Federal investigators have subpoenaed records from Hartford and questioned a city engineer about a school construction project during which the city claims it was “required” by the state office financing the construction to hire two consultants to perform much the same work. The state is financing almost all of the cost of multiple school projects in Hartford, but investigators have zeroed in on the $150 million overhaul of Bulkeley High School on the city’s southside, according to public records and interviews with more than a half-dozen people familiar with the project. In particular, the investigators appear interested in whether Konstantinos Diamantis, the politically-influential former director of the state school financing program, persuaded Hartford to hire a second consultant and how that consultant, Construction Advocacy Professionals, was awarded the contract even though two competitors submitted lower bids. Others said Diamantis not only wanted, but required the city to hire a second consultant. Since Diamantis’s office was reimbursing Hartford for almost all its construction costs, the city’s school building committee paid attention — especially when he agreed to pick up the cost of an additional consultant.
https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-diamantis-bulkeley-high-school-grand-jury-20220311-20220314-6dumbhuyefbo5co6aucrccai6q-story.html#nws=true