Isabella Casillas Guzman, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, visited the plant on a tour promoting the reach of the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Biden signed last month. Lamont welcomed Guzman and announced that Mark Boughton, a Republican and his commissioner of revenue services, will take on the added task coordinating the infrastructure spending over the next five or six years, a timeline that assumes the Democratic governor’s reelection in 2022. The Meriden sewage plant chosen as the backdrop for a press conference is in the midst of a multi-phase $40 million upgrade to improve the quality of outflow to the Quinnipiac River. It is being financed by state and federal funds, coordinated by the local officials. Boughton is the latest commissioner given a status of senior advisor to Lamont with some oversight, or at least coordination responsibilities, that crosses state agency lines. Over three years, Lamont has developed an ad hoc management structure that blurs some organizational lines — breaking down silos, in his view. Josh Geballe is the chief operating officer, as well as commissioner of administrative services. Dr. Deidre Gifford, the commissioner of social services, is a senior advisor on health and human services. David Lehman, the commissioner of economic development, is a senior economic advisor.
At a sewage plant, a whiff of political hopes for Lamont and Biden