Rowland says he's excited about job offer
"It's a very exciting proposal, Rowland told the Associated Press Tuesday night. "I get to return to my first love and that's the Waterbury community."
Waterbury Mayor Michael Jarjura told the Hartford Courant Tuesday that the job was his idea, and would be paid for by the city and Waterbury Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Rowland, a Waterbury native, said he would be working for the chamber, under a contract with the city. The job would involve attracting new businesses to the Waterbury area, and helping existing businesses in the community grow.
"Times have been tough for the city and trying to create some economic development opportunities and attract new business, and help existing business, I've had a little bit of experience doing that," Rowland said. "There is something kind of fun about returning to something that you've already enjoyed for the last 30 years."
During his two-plus terms as governor, Rowland championed numerous economic development projects, including the Adriaen's Landing development in Hartford.
Rowland resigned in 2004 amid an impeachment inquiry and spent 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, admitting he accepted more than $100,000 in vacations and chartered trips to Las Vegas from a state contractor and a jet company that received a tax break.
When asked if he believed people were ready to accept him back in a public role, Rowland said that was not a concern.
"It's through the chamber of commerce, so it's not really public," Rowland said. "It's not public money. There was a lot of encouragement and support for this. Life is not perfect. We're an imperfect society with imperfect people, just trying to do the best job that we can."
Jarjura, a Democrat, tells the newspaper he believes the former Republican governor deserves the opportunity.
"He made a mistake," Jarjura told the Courant. "He admitted it. He atoned for his mistake, and I think he has a lot to offer to the people of this city. He can definitely jump-start our economic development initiatives here. Are we supposed to forever blame an individual for a mistake? I don't believe that."
Jarjura said a "reasonable" estimate of the cost of Rowland's proposed new office, including a clerical staff, is about $200,000. Rowland said details should be ironed out in the next few days.
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