The Sunday Courant was a battlefield today, as State Senator Tom Gaffey fired back at Kevin Rennie and his other critics in an Op-Ed column.  In the same pages, however, Mr. Rennie fired yet another shot at the Meriden Democrat, exposing even more suspect Gaffey behavior in the wake of last week’s expose on Sen. Gaffey’s personal relationship with a Connecticut State University System (CSUS) legislative liaison.

Sen. Gaffey spends most of his column defending the expenditure of $1 billion for the CSUS 2020 project, asserting the validity of the project, the copious oversight that exists over it, and the overall merits of a high quality state university system, apparently forgetting that the issue is not the action that was taken by the legislature, but rather the manner in which the appropriations were obtained.  The Governor, he notes, rightly characterized the investment as the “crown jewel of the bond bill”.  Sen. Gaffey’s equating challenges to his actions with an attack on CSUS is both wrong and insidious in its implication - that the citizens of Connecticut should not expect expenditures of state dollars without the accompanying ethical clouds that surround Sen. Gaffey in this case.  We should be able to expect more from our elected officials.

Former Senator Rennie takes on Sen. Gaffey again this week with another article on Gaffey’s ethical foibles and the limp response of the Senate Democratic Leader toward the growing scandal:

“Williams pronounced, “People are kind of sick and tired with politics being played with people’s private lives.” Wrong again. People are sick and tired of politicians refusing to keep their private escapades separate from their public obligations. It’s not much to ask.”

Rennie then goes on to relate a story about Sen. Gaffey and CSUS President David Carter, whom Sen. Gaffey calls a “a great man”.

“Gaffey and Carter are good friends. Friends help each other. In February 2004, Carter, then serving as president of Eastern Connecticut State University, was in a bind. As a member of the NCAA Division III Presidents Council, Carter had been able to purchase tickets to the NCAA Final Four tournament in San Antonio. That’s the one, you may recall, that the UConn men’s team won.

An obligation at ECSU meant Carter couldn’t go. How could he unload those tickets? Only several thousand people might want them. Carter offered them to Gaffey, who agreed to buy them at the original purchase price. What a lucky break for both of them, especially since no one else Carter offered them to was interested, he said.”

Rennie continues:

“By Friday, however, Gaffey’s recollection was getting sharper. He recalled, in response to written questions, two previously undisclosed luncheons with Ferraiolo and others that he paid for with money from his Government Action Fund Political Action Committee. Those are political contributions that Gaffey has used for years to finance travel, dinners and trips.”

All this adds up to many ethical questions for Sen. Gaffey and too few answers.  We hope that Sen. Gaffey will hold to his pledge made today:  “I will respond to these questions and I will move on.”  We are waiting anxiously.