The board, which wants to delve deeper into all state agency contracting procedures — particularly those involving the Connecticut Port Authority and an offshore wind farm near New London — expects to ramp up activities this winter, Fox insisted. The contracting board will receive lists of candidates for all five positions in its investigative team this week. The watchdog board’s volunteer members contributed their own time last winter to begin investigating a $523,000 “success” fee the port authority paid to a New York consulting firm that helped it find a pier operator. That consulting firm, Seabury Capital Group of New York, has close ties to a former port authority member. Fox has said he believes the contracting watchdog, once fully staffed, both can improve the quality of state services and reduce wasteful spending through better monitoring of contracts.
