Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 25

i i THE HARTFORD COURANT SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2003 C5' OTHER OPINION How The State Really Works ENGLEHART'S VIEW Take That Idea And Run With It, Mr. Perez It was just a few weeks ago that Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa asked the bureaucracy to determine whether the only way to win a contract from that Florida county was to hire a lobbyist In the parlance of journalism, copying another person's ideas or words is called plagiarism. Committing that act can be career-ending. In the parlance of municipal governance, copying another person's ideas is called best jmm I "1 I There's something both hilarious and earnestly charming about the request, don't you think? Sosa also suggested that the public believes county commissioners study and mull and approve most contracts MICHELE JACKLTN LAURENCE D. COHEN My Friend The Governor came governor.

Some of those leases have been up for renewal since he took office. Should I have asked the state to vacate the premises in order to preserve the friendship? It is interesting to note that it has taken years for the state to renew these leases, renewals that would take the private sector about 30 days. These delays have cost my company hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not for one moment did I consider an appeal to the governor to speed this process. I wouldn't even dream of it The standard of ethical conduct prohibits an official from receiving gifts from a person with "financial interests which may be substantially affected" by the official Can someone show me how long-term leases, put in place under Gov.

Lowell Weicker's administration, could be affected by John Rowland? On one occasion, I requested help from the governor to attract a company to relocate to Connecticut, to property I own in New Haven. This move would have resulted in a significant number of new jobs in that city, to say nothing of increased municipal and state tax revenues. I secured a commitment from venture capitalists for most of the financing, and the out-of-state company applied to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development for the same sort of assistance that the agency routinely provides to attract companies to Connecticut rather than other states. And, yes, Gov. Rowland did call executives of the food company to try to convince them that Connecticut is a great place in which to live, to work and to grow a business.

That's part of his job. Unfortunately, the food company secured its financing from other sources and decided not to move to Connecticut However, I certainly hope Gov. Rowland makes a similar call the next time he learns about any company considering a move to Connecticut I know that the governor of any other state would do the same. Have I been involved with economic development programs supported by the state? Absolutely. I have kept jobs in the state and I have created jobs and I am proud of it John Rowland is a good man and an honorable man.

I trust him and know that when the public understands the facts of the current brouhaha, trust in our governor will remain unshaken. John Rowland is a friend of mine. He has been my friend for more than twodecades. He was myfriendbeforehe was elected to any state office. Based on what you see in the newspapers over the past few weeks, you'd think it's a crime to be friends with anyone elected to state office.

It's OK to invite a friend over for dinner or to visit your vacation home. However, if that friend is elected to public office, some would have you believe that friendship ROBERT V. MATTHEWS should stop cold. Some would have you believe that you should suddenly have to charge your friend for the cost of the meal or for hospitality at your home. I think that's just wrong.

The state Ethics Commission just ruled that John Rowland was supposed to have paid me when he stayed in my home. Based upon the commission's interpretation of the law, I believe it may be time to change the law. Based upon the commission's interpretation of the law, it seems that I can no longer be the governor's friend. I met John Rowland when he was still selling insurance for his late father's agency. We became friends when he was a long way from the governor's office.

He came to my home for dinner. I've been to his home for dinner. He stayed at my home years ago for an extended period. Once he became governor, our friendship did not dissolve. He and members of his family have stayed at my home since he was elected.

And I will welcome the Rowlands to my homes, whether in Connecticut Nantucket or Palm Beach. What do I feel I should charge him? Exactly the same amount as most people reading this would charge their friends visiting overnight nothing. Unfortunately, now it appears that the law may prevent me from inviting them to my home without presenting them with a bill I am in real estate development venture capital manufacturing and high technology, businesses that by then-very nature often must interact with various levels of government Since John Rowland was elected governor, I made certain that my businesses never sought any favors from his office. I wanted to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest Currently, the only business my companies do with the state of Connecticut is with property I own in New Haven, some of which is leased to several state agencies. Every one of those leases was initiated before John Rowland be practices.

Adopting them is often considered flattery. So let's give Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez the benefit of the doubt Let's assume he was paymgalargecomplimenttohis compatriot Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, when he quoted Malloy almost verbatim in a campaign kickoff speech that he delivered a couple of weeks ago. In announcing his bid for a second term, Perez told a throng of supporters, "In Hartford, community policing cannot simply be a program, it must be a philosophy." At a Courant-sponsored forum on "Successful Cities" held last month, Malloy said the very same thing (omitting the words "in Perez, who along with Malloy was a panelist at the event must have been paying close attention. Smart move. Malloy has turned the community policing philosophy into a way of life in Stamford, having reduced crime by 64 percent since his election in 1995.

