Dan Haar: Sen. McCrory exits key Connecticut board amid investigation, slams audit

An embattled Sen. Douglas McCrory, citing a recent audit that suggests he might have been involved in fraud, resigned Tuesday afternoon from an influential public board that gives hundreds of millions of dollars in state bond money to distressed cities and towns.

McCrory, a Hartford Democrat, exited the Community Investment Fund 2030 board in a letter to Sen. Martin Looney, D-New Haven, the Senate president pro-tem. Looney and House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, serve as co-chairs of the board. 

"A recent inaccurate, deceptive, and biased audit of an organization funded by the Community Investment Fund risks becoming a distraction from the Fund's important work. I believe this work is too important to risk jeopardizing it," McCrory wrote in a letter to Looney. "This audit contains several inaccuracies, makes unfounded claims, and demonstrates clear bias against me. The overall veracity should be questioned, and the litany of inconsistencies is too voluminous to list here. I engaged in no wrongdoing and expect all concerns to prove unfounded."

Looney immediately named Sen. Herron Keyon Gaston, D-Bridgeport, to replace McCrory on the board. 

Gov. Ned Lamont had suggested McCrory "step back" from leadership positions including the Community Investment Fund board and the chairmanship of the General Assembly's Education Committee, soon after the audit was released on Jan. 20.

McCrory remains the committee co-chair, giving him significant influence over state money. He is also on the board of the Minority Business Initiative, another state body. 

In his resignation letter, McCrory was referring to the Blue Hills Civic Association, a social services nonprofit in his district that is the subject of a federal criminal investigation into how it handled more than $15 million in state money over five years, until early 2025. McCrory is also a subject of the investigation, public documents show. 

Neither Blue Hills nor any of its officers, nor McCrory, nor other people involved in the investigation has been charged with a crime. 

McCrory's resignation comes as the Community Investment Fund prepares for its March meeting, when the agency typically approves millions of dollars for projects. It seems clear his presence was in fact a distraction – especially this week, as Lamont vetoed $3.8 million in earmarks approved by the General Assembly as part of  a controversial vote last week. 

One of those earmarks was $750,000 for McCrory's employer, the Capital Region Education Council, for a program the council said is unconnected to McCrory. A CT Insider investigation showed he lobbied for the money, and more broadly, Lamont – seeking a third term this year – has made it clear he wants reforms in the way the legislature approves grants favored by individual lawmakers. 

Blue Hills was suspended from receiving state grants in the early spring, 2025, after it reported to the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) that $300,000 in state money had gone missing after Blue Hills attempted to wire the money to another nonprofit. McCrory's close ties to Blue Hills, including his alleged role in directing how the agency disbursed money in Hartford, was the subject of an audit commissioned by DECD.

The audit, by CliftonLarsonAllenLLP, referred to the possibility of potential fraud numerous times and said, "The forensic audit of BHCA reveals pervasive governance failures, systemic internal control weaknesses, and patterns of conduct that strongly suggest potential fraud and misappropriation of public funds by BHCA and related parties."

The audit said much of the $1.7 million spent on an outside consultant who is a close associate of McCrory, Sonserae Cicero-Hamlin, was misspent, or that the work required by that money was not done. She has not commented publicly on the audit findings.

McCrory has not commented in specific detail about the audit and its findings and suggestions, but has said repeatedly he did nothing wrong in advocating for Blue Hills and his constituents. He told my colleague Jacqueline Rabe Thomas last spring that Cicero-Hamlin was "doing a bang up job" with excellent results in her community work. 

I reported on Feb. 27 that the audit contained some discrepancies, such as a statement that Cicero-Hamlin did not perform work on a Blue Hills employee handbook she was paid to update, when in fact emails showed her firm was involved in the update. Also, the report suggested McCrory asked the executive director of Blue Hills to delay telling DECD the $300,000 was missing, when in fact, emails show he agreed with her suggestion to delay reporting the loss. 

CliftonLarsonAllen said in a written statement in response to my column that it stands by the audit and its findings. 

Looney issued a statement commending McCrory for his service to the board. "I also commend his sensitivity and determination to not contribute to any distraction that might otherwise detract from the vital work of CIF,” Looney said in an emailed statement late Tuesday. 

In January, Looney pushed back against Lamont's calls for McCrory to be removed from leadership positions. 

The Community Investment Fund 2030 was formed in 2021 as a way to steer more than $750 million of state bond money to 57 "distressed municipalities," including Connecticut's cities, after Lamont pulled back on bond funding commitments. The fund has a board of 21 members, including most of the top state elected and appointed officials, but not the governor or lieutenant governor. 

The fund has had seven tranches of disbursements totaling $562 million to dozens of recipient groups, several in McCrory's district. Blue Hills Civic Association has received at least $750,000 from the fund, public records show, and has close ties to other recipients. Cicero-Hamlin, who sought but did not receive $3.4 million from the fund in 2024, did receive $300,000 from the Minority Business Initiative, where McCrory remains a board member. 

Replacing McCrory with Gaston appears to shift the balance of power slightly to Bridgeport. Leaders of that city often say they believe state funding goes disproportionately to Hartford.

"Bridgeport, Stratford, and communities like them across Connecticut deserve access to the resources they need to thrive, and I will fight every day on this board to make sure that happens," Gaston said in a release from Looney's office immediately after his appointment.

Looney said, "Senator Gaston's deep community connections in Bridgeport, his understanding of the structural barriers these communities face, and his record of fighting for meaningful investment make him an ideal steward of that mission."

dhaar@hearstmediact.com