I came across an article (July 10) about Chancellor Dannel Malloy touring the University of Maine Farmington facility and I believe the people of Maine need an explanation from the trustees of the University of Maine system why they appointed a chancellor with such a ghastly public record.

As a lifelong resident of Connecticut and a public school teacher of 43 years, I have witnessed the Connecticut I love disintegrate through gross mismanagement of bonding, borrowing and irresponsible wasting of taxpayer money on reckless spending through the policies of Malloy when he was governor. During the past eight years, businesses and taxpayers have been leaving the state in droves.

After wooing the public school teachers’ vote, Malloy made this demoralizing statement about dedicated Connecticut school teachers: “And to earn that tenure . . . basically the only thing you have to do is show up for four years.  Do that and tenure is yours.”

In 2011, Malloy appointed a state education commissioner with no public school experience and, in 2017, an angry Malloy proposed massive funding cuts to education that shocked local officials.

In 2018, he celebrated his bus project, CTfastrak, by claiming “We’ve actually exceeded our own predictions with respect to success.” Yet CTfastrack loses $21.9 million dollars a year. In response, state Sen. Len Fasano stated “For the governor to tout CTfastrak as one of his biggest successes speaks to how misguided the governor is.” As for Malloy’s 2016 Profiles in Courage Award he polishes for helping one Syrian family, well, in 2014, he shut down efforts to use Connecticut as a host state.

He was infamous for borrowing and bonding, so I was interested in how long it would take before he started doing the same to the taxpayers of Maine. And, in the third paragraph of that Sun Journal article, he is quoted as stating “There’s bond money to spend on some things.”

Wow, after just nine days.

Why would 16 trustees appoint a failed governor? According to a source, the trustees evidently didn’t seek faculty, student or employee input. But five minutes on Google would have produced a multitude of disturbing headlines: “Has Dan Malloy lost his mind?”; “Failed Governor Dan Malloy Caught Misleading Connecticut Voters on Job Numbers,Tax Dollars”; Malloy’s Ugly Snit At Failed Second Chance”; “After Raising Taxes In Connecticut, Dan Malloy Caught Not Paying His Own Taxes”; “Federal probe into campaign funds latest headache for Dem. Gov. Malloy”; “It’s Official: Governor Malloy Is the Worst Governor in America”; “Connecticut’s Mass Exodus Continues As Failed Governor Dan Malloy’s Tax Hikes Wreak Havoc”; and my favorite, “Malloy Bypassed Airport Security Checkpoint with Son’s Backpack.”  An “absent-minded mistake,” he claimed.

Depressing, isn’t it?

Patrick Hale, New Britain, Connecticut


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