Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

HARTFORD A heating contractor who worked at the Rowlands' Bantam Lake cottage in 1999 came close Wednesday to publicly stating what some have suspected for months. The first couple's tardy attempt last year to pay for upgrades completed years earlier at the lakeside cabin looked at best dubious, and at worst suspicious. �"I interpreted it as, um .. a way to, I hate to use this word cover-up that there was, uh, that someone else paid," Christopher Link of New Britain told lawmakers on the House Select Committee of Inquiry on Wednesday. Link Mechanical Services last September received a $5,680 check four years after being paid for putting in a water heater and making improvements with a note from Gov. John G. Rowland's wife. "Chris, My apologies for the mix up thank you for your patience and understanding, Patty." Link's statement propelled William Dow of New Haven on his feet, shattering the quiet of what until then had been a somber affair. ��"This is such high profile matter. With all due respect to Mr. Link, his suspicion is not something upon which this committee should rely," said Dow, Rowland's personal attorney, admonishing the two co-chairmen of the committee for allowing Link to give his interpretation of Patty Rowland's note.

Link's timid answer and the clamorous reaction represented the most dramatic moment in a week and a half of public hearings based on findings from a four-month legislative investigation into possible impeachable conduct by Rowland. �His testimony also touched on the issue that sparked Rowland's precipitous slide from three-term Republican governor to target of a legislative inquiry, that of thousands of dollars of free work to their Bantam Lake cottage by state contractors and state employees. �The work included free gutter and drainage work, a new ceiling, a free water heater and hot tub. Altogether, the work came from a company owned by the Tomasso family, whose firms have caught the eye of federal prosecutors, as well as from PJ Delahunty, a deputy commissioner of the state Department of Public Works at the time. �Rowland's former co-chief of staff, Peter Ellef, and his deputy Lawrence Alibozek paid the $5,680 Link Mechanical Services charged to install the water heater and other improvements. Alibozek of New Hartford has since pleaded guilty to accepting gold and cash in exchange for steering state business to certain contractors. �Two years after that, Rowland got a hot tub a birthday gift from his scheduler Christine Corey and her husband, Paul.

Waterbury electrical contractor Ron Shortell testified Wednesday that Vincent DeRosa, Rowland's then-driver, steered him to the job of upgrading the cottage's electrical system in 1997. �Shortell was paid last September, six years late. �Asked why he never confronted Rowland over the past-due bill, Shortell, who occasionally shared drinks or played poker with the governor, explained, "He's the governor." Also disclosed Wednesday was the major role DeRosa played in the cottage improvements. Along with putting Shortell onto the electrical work, DeRosa bought the Rowlands' hot tub paid for by Corey. �DeRosa, once chief of Rowland's security detail in 1997 and the eventual homeland security director, told the Republican-American in December he only helped clean up around the cottage yard. �"One of the amazing things the penalties and sanctions by the ethics commission seem to have had no effect to these people," said Rep. William Hamzy, R-Plymouth, and one of the inquiry committee members. "That's one of the more amazing parts of this whole situation." Work on the cottage began just months after Rowland had paid his first $2,000 state ethics fine for accepting upgraded concert tickets at the Meadows Music Centre. ��A 184-page transcript of a deposition of Rowland aide Jo McKenzie, released Wednesday, meanwhile, revealed intriguing insights into how business is conducted in the Rowland administration. McKenzie testified she intervened on behalf of the Tomassos regarding the garage at Bradley International Airport, a state project that is at the center of a federal probe into state corruption. ��The Tomassos were seeking to amend a contract that would have yielded more revenue for their company. Ultimately, nothing came of it, McKenzie testified. ��The attorney deposing McKenzie pressed why a person responsible for running the governor's residence would meet with the Tomassos "about an amendment to a contract that the state had." ��"I can tell you that that happens here at the Capitol," McKenzie said. "People that, you know, that have worked with will definitely be called on to do different things for friends, it certainly just isn't Jo McKenzie." McKenzie also admitted to giving Patty Rowland a loan of $10,000 and buying the governor $3,000 to $4,000 in suits and ties. �She also divulged that employees in Rowland's office bought a canoe for the governor by passing around an envelope. ��McKenzie said a similar passing around of the hat occurred to help purchase a rebuilt Ford Mustang.

She also acknowledged her role in the cottage improvements. She accompanied Ellef to pick out a stepping stone for the 1,200-square-foot home and visited the cottage one day in the company of Patty Rowland and William Tomasso, one of the principals in the Tomasso companies. ��How is it Tomasso came to join you there, asked the attorney. ��"Probably on the instruction of Peter Ellef," McKenzie answered of Rowland's former co-chief of staff. ��Tomasso referred the heating job to Link Mechanical Services, which did the work and was promptly paid. ��Before the first couple attempted to pay Link last year, McKenzie said she was called over to the governor's residence about whether they owed money to Link. ��Patty looked up the contractor's number in the phone book, McKenzie testified. ��She recalled asking the first couple why they wanted to pay so long after the work was done. ��"I didn't get very clear answers, so I just kind of, like, you know, I've told you, I try not to pry into their affairs," McKenzie answered. �Link returned the check with his own note. ��"After going through our records, we found that the invoice was paid in full," reads a Nov. 26, 2003 letter from Link Mechanical Services. "Enclosed you will find the refund of $5,680.00." �