Wallingford Man Appointed New Commissioner of the DMV

Wallingford’s Michael Bzdyra, 51, was appointed the new commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles following a near-unanimous vote of the State Senate on Tuesday.

Republican Senator Henri Martin, of Bristol, cast the lone vote against Bzdyra, who recently disclosed that he misrepresented that he held a master’s degree from UConn despite saying that he did for more than two decades, according to the Hartford Courant.

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Bzdyra made the revelation during his nomination hearing last week and said that he learned of the discrepancy when he ordered his transcripts to prepare for the hearing and is working with UConn to determine if his credits were properly tallied and will do what needs to be done to fulfill his academic requirements for the public affairs master’s degree, according to the Courant.

Bzdyra, who was appointed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy after former Commissioner Andres Ayala Jr. resigned amid numerous problems at the DMV related to a new computer system, has been at the DMV since 2011.

Bzdyra most recently held the position of Deputy Commissioner.

Prior to that, he worked for 13 years with the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority as a government relations liaison and senior analyst, responsible for directing, planning and implementing the organization's governmental, legislative, and regulatory activities.

Read more at the Hartford Courant here.