The Hartford Courant's Don Stacom reports:
The revolving door in the top office of the state Department of Transportation is spinning again: Interim Commissioner Jeffrey Parker announced his resignation Tuesday.
Parker's departure isn't entirely surprising, since Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made clear soon after winning office in November that he'd bring in a new leader to run the $1 billion agency.
But Parker, at Malloy's invitation, has been staying on as interim commissioner until a replacement is chosen. It's unclear whether the resignation announcement signals that Malloy is closer to naming a new DOT chief, or whether Malloy will promote Deputy Commissioner Al Martin to run operations in the meantime.
In an e-mail to the agency's 3,300 employees, Parker emphasized that he's leaving under amicable terms and pointedly praised Malloy.
"Both as mayor of Stamford and now as governor, he has always impressed me as a public servant that recognizes the importance of investing in transportation," Parker wrote.
It will be a very different transition than the abrupt, acrimonious breakup when Joseph Marie was forced out in late June.
Then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell's staff said an employee complained of "inappropriate behavior" by Marie, and they decided after a preliminary investigation that Marie had to go. Staffers brokered a deal in which Marie and Rell would publicly claim he was resigning to spend more time with his family, but days later it was revealed that Rell had pressured him to walk out immediately.