Collins: Lamont’s wind deal should be finished

ate and derogatory comments to me about authority critic Kevin Blacker.

The reason I was talking to Matthews in July was because Blacker had sent an email to the news media reporting rumors that the deal was not signed and that an agenda item calling for the port authority board to ratify it had been suddenly withdrawn.

Apparently Blacker’s reports of an apparent crack in the deal, way before all the scandals started to unspool and before Kooris took the port authority reins, touched a big nerve with the authority director. Before his remarks to me, he emailed Blacker and threatened to call the police on him.

I’m not even sure today, if the deal was indeed ready to sign, that they could muster up enough port authority juice to legally ratify it, the agency has been so hollowed out by scandal.

One potential whistleblower refused hush money from the Lamont-run port authority for a deal not to talk to the news media. Complaints by a real whistleblower of management misuse of funds still are being investigated. Stay tuned.

The governor needs to explain what’s going on with the wind talks, especially since the port is now essentially shut down, with the new operator diverting ships to the competing non-union facility it owns in New Haven. Union employees here were made to sign nondisclosure agreements preventing them from talking about the lack of activity at the New London pier.

This all begins to make the governor’s botched rollout of his toll strategy look like genius.