“Probe Found That Candidate Misused State Computer, Phone”

Probe Found That Candidate Misused State Computer, Phone

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 02:41 AM PST

Allen Hoffman, a Republican candidate from West Hartford in one of next week's nine special state legislative elections, retired in 2009 as a state employee less than two weeks after an investigative report recommended "appropriate disciplinary action" against him for having "misused state equipment and property for his own personal endeavors."

"There is overwhelming evidence showing Mr. Hoffman violated state and agency policies pertaining to computer usage on numerous dates and times while he was at work being paid his state salary," human resources specialist Deborah Craig of the Department of Administrative Services wrote in a four-page report dated Oct. 20, 2009.

He retired effective Nov. 1, 2009, from an $80,726-a-year job at the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, after 14 years of state employment that began with a single term as state representative from 1995 to 1997.

Hoffman, 68, said in a phone interview Tuesday the matter was closed and he was never disciplined.

"It's finished business," he said. "It was a minor discrepancy. … There was no malice or intent. There was no corruption. … There was no punishment. … As far as I'm concerned it's finished business, and we move on."

He acknowledged engaging in occasional, but not constant, state e-mails or calls on his state cellphone in connection with his part-time bookkeeping business and justice of the peace services — but only for scheduling appointments that were conducted off the state's premises and time clock.

Asked if he thought he had done anything wrong, Hoffman said, "It certainly was against state policy as spelled out." But, he added, "I think it's like jaywalking; it is against the law. If you do it, normally it's not really a problem, but it is against the law. But I also think the balance to that is there was no punishment meted out. … l take responsibility for my actions. But I think this is a mountain out of a molehill."

Hoffman faces Democrat Joseph Verrengia, 46, in a Feb. 22 special election to fill the 20^t^h House District vacancy left by longtime Democratic Rep. David McCluskey, who resigned to accept an appointment in the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Hoffman now collects a pension of $1,158 a month. His 2009 retirement was effective 12 days after Craig said in her report that "cell phone records indicate that Mr. Hoffman has made hundreds of personal calls and has never repaid the state for such calls." The calls went to: his home; his wife's office; law offices; a funeral home; a doctor's office; a hair salon; and the Metropolitan District Commission, where Hoffman serves as a member of the unpaid governing board.

"Mr. Hoffman has thousands of personal emails on his state email account from his wife, his children, his sister, friends and other non-work related items. … Some e-mails indicated that Mr. Hoffman was conducting personal business for the MDC while he was being paid by [the state]," Craig wrote.

Craig wrote that Hoffman's computer at the arts agency was seized in 2008, and a "forensic analysis" showed he had "visited many unauthorized websites" from 2004 to 2008. She said they included: travelzoo.com, usairways.com, Hilton.com, and mapquest.com (to search for Parris Island, S.C., site of the U.S. Marine recruit depot; his son is in the Marines).

Also found in the computer were indications he had accessed videos from websites ranging from relaxingjazz.com to the CT-N public affairs network's website. There were other computer documents including the war poems of Siegfried Sassoon.

Craig wrote that on Feb. 26, 2007, Hoffman participated in MDC interviews for the hiring of a top official, but he indicated on his state timesheet that he worked an eight-hour day. Hoffman said Tuesday that although an e-mail indicated he had participated in the interviewing that day, he actually did not.

At least nine of Hoffman's 187 e-mail folders on his state computer were personal, Craig wrote, adding that his "MDC" folder had 947 saved e-mails, while the folder for his wife had 796. "A general calculation of 1,743 e-mails read at 1 minute each equals 29.05 hours of state time," Craig wrote. She said that was worth more than $1,000 at his 2007 pay rate of more than $37 an hour.

"Additional e-mails include Mr. Hoffman's political activity in West Hartford … [and] there are e-mails concerning Mr. Hoffman's personal affairs with law firms, real estate, and justice of the peace services that he provides." She noted that he owns Laurel Management Bookkeeping Service, which serves small businesses and professional offices.

Hoffman said he did not retire as a direct result of the investigative report, but he acknowledged that things at work had become more and more "annoying" after he was reassigned in his last couple of years at the arts agency from his longtime job as its liaison to the General Assembly.

In addition to his membership on the MDC board, Hoffman currently serves on the West Hartford Republican Town Committee, the Republican State Central Committee, and the Connecticut State Library Board. He is a former president of the Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations.

His opponent in the election, Verrengia, also sits on the MDC board, serves on the West Hartford Town Council, and is a 21-veteran of the town's police department.

Courant staff writer Amanda Falcone contributed to this story.

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