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Community Corner

Why is Blake Hiding His Corrupt Lawyer Donations

From Hartford Courant:

As Election Day neared last November, Democratic candidates for mayor in Middletown, Milford and New Britain not only received endorsements from Gov.Dannel P. Malloy but also financial help from a Bridgeport law firm with ties to the governor's staff.

The candidates had two other things in common: All three won their races. All three have hired Pullman & Comley, the former law firm of Malloy Chief Of Staff Andrew McDonald, to serve as their cities' bond counsel. In some cases, they replaced law firms that had worked for their cities for more than 10 years.

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Dozens of Pullman attorneys donated thousands of dollars to the mayors' campaigns, significantly more than lawyers from other law firms that do municipal finance work.

Municipal bond counsels are paid an hourly rate. The work is less lucrative than that of a municipal corporation counsel and is not seen as a political appointment.

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The selection typically flies under the public radar. Bids are not required in most communities.

The mayors say they received no pressure to hire Pullman & Comley and that they chose the firm after either interviewing several others or because it offered better hourly rate quotes. One mayor referred to the firm as "dynamic," while another said he chose it based on a recommendation from his parking authority director.

A few firms do the bulk of municipal bond counsel work in the state. They include Pullman & Comley LLC, Robinson & Cole LLP, Shipman & Goodwin LLP and Updike, Kelley & Spellacy, P.C.

An examination of the campaign records shows that Pullman attorneys gave far more money to the campaigns of the three mayors than any of their legal competitors. In addition the firm purchased more than $1,000 in advertising space in Democratic campaign literature in all three towns, records show.

At an Oct. 27 fundraiser for Milford Mayor Ben Blake held at Bridgeport restaurant 17 Pullman attorneys attended and donated more than $3,000 that night, campaign records show. Several long-time Democratic stalwarts, such as Edward Marcus and Edmund Fusco, attended that same fundraiser and donated another $4,500 to Blake's campaign.

In Milford, Robinson & Cole had been bond counsel for at least 10 years. The firm had finished assisting city officials with a $13 million bond sale weeks before the election. No Robinson & Cole attorney gave money to Blake or his Republican opponent Robert Joy, records show.

Blake said that when he took office, he asked his new city attorney, Jonathan Berchem, to review personal service contracts such as the bond counsel as part of a larger review aimed at saving money.

Blake said that Berchem and the city's finance director talked to several firms. Blake said he did not participate in any of the interviews or in choosing Pullman & Comley. Blake said the firm has already saved the city close to $1 million refinancing previously issued bonds.

"It was my understanding that there were significant savings by choosing Pullman and that's why he (Berchem) chose them,'' Blake said. "He kept me informed during the process and when he had chosen a bond counsel. But I didn't have anything to do with his choice."

Blake said because he is an attorney, many of his donors were fellow attorneys. Blake said he has never met McDonald and no one affiliated with Malloy asked him to hire Pullman & Comley.

McDonald worked at Pullman & Comley for nearly 20 years before resigning in December 2010 when he became Malloy's chief of staff. McDonald said that he didn't attend the fundraiser in Bridgeport, did not donate to anyone's campaigns or ask anyone to hire Pullman.

"I didn't do that and I wouldn't do that,'' McDonald said, noting his old firm doesn't need any help from him.

"Pullman's expertise in municipal financing has been well known forever,'' McDonald said, adding he didn't do any bond counsel work while at Pullman.

McDonald is not the only connection between the governor's office and the Bridgeport-based law firm.

When Malloy named a panel to investigate the utility companies actions during the two storms that crippled the state in August and October, the only attorney on the panel was Lee Hoffman of Pullman & Comley. Hoffman donated at least $250 to the campaigns of the mayoral candidates after that appointment. The only one he didn't donate to was New Britain Mayor Timothy O'Brien.

In addition a former member of Malloy's transition team Gary B. O'Connor is now a member of Pullman & Comley, joining the firm in April 2011 shortly after he had been named to Malloy's transition team.

O'Connor's role on the transition team was as co-chairman of Malloy's Environment Committee. He also was involved in forming a new state agency, the Office of Brownfield's Remediation and Development. O'Connor's practice focuses on environmental, real estate and development matters, according to Pullman's website.

One Final point the Democrats last Candidate for mayor was recently charged with 10 Million in Bank Fraud. Its kind of a joke to see the Democratic socialist Muppets of Milford drag Pete through the mud when they are 20 Times worse themselves.

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