A peek inside the Governor’s Residence shows how Dannel Malloy has dealt with the joys and sorrows of being Connecticut’s chief executive.
Some parties were catered, others canceled.
On the joyous side, Malloy hosted a St. Patrick’s Day party for 200 people in 2013, according to documents obtained from the state agency that manages the Governor’s Residence.
After the Newtown school shootings Malloy canceled five holiday receptions.
Among the canceled events was a Dec. 20, 2012, press reception for 100 expected to cost $3,450, according to the documents from the Department of Administrative Services, emails spanning December 2012 to April 2013.
The administration rescheduled some of the canceled events for early 2013, but the documents don’t provide a clear picture of how the rescheduled events match up with the canceled ones.
According to the documents, taxpayers paid for six catered events totaling about $15,000 at the residence during the five-month period with most of that going toward the $6,900 St. Patrick’s Day party.
The March 16 St. Patrick’s Day party cost $30 per person, plus a 15 percent service charge.
On Jan. 10, 2013, Malloy had a “formal sit-down dinner” for eight catered by Russell’s Creative Global Cuisine. The menu included a romaine, fennel and blood orange salad with pomegranate vinaigrette; braised beef short ribs with green peppercorn demi-glace; and warm apple crisp. The dinner, including four extra orders of short ribs, cost $654.47.
Malloy hosted local elected officials for a breakfast on Feb. 6. Mary’s Catering charged $265.50 for 25 people. Another event for local officials on Feb. 26, also handled by Mary’s Catering, cost $1,239 for 75 people.
A Feb. 7 luncheon for commissioners catered by Russell’s Creative Global Cuisine cost $3,584.72.
Culinary Accents catered a cocktail party for “inner-city clergy” on Feb. 15 for $2,625.
Two outgoing members of Malloy’s staff, Roy Occhiogrosso and Andrew McDonald, paid for catered events at the residence. Occhiogrosso, who left the Governor’s Office at the end of 2012 to return to the communications firm Global Strategy Group, paid for a Jan. 11 event at the residence. McDondald, Malloy’s general counsel until he became a justice on the Connecticut Supreme Court in January 2013, paid for an event on Feb. 20.
Did Occhiogrosso and McDonald pay for their own farewell parties? The Governor’s Office declined to provide any context about the events, but it appears they may have.
The residence also frequently hosts charitable events. At one April event, according to the emails, a catering worker helped himself to some of Malloy’s personal ice cream and wine.