The University of Hartford says that more than 500 people have signed up for the testimonial dinner for Gov. M. Jodi Rell Tuesday night in Cromwell that will kick off fundraising to establish the Rell Center for Public Service at the university -- and many of attendees apparently were attracted by invitations that were mailed courtesy of a prominent Hartford lobbying firm.
Rell came into office in mid-2004 after a corruption scandal forced Gov. John G. Rowland to resign -- and, in an effort to distinguish herself, she proclaimed the importance of ethics in government and said she wouldn't meet personally with lobbyists.
But now, in an interesting twist, it turns out that the invitations for Tuesday's big retirement-fundraising dinner bore the printed number of the postage meter at the Hartford lobbying firm of Sullivan & LeShane, even though the envelope was printed with the return address of the office of the university president on Bloomfield Avenue in West Hartford. "MAILED FROM ZIP CODE 06106," the imprint on the envelopes said. That's Sullivan & LeShane's ZIP code in Hartford, while the university's ZIP code, listed on the return address, is 06117, in West Hartford.
Lobbyist Paddi LeShane is a friend of both Rell and Rell's chief of staff, M. Lisa Moody.