Conn.’s Insurance Chief Cogswell Willing to Stay if Asked by Newly-Installed Gov. Rell

Newly-installed Gov. M. Jodi Rell got down to business in her first full week on the job by asking some of the commissioners appointed by her predecessor, John G. Rowland, to become part of her new administration.

Commissioners were summoned to the governor’s executive residence for interviews with Rell and her chief of staff, Lisa Moody. Four of those who met with Rell the first week said she asked them to stay on board. They included Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Gary DeFilippo, Veterans Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz, Revenue Services Commissioner Pam Law and Public Health Commissioner Robert J. Galvin, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to the four who said the new governor asked them to stay, the commissioners who run the departments of Correction, Agriculture and Labor were seen leaving the residence.

Insurance Commissioner Susan Cogswell was not mentioned in that firsr round of meetings with the new governor.

However, Cogswell did meet with Rell at another meeting, according to her spokesperson Kate Kierban-Pagani, who added that Cogswell is prepared to stay if asked.

“They discussed insurance issues and markets in Connecticut and the commissioner indicated her willingness to stay on the job,” Kierban-Pagani told Insurance Journal.

Rell did not ask Cogswell to remain on the job at their meeting, she said.

Cogswell, a Torrington resident, was appointed by Rowland in June 2000 to be insurance commissioner. She is the state’s first female commissioner.

For the full report, see the current Insurance Journal’s East Edition dated July 19, 2004.