Just last week, the FBI reported that Stamford led the nation last year with a 22 percent decrease in crime, making it the fifth-safest city among those with populations of 100,000 or more. That's heady stuff, the type of glowing statistic that any mayor in America would be proud to put on his resume. Malloy's crime-conquering exploits haven't gone unnoticed. The Democratic Leadership Council a group of moderates, recently named Malloy to its list of 100 New Democrats to Watch. What makes them new and worth watching? According to the DLC, they're elected leaders "who are making a difference in their states and communities by using innovative means to solve real problems." Guess who's the only other Connecticut Democrat to make the roster Hartford's own Eddie Perez.

If tempting not to take this list too seriously. Before this year, the only Connecticut Democrat to land in the Top 100 was Perez's predecessor, Mike Peters, who appeared on the DLC's inaugural list in 2000. If Peters had an innovative idea worth emulating, he did a good job of disguising it Asked about Peters' inclusion, DLC Executive Director Chuck Alston told me he doesn't remember him. Enough said. But Alston is familiar with both Malloy and his "focus on livability" and Perez, who is viewed as an up-and-comer and who apparently caught the DLC's eye through his success with the Learning Corridor, his emphasis on qualify-of-life issues and his "collaborative approach" to governing.

Having had eight years to put his ideas into action, Malloy's record is there for the scrutinizing. In contrast Perez is a work in progress. With only two years under his belt two years in which he's been constrained by a weak-mayorcity manager form of government and by whopping budget shortfalls the jury is still out on whether Perez's accomplishments will one day more closely resemble Malloy's or Peters'. Perez has a couple of things working in his favor. Should he win re-relection in November, and there's no reason to think he won't heU have all the powers and responsibilities of a strong mayor, thanks to a rewriting of the city charter.

Perez also has Gov. John G. Rowland's continued commitment to rebuilding downtown and $771 million in state development money. Then there's the reservoir of good will that's built up. Most everyone wants Perez to succeed; they understand that Hartford isn't going to get many second chances.

Lastly, Perez seems to have his priorities straight His predecessors were chiefly interested in seeing their friends and political allies enrich themselves by exploiting their city hall connections. If that's one of Perez's objectives, it's not evident For Perez, the "critical building blocks of hope," as he calls them, are housing, economic development education and pub-' lie safety. That last agenda item is the one that Perez needs to make progress on, post- haste. il Hartford's crime rate is nearly 45 times higher than Stamford's. Perez needs to dq more than parrot Malloy 'swords; he needs to copy Stamford's community-policing modeL Hartford's star is never going to rise if if continually shot out of the sky by roving bands of hoodlums.

when, in fact, they hardly pay any attention to most of them. This begins to sound a bit familiar, like the conversations that Connecticut has been having with itself of late with a whiff of scandal drifting out of Gov. JohnG. Rowland's office; with evidence that one or two or a bunch of his aides have played roles in determining who wins certain state contracts; with the governor insisting that he doesn't have anything to do with awarding contracts; with the legislators puzzled by exactly how contracts are awarded; with the bureaucracy (cross their hearts and hope to die) insisting that most contracts are awarded the old-fashioned, boring way: to low bidders or those with the best "experience." As Rowland put it recently: 'It's hard for me to believe that someone in an administrative position could have an impact on a contract without somebody knowing about it" In truth, much of what passes for procurement at all levels of government is a bit of a mess, with friends and pals and lobbyists and meddling politicians and incomprehensible "requests for proposals" and complex affirmative-action guidelines coming together to make the process of doing business with the government hideous, if not really corrupt Across the country, various jurisdictions at one time or another attempt a halfhearted reform, but there is little stomach in government for the fresh air and sunshine of real marketplace guerrilla warfare, of simply letting the best man win. In Hawaii this year, the legislature brought the island comic relief with a proposal to ban campaign donations from companies that win non-bid contracts but continue to allow donations from companies that "win" low-bid contracts.

Even this was too much; in the end, the politicians killed the bill In Connecticut the General Assembly cobbled together legislation to "tighten" the procurement process, which included language prohibiting communication between state officials and vendors. The no-chatting provision was interesting, not because it will have any real impact on the credibility of the process, but because it focuses on one of the least-studied aspects of government and how it does what it does. Government is a strong acquaintances. This is certainly no great revelation to those in the corporate world, or to those who scrounge around on the small-business end of the pecking order. But government pretends that public service is immunetothe buddy system a myth that inevitably disappoints us when the buddies take care of each other.

