Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is considering the appointment of Peter L. Adomeit of West Hartford – an attorney, arbitrator and law professor – as chairman of the Connecticut State Employees Retirement Commission.
Adomeit would replace 26-year chairman Peter Blum, who submitted his resignation last December but then rescinded it amid controversy.
The 15-member retirement commission oversees benefits paid to tens of thousands of ex-state employees. It includes seven members representing state-employee unions and seven who represent management – and state law requires that those two sides recommend to the governor the name of a “neutral” 15th member to serve as chairman. If the governor accepts the recommendation, he appoints the chairman.
Adomeit, a faculty member since 1978 at Western New England University School of Law in Springfield, was recommended to Malloy May 4 in a letter signed by commission members representing both labor and management. The governor has yet to make the appointment, and his office declined comment on Wednesday.
Adomeit, 74, is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and the American Arbitration Association. He is a “nationally recognized” labor arbitrator and mediator, speaks frequently about arbitration issues, and has served in the past as a grievance arbitrator on several state collective bargaining contracts, according to the commission members’ letter to the governor.
Not many people meet the statutory requirements to head the commission; for example, the law says the chairman “shall be enrolled in the National Academy of Arbitrators.” For that reason, and because of a public legal standoff that developed between Blum and the governor’s office, finding a new chairman proved troublesome.
On Dec. 10, Blum resigned the highly compensated position that he has held for 26 years. But he quickly rescinded the resignation on Dec. 19, only to be told in February by Malloy that the resignation was accepted and he was finished. However, the feisty Blum insisted he could remain as chairman until a replacement was found. Malloy’s office said Blum didn’t have the right to do that, but he did it anyway. He showed up to preside over meetings of the commission in both March and April, and Malloy’s office did not press its legal position.
Not only did Blum continue to preside as chairman, but he also continued to submit “per diem” billings for his time, as he had in the past. He collected more than $146,000 in billings in the past fiscal year, and got $98,532 in the six months prior to March. Despite Malloy’s position that Blum shouldn’t serve as chairman anymore, the commission approved payment of Blum’s latest billing last month.
It was unclear late Wednesday who would preside at the commission’s scheduled meeting on Thursday morning. Adomeit and Blum could not be reached for comment.
