The "Conflict Of Interests" Conflict

In the state of Louisiana many years ago there existed a politician by the name of Huey Pierce Long.

Those Pelican State residents old enough to remember will tell you that, as part of his legacy, Mr. Long fought a long, protracted battle with the Standard Oil Company. Mr. Long all but single-handedly took on their monopolistic practices, including their controlling the supply and the price of oil and their playing a big role in writing the state's corporate tax laws. Yes, Mr. Long came across as "champion of the little guy."

Oh, by the way, Mr. Long also owned stock in a small independent oil company, whose stock dropped precipitously because of Standard Oil's actions.

This is what those in the world of politics calls a "conflict of interests"; taking on a cause which, on the surface, appears to be altruistic, but underneath has an ulterior motive, and a profit-driven one at that.

Surely, no public servant wants to be tagged with the "conflict of interests" charge. A large enough "conflict" can be the kiss of death to a career in public life. Except in Southern Connecticut.

In the nearly hundred-year history of Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport, there have been a few conflicts of interests episodes, some major, some minor.

Two come to mind.

The first involved New Haven mayor Biagio "Ben" DiLieto. Mr. DiLieto's platform centered on "downtown redevelopment" (doesn't every New Haven mayor's?), and to that end recruited entrepreneur Joel Schiavone. City Hall referred to it as a "public-private partnership," what nowadays would be called an "oligarchy." Downtown projects included the Schubert Theater and the Taft Hotel, which Mr. Schiavone undertook. (Union Station was also the beneficiary of a grand makeover, but without Mr. Schiavone's involvement; Mayor DeLieto liked train travel.)

But out of all the coverage about Messrs. DiLieto and Schiavone in the local newspapers (including the now-defunct New Haven Advocate), the one story that didn't appear was this: How was Joel Schiavone paying for all this? Mr. Schiavone owned a scrap metal business ("alchemists" as they called themselves). That helped. But it was another business he owned that was something of a "cash cow": Connecticut Limousine.

It would stand to reason that Conn Limo could make more money taking Southern Connecticut travelers 75 to 90 miles to the New York City airports versus the five or so miles to Tweed.

Truth be told, Mr. DiLieto's policy toward airport development was anemic at best, sabotage at worst. It wasn't enough that he all but guaranteed his limo owner goombah would be guaranteed a captive customer base. Mr. DiLieto's Annex home had a commanding view of the main runway. It also didn't help that, according to legend, the mayor was afraid to fly. All this probably explains his opposition to United Air Lines' announcement of New Haven-Chicago/O'Hare service, and his subsequent "agreement" with East Haven mayor Anthony Proto, Jr., recognizing Tweed as a "commuter" (read, "no jets") airport. (Sidebar: that 1984 agreement also included plans for a new passenger terminal. How did that work out?)

Think there's enough conflict of interest there? Obviously not enough to satisfy the local press.

Then there was Leonard Fasano, former state senator from Connecticut's 34th District and President pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate. The senator's district included North Haven, parts of Wallingford and Durham, but also East Haven, so it stood to reason that he would oppose airport improvements to protect his East Haven constituents' "quality of life," never mind how the other towns' in his district felt.

Incidentally, Mr. Fasano was also part owner of the Silver Sands Beach Club, which sits right in the approach path to Tweed's Runway 2. Imagine the fun his club members would have watching those planes pass right overhead on final approach! Could that be why he and then-state rep Mike Lawlor ramrodded through the legislature a state statute limiting Tweed's runway to 5,600 feet (without the benefit of a public hearing, I might add)?

The press gave scant mention of it, and the Connecticut State Senate took no action to impeach or at least censure him. Why? I don't know. Maybe there were state senators and state reps with their own conflicts of interests. Did Mr. Fasano know of any conflicts of interests his legislative colleagues had which would be useful in his maintaining power? Were the legislators---particularly his Democrat opponents--- afraid of him? I wouldn't blame you if you felt that "the pols protect their own" in Hartford, because it would appear they do, regardless of party affiliation.

It certainly wasn't like the "conflict of interests" charge Tweed's opponents leveled against Tweed Airport Authority Executive Director Tim Larson, a state rep from East Hartford. I could see if Mr. Larson covertly attempted to sabotage Tweed's progress (a la Mayors DiLieto and DeStefano) so his district in the Bradley International Airport area could benefit, but Mr. Larson worked hard to improve Tweed's navigational safety, with upstate deriving no benefit.

The one "conflict of interests" case (if it can be called that) which goes against the grain is that of Gloria Schaffer, former member of the now-defunct Civil Aeronautics Board. The CAB regulated the airlines industry on issues ranging from fares to routes until its demise in 1983. Any airline wishing to enter or leave a city's airport had to go through the CAB, a rather time-consuming and cumbersome process.

In the wake of her 1978 appointment to the board by President Jimmy Carter, Ms. Schaffer declared that she would recuse herself in all matters pertaining to Tweed-New Haven Airport so as to avoid a "conflict of interests."

Huh? Did Ms. Schaffer own stock in any airline serving Tweed? No. Did she own any municipal bonds related to airport development? No. Ms. Schaffer refused to assist her region's airport based solely on the fact that both she and Tweed were situated twelve miles apart in New Haven County. That's it.

I imagine somewhere down the road that there will be other "public servants" who won't side with Tweed's efforts to improve its operational safety and customer service. And I would hope the local media---and the voters--- would take a closer look to see if they have some conflicts of interests.

But I'm not a betting man.