Connecticut Connection
nytimes.com
No one would accuse them of moving expeditiously, but Connecticut prosecutors have begun a criminal investigation into the way that tentacles of the Enron fiasco squeezed state taxpayers out of nearly $200 million. The implications are potentially enormous because of questions over the role of the popular two-term governor, John Rowland.
Governor Rowland met with Enron executives four days before the state's trash agency, the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, whose directors are appointed by the governor and the state legislature, approved a payment of $220 million to Enron. A lump sum was handed to Enron in March 2001 as part of a deal the agency said required the Houston-based company to purchase steam energy from the state. Enron collapsed in December without buying any Connecticut energy and after repaying just a small portion of the money.
Besides the spectacularly bad timing of the deal itself, there is at least coincidence in that of the governor's meeting. He says the payment was not discussed. But Enron made a contribution of $80,000, since returned, to the Republican Governors Association, which Mr. Rowland heads. The governor was further linked to the deal by his two chiefs of staff at the time. One was chairman of the trash authority board and the other was closely tied to a fund-raiser for the Republican governors' group, and also worked as a trash authority lobbyist. Governor Rowland dismissed both aides after details of the Enron deal began to emerge.
The payment to Enron, according to a February report by the state attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, exceeded the trash agency's authority and was an illegal, unsecured loan disguised as an energy transaction. But even though the Federal Bureau of Investigation had begun its own inquiry into possible federal offenses, the office handling matters of state criminal law, the chief state's attorney, was unmoved until pressure for action mounted this week. The head of that office, John Bailey, who was appointed by Governor Rowland, now says that a petition for a grand jury could be filed in about three weeks.
The millions of taxpayer dollars lost may never be recovered, and the governor, who is running for re-election in November, is looking for ways to make up the loss without raising taxes. But Connecticut residents deserve more, starting with a vigorous investigation that can lead to answers and accountability from their state officials. |
