Transparency has not been a priority for Lamont, Dems
COVID-19 has upended our lives in ways we never could have anticipated, and the cost to our friends and families has been far greater than any dollar figure could represent. Many will use the crisis to reflect on what’s truly important in life, reevaluate priorities and adjust their behaviors accordingly.
Unfortunately, some Connecticut politicians used the opportunity created by the crisis to feather their own nests rather than serving the people they represent. Recently, Democrat State Rep. Michael DiMassa was arrested for allegedly stealing more than $600,000 of $1.2 million in federal funds distributed by the State of Connecticut. The monies were intended to help residents and small businesses in West Haven get back on their feet in the wake of the pandemic.
It doesn’t get much lower than this. Allegedly taking money intended to help a community harmed by a horrible virus and gambling it away at a local casino. If proved to be true, Rep. DiMassa needs to take ultimate responsibility and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the federal law.
But the behavior of people in any organization is set by the tone coming from the top. Leaders set the example. Their own actions reveal the values that are important to the organization and those that are not. Leaders decide the level of transparency given to key stakeholders, whether they are customers, employees or taxpayers.
Unfortunately, Democrat leaders have driven Connecticut toward less disclosure, more secrecy with little accountability for their actions. It’s almost as if state officials believe the money they so easily spend is theirs, forgetting that it comes from the taxes paid by hard-working people across the state.
As just one example, Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration awarded a state contract to a company (Sema4) where his wife’s venture capital firm was invested. The contract was awarded despite warnings from The Office of State Ethics that contracts between Annie Lamont’s firm or any associated companies and the state of Connecticut could present a conflict of interest.
Governor Lamont, Mrs. Lamont, their immediate family and associated businesses are barred from entering into any State contracts “unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process, including prior public offer and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and the contract awarded,” an advisory opinion from the Office of Ethics notes.
It’s clear, at least to me, that the award of the Sema4 contract ignored this clause of the state ethics opinion that was meant to ensure the transparency and accountability of any transactions between the State of Connecticut and Annie Lamont’s business interests.
When the contract came to light, the Lamonts decided to address the situation by suddenly agreeing to give any profits they personally made on the contract to charity.
Over a year later, Connecticut residents are still waiting for an explanation of why the awarding of the Sema4 contract was done, why the payment wasn’t disclosed by the governor to the public from the start, how much money the Lamonts personally made on the deal and whether they ever delivered on their promise to donate these profits to charity.
This type of behavior sends a clear message to state and local officials across the Connecticut. If our leader’s administration can grant a contract to his own wife’s company, not tell anyone about it, and then break his promise to provide an accounting of the profit — and get away with it — why should anyone in government care about how they spend our money?
Sadly, the lack of transparency is not limited to Sema4, as several other politically connected companies benefited from no-bid state contracts during the COVID19 crisis. A communications firm run by a well-known Democrat operative received a whopping $250,000 for a three-month contract that was then extended despite legitimate concern from lawmakers and an outraged public.
Taxpayers doled out a $2.9 million contract to a Democratic campaign firm for COVID-19 vaccine outreach to 10 Connecticut cities, but were never provided with an accounting of how the money was spent. How effective was the program? Why did we need a 71-person “vaccine campaign team” to deliver it? How many more people were vaccