Connecticut taps New York transportation official

Connecticut taps New York transportation official Joan McDonald, senior vice president with the New York City Economic Development Corp., has been nominated by Gov. M. Jodi Rell to be Connecticut’s new commissioner of economic and community development.
   McDonald, 51, has also has worked as deputy commissioner for planning and traffic operations for the New York City Department of Transportation, and was a private consultant and vice president at Jacobs Engineering in New York.
   Her appointment raised some eyebrows. The Hartford Courant quoted Donald E. Williams Jr., Democratic State Senate President Pro Tempore, who said that while McDonald would “probably make an ideal choice for transportation commissioner” he was concerned that her background was concentrated in transport.
   But in an editorial, the Courant said McDonald may be just what the state’s economy needs, noting “a congested Connecticut can’t compete. Interstate 95 is a parking lot at rush hour. We’re moving far too little freight by rail. Airports are limited to mostly domestic flights.'
   “Transportation drives economic development. Gridlock is turning Connecticut into 'a giant cul-de-sac, an eddy in the economic stream,' in the words of regional development guru Michael Gallis,' the newspaper wrote, quoting a North Carolina-based consultant.