Letter to the Editor:
The recent re-appointment hearing conducted by the
executive and legislative nominations committee on Capitol Hill concerning DCF
Commissioner Joyette Katz failed to address a significant undisclosed conflict
of interest of the Commissioner.
No member of the committee addressed the matter of
Commissioner Katz serving as the Chair of the Editorial Board of the
Connecticut Law Tribune (CLT).
On February 24, 2015, Commissioner Katz received an
extensive Freedom of Information Commission request from me by fax, requesting
“public documents” which exist on her email address or were accessed through
servers of the State of Connecticut from personal email accounts in which
Commissioner Katz was responding to “content based” editorial issues of the CLT
in her role as Chair of the Editorial Board.
DCF Attorney Barbara Clare responded to the FOI request via
email indicating the “public records” could not be produced by March 5.
Minimally, Commissioner Katz should immediately resign
her position as the Chair of the Editorial Board of the CLT inasmuch it creates
a considerable conflict of interest.
The General Assembly should defer the confirmation vote
on Commissioner Katz which is scheduled for March 9 until a full review of
these public documents can be conducted.
Michael
Nowacki
319
Lost District Drive
New
Canaan, CT 06840
(203)
273-4296
