, parades and lighting fireworks (only the legal ones of course) this Sunday, the 4th of July. But if you’d like to start your day with some political knowledge in ya’ ear, tune in to FOX 61-TV’s “The Real Story” hosted by Laurie Perez. The show airs at 10:30 am. Your Shad is a guest on the popular show to talk about the dynamic political landscape in the state as we move closer to the August primary and the November general elections.

Recent TV appearances (once a near constant in my life when working in Manhattan) have included “Connecticut Newsmakers” on NBC Connecticut (Channel 30) and on “Focus On Connecticut” on News 12 (Norwalk). Expect return appearances to all of the above as the political season progresses.

The Republican and Democratic candidates for governor have been firing prepared statements, calls for action and criticism by news release at each other lately but when they had a chance to stand next to each other there was very little of that.

All five candidates for governor—Tom Foley, Michael Fedele and Oz Griebel for the GOP; and Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy for the Democrats—appeared at a forum yesterday sponsored by the Stamford Chamber of Commerce.

A backdrop for the Dems is the argument over whether Malloy actually helped create 5,000 jobs in Stamford during his tenure as mayor (Lamont says he didn’t and wants Malloy to pull his campaign ad making the claim; Malloy stands by the claim). And for the Republicans, it’s the call by the two lagging in the polls (Fedele and Griebel) for the frontrunner (Foley) to “come clean” about two arrests in his past—one allegedly dealing with domestic violence, according to reports.

But things were fairly civil in yesterday’s chamber forum with each candidate staking out the position that creating jobs is job one. Hopefully for those of us watching at home, there will soon be more bomb-throwing outside of news releases.