Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Erik Johnson at community meeting Monday night: No one told me.
Hamden economic development chief Erik Johnson has agreed to pay a $2,500 fine for taking a voluntary trip through a revolving door.
Johnson, Hamden’s new acting town planner and economic development director, signed a consent order in September with the Office of State Ethics to pay the $2,500 penalty for violating ethics rules rather than contest the charge against him.
Johnson assumed his new Hamden jobs in April. The violation that cost him $2,500 occurred in his previous job in Hartford.
Johnson (a former New haven neighborhood-housing and housing authority official) served as Hartford’s director of development for two years before coming to Hamden. In November 2019, Johnson was also appointed to the Board of Directors of the Capital Region Development Authority, known as CRDA.
While on the board, Johnson deliberated and voted on a resolution to permit the CRDA to enter into a contract valued at more than $50,000 to restructure an existing state development loan and to create a new entity in which the CRDA would have an equity interest.
Johnson ended his term as a board member in July of 2020. In September he entered into a consulting agreement with a Brooklyn business that was also a party to the contract Johnson negotiated for CRDA.
That was in violation of Section 1 – 84b(g) of the Connecticut General Statutes, according to the consent decree and stipulation Johnson said. To comply with the law, Johnson would have had to wait a year before accepting employment with any business involved in the agreement Johnson helped pass, according to a stipulation.
Johnson was asked for comment Monday night while at a Hamden public meeting.
“The issue has been resolved. Other than that, I have no comment,” he said.
He did offer his version of events in the stipulation: He said he was unaware of the revolving door provisions and their application to his future employment. The document claims that CRDA did not advise him on such legal technicalities during his service on the board.
The docket does indicate that Johnson suspended his consulting agreement with the Brooklyn business and requested advice from the legal division of the Office of State Ethics upon receiving a notification in September that he was, in fact, required to file a statement of financial interest with the office.
Johnson stated that he ultimately terminated his employment with the Brooklyn business before he received any compensation from the company.
“When public officials leave state service it is critical for them to understand that there are very specific revolving door provisions, which ban particular actions,” Dena Castricone, chair of the Citizens Ethics Advisory Board, wrote in a release about the Johnson stipulation. “If you are covered by the Code of Ethics because of your position in state government, never hesitate to contact the legal division for advice.”