Lamont continues to fail Port Authority

You would think that after six months of unraveling scandal at the Connecticut Port Authority, with multiple investigations under way and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on expensive lawyers and auditors, Gov. Ned Lamont could at least help put in place stable leadership in compliance with state law.

Not only does the agency continue to lack a full-time professional executive director, but the board is chaired by someone who, it seems to me, lacks any legal authority to serve at all.

David Kooris, the former deputy commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, worked his last day on the state payroll Friday, moving on to a new urban development job in Stamford. He served as a board member of the port authority as the official designee of the DECD commissioner, who is, by law, an ex-officio board member by virtue of his office.

Designee Kooris was elected chairman of the port authority board when former chairwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder resigned in the first wave of scandals to wash over the agency last summer. He was Lamont’s choice to manage the agency and keep a lid on its its scandals.

Last month, Paul Mounds, the governor’s chief operating officer, told the legislature’s Transportation Committee that Kooris, despite leaving state employment, would continue as chairman of the port authority “at least” through the first quarter of this year.

And yet the port authority bylaws clearly state that ex-officio members, such as the DECD commissioner, “may designate an officer of the member’s agency” to serve in their place on the board. Kooris is no longer an officer of the member’s agency. He is certainly not a political appointee with a set term.

I’m not an $800-an-hour-lawyer like the ones from Robinson + Cole, which has billed the port authority some million dollars for its services, but it is pretty obvious to me that Kooris is not qualified to serve on the authority board any longer and certainly should not be running the agency as its interim chairman. Why don’t the expensive lawyers weigh in on this?

Why is Attorney General William Tong allowing this to continue? Is it the same reason he is sitting on and not disclosing the whistleblower complaint that alleges financial shenanigans at the agency while it was run by Democratic insider Scott Bates of Stonington, the deputy secretary of the state?

Kooris’ now apparent illegitimate stewardship of the agency is a reminder of the way the Lamont administration has commandeered the port authority instead of abiding by the statute that lays out how it should be managed. Most recently, the administration has suggested it become some strange sort of stepchild to the Connecticut Airport Authority, although there is nothing in state law that would allow for that.

Instead, the governor should nominate two new port authority board members to fill now-expired terms of Gov. Dannel Malloy appointees. How about finally fulfilling the broken promise to give New London Mayor Michael Passero a seat on the board?

According to the agency’s own accounting, two other vacancies exist that could be filled by the Senate majority leader and the House majority leader. Another member with an expired term could be replaced by the Senate minority leader.

Only Sen. Martin Looney, Senate president pro tempore, has fulfilled his obligation to fill a board vacancy since the scandals began, appointing a New Haven port official to a term, expiring in 2023, furthering the agency bias toward New Haven over New London.

Maybe Democrats, in trying to right the ship, should just follow the law and make appropriate appointments, qualified individuals who either have relevant experience in the maritime industry or represent Connecticut coastal communities. Stay clear of the political hacks this time, however hard that might be.

One of the board members who remains, despite an expired term, because Lamont has not named a replacement, is Nancy DiNardo, vice chair of the state Democratic party, who I suspect knows little about port management.

It’s time for Lamont’s closed-fisted and inappropriate management of the port authority, now using a puppet chairman without obvious legal justification for serving, to end.

Or if they are not going to follow the law, try to change it.

Appointees to the board, who are supposed to have appropriate experience, are meant to outnumber ex-officio representatives of the administration two to one. That’s the law, no matter how much the governor, with hush payment offers and scandal containment techniques, might not like it.