We can get all huffy about government "corruption," but much of the dubious stuff that transpires isn't really passing envelopes of money across the table. It's a series of transactions among folks who know each other, who work with each other, it's the National Endowment for the Arts giving a grant to a naked poet with whom everybody who is anybody is already chummy. To suggest that a system of government procurement can be crafted that discourages the exchange of bribes is not to say that you can create a procurement system that doesn't reek of pals tweaking the system to take care of each other. From family dynasties such as the Kennedys (all 39,000 of them), the Dodds (Chris and his dad) and the Longs (Russell and Huey); to simple social networks (New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is dating the new state banking superintendent of course); to total convergence of personal and government life (Washington lobbyist Lorine Card is the sister-in-law of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, whose brother used to be chief of staff for U.S. Rep.

John Sweeney of New York), it all suggests that the business of government is as much about connections and networking as any other bit of commerce on the planet As the old Spanish proverb put it It is good to have friends, even in helL Robert V.Matthews is a New Haven-based real estate developer, venture capitalist and entrepreneur. Compromise, But Principles, Too vital program for developmentally disabled childrea If a parent sought to sign up his child after the money ran out he would be out of luck. We want all parents to get services for their children. So we may ask some parents who can afford it to pay slightly more, so all will continue to get help. There are other programs that we must save.

Conn-PACE, prescription drug subsidies for low-income elderly, is vital because Congress has yet to approve a Medicare prescription drug benefit We will continue it Local schools are already too dependent on local property tax revenues, so we will send as much Educational Cost Sharing aid to cities and towns as we did last year. Democrats strongly support the State Administered General Assistance program, which provides health care, mental health services and cash assistance to nearly 25,000 needy adults who qualify for no other health care program. The governor proposed an end to SAGA, and his Republican allies have supported that proposaL We Democrats will not abandon the SAGA recipients. So we are trying to modify SAGA to provide health care in a manner similar to managed care so that recipients are not left out in the cold. In the interest of good government we Democrats are prepared to make reasonable compromises to reach a responsible budget We will reduce certain spending and limit tax increases because no one wants to raise taxes.

Compromise is not a dirty word. But we expect our Republican colleagues to compromise, too. They will have to join us in raising new revenues. Clean air and water, roads plowed in the winter, neighborhoods safe from crime, schools able to prepare children for success all of that costs money. We can stick our heads in the sand and pretend we don't need those services.

But I believe the people of Connecticut want them and are willing to pay for them. I hope our Republican colleagues will compromise on this point After 23 years in the House, I thought I'd learned everything about compromise. But the other day, I heard a charming Italian proverb that says it best "It is better to lose the saddle than the horse." Today, we are exactly eight days from the witching hour June 30, the end of the fiscal year, by which point we need to agree on a state budget or risk losing the saddle, the horse MOIRA K. LYONS and much more. The probabilities: a costly downgrade in the state's bond rating, a deepening deficit and even deeper uncertainty about Connecticut's fiscal future.

After weeks negotiating with my Republican and Democratic colleagues, compromise is still elusive. We will forge on. But Connecticut residents should know what my negotiating colleagues already know. I think Democrats should always be open to compromise but I also think we must be guided by principle. What principles will Democrats hold dear as we aim for a compromise? Thafs easy.

We believe that government has a responsibility to help those who need a hand. Children must have an education, or their chances of success will wither on the vine. The elderly should not have to choose between paying for medicine and paying for food. People need health care and shelter. Our air and water must be kept clean.

We are responsible for producing a balanced budget and are open to compromise, but principle will dictate the bounds of that compromise. We will agree to real cuts in a way that doesn't cause extreme pain. We will reduce spending in administrative areas. We will trim from programs that can handle a reduction. We will modify programs to change the way services are delivered and we may need to charge slightly more for them but we will not abandon the recipients.

We will cook up a new recipe, with principle the main ingredient along with a dash of efficiency and a pinch of creativity. There are several examples. The governor sought to end the entitlement to Birth to 3, a MicheleJacklin is The Courant's political columnist Her column appears every Wednesday and Sunday. To leave her a comment, please call 860-241-3163. Laurence D.

Cohen 's column appears every Sunday and every other Thursday. To leave him a comment, please call 860-241-3643. Moira K. Lyons, D-Stamford, is speaker of the state House of Representatives..