Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Low-digit license plates always in political fashion

  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • February 4, 2011
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

An amused Gov. Dannel P. Malloy declined Friday to involve himself in a flap over Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s awarding of low-digit license plates to herself, family and friends in the final days of her administration.

“Honestly, I don’t get it. I just don’t get it,” Malloy said of the appeal that the license plates have held for the political classes, something he says has always been part of “the Hartford culture.”

It’s not just Connecticut’s capital. The low-digit plates are political currency in many states, often to the grief of those with the power to give and take away the scarce markers.

In Massachusetts, to de-politicize the plates, they now are offered in a lottery. In Delaware, the plates are bought and sold in a deregulated market that yields some insane prices.

A real estate broker paid $675,000 in 2007 for plate number 11. His family now holds a portfolio of 20 plates with a collective value of $3 million.

A proposed bill would legalize the same practice in Connecticut.

The plates are in the news thanks to former state Sen. Kevin Rennie, a blogger and Courant columnist, who posted an item Thursday about plates going out the door in the last days of the administration.

Some veterans of the administration of William A. O’Neill, whose cars can be identified by their low-digit plates, reminisced that low-digit license plates became parting gifts as O’Neill left 20 years ago. David McQuade, his chief of staff, got one.

“They are a curiosity,” said Timothy F. Bannon, an O’Neill speech writer and adviser who now is Malloy’s chief of staff. “I think it’s a harmless ambition for some people to have.”

Bannon drives a car with a three-digit plate, but it’s more of a family heirloom than a political prize. Family lore is that the plate was handed down from generation to generation. He inherited it before he joined the O’Neill administration.

Every administration seems to have an issue with license plates.

Some governors were so generous as they exited that their successors had to be creative in plate prestige. When Thomas Meskill, a Republican, succeeded Democrat John Dempsey as governor, his staff discovered that the low-digit cupboard was bare.

So they issued a new series of plates that began with the prefix 00. They followed up with plates of single and double letters. If you see them today, you can guess the driver’s party affiliation.

Malloy said he already has been asked for a plate.

“I mean, it’s the wackiest thing, a woman who I had no idea who she was, at a reception. This happened last week,” Malloy said told reporters at a press conference to announce his new insurance commissioner. “Forgive me if she is watching.”

Malloy said the woman told him she had a four-digit plate and was looking to upgrade to a three. He assumes she obtained the four during the O’Neill administration and figured it was time to ask again, now that a Democrat was back in power.

The woman was out of luck.

“I have not formulated a three-digit license plate policy yet,” he said.

Malloy said that the Rell plates probably wouldn’t have been a story if the administration didn’t issue so many of them.

“For the life of me, I don’t quite understand what was going on around here in the final days of an administration in which the governor almost always comported herself with great dignity and honesty,” he said. “I can only imagine that people got caught up in the closing days of the administration and some how or some way their judgment left them”

Rell’s honesty is not at issue. Her administration appeared to follow the law, which gives discretion over the plates to the governor. Numbers 1 through 10,000 are under the control of the commissioner of motor vehicles and are not assigned at random.

Rell, her relatives, staffers and some VIPs, including Linda McMahon, got the plates. So did departing DMV Commissioner Robert Ward.

“I’ve driven by these folks on the road, and I always strain my neck to try to figure out who it is,” Malloy said. “I play the guessing game.”

If he passes by number 460, he should wave. It’s the Senate minority leader, John P. McKinney, R-Fairfield. If it’s 972, it’s his chief of staff, Bannon.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Panel recommends small, inflationary pay hike for state officials
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Connecticut's part-time legislature hasn't received a pay hike since 2001. The annual base-pay for senators and representatives is $28,000.

Police task force seeks wider applicant pool for watchdog role
by Kelan Lyons

The task force sent four recommendations — and two that didn't get unanimous approval— to lawmakers for the 2021 session.

Miguel Cardona, who are you?
by Ann Policelli Cronin

When I ask Connecticut teachers about Miguel Cardona, those who know him or have worked with him say that he is really nice guy who knows what the challenges in our classrooms are, knows how to help teachers to improve their teaching, and respects public schools. All good. But what is his vision for teaching and learning that he will bring to the U.S. Department of Education?

Connecticut needs a strong two-party system, this Democrat says
by Edward Marcus

J.R. Romano’s recent resignation as the state’s Republican Party chair has brought into focus the need for a viable opposition party in Connecticut. It is not healthy politics when everything is totally controlled by one party:  the legislature, the governorship, and most of the major municipalities in our state.

Vaccinations in nursing homes top 64,000; COVID cases are dropping rapidly among residents
by Dave Altimari

There were 238 COVID infections reported in nursing homes last week, down from 483 a few weeks ago.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Miguel Cardona, who are you?
by Ann Policelli Cronin

When I ask Connecticut teachers about Miguel Cardona, those who know him or have worked with him say that he is really nice guy who knows what the challenges in our classrooms are, knows how to help teachers to improve their teaching, and respects public schools. All good. But what is his vision for teaching and learning that he will bring to the U.S. Department of Education?

Opinion Connecticut needs a strong two-party system, this Democrat says
by Edward Marcus

J.R. Romano’s recent resignation as the state’s Republican Party chair has brought into focus the need for a viable opposition party in Connecticut. It is not healthy politics when everything is totally controlled by one party:  the legislature, the governorship, and most of the major municipalities in our state.

Opinion Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Opinion Inconsistent television captioning is a barrier to equal access
by Jeffrey Bravin and Barbara Cassin

Our world long ago entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and a full understanding of the “who, what, when, where and why” of the news is critical for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing citizens. Yet, Connecticut’s inconsistent quality of television captioning locks our community out of the complete sense of what is happening.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO