Former CT Port Authority board member hit with $18,500 ethics fine for improper lobbying

A former Port Authority board member who resigned in 2018 has agreed to pay an $18,500 fine to settle allegations that he tried to direct work to a maritime industry firm in which he had a financial interest, according to the Office of State Ethics.

According to papers outlining the settlement, former board member Henry W. Juan III notified the Port Authority of his financial interest in Seabury Maritime and recused himself from decisions affecting Seabury. But the ethics office said Juan used confidential board information and his relationships with other board members to advocate for Seabury and, in doing so, violated ethics and lobbying rules.

Seabury earlier was fined $10,000 in two ethics complaints that accused the firm of improperly lobbying the Authority and providing $3,000 or so in gifts including drinks, dinners, event tickets and overnight lodging to authority employees.

Juan, who could not be reached immediately, said in the settlement papers released by the ethics office that he received no ethics training as a volunteer board member, was admitting no wrongdoing and agreed to pay the fine to avoid the expense and uncertainty of challenging it.

Seabury was at the center of a controversy at the authority in the months after it was established as a public-private entity as part of a state plan to rebuild the long-ignored Admiral Harold E. Shear State Pier in New London with the goal of making it a supply hub for the Northeast offshore wind industry.

Juan was on the Port Authority board from March 2016 until his resignation in February 2018. The Authority hired Seabury as a consultant three months later in May 2018 to help it hire a firm to operate the pier.

Not long after his appointment to the authority board, according to the settlement agreement, Juan and two others created New York-based Seabury. Juan said in the settlement agreement that his ownership interest amounted to a fraction of 1% and he was paid a salary that was unchanged until his employment ended in August 2020.

Juan said in the agreement that he was unaware of state lobbying regulations and he and fellow board members received no training on state ethics and lobbying rules.

David Kooris, the current Port Authority chairman, who was appointed in 2019 after the Seabury controversy, said all authority employees and appointees are now trained in the state ethics code.

“Misuse of public office is the precise offense that spurred the creation of the State Ethics Commission back in 1977,” said  Peter Lewandowski. executive director of the Office of State Ethcs. “Misuse of public office is the precise offense that spurred the creation of the State Ethics Commission back in 1977. Now, nearly 50 years later, we are continuing this
important work by ensuring that officials are not leveraging their position or knowledge for personal financial gain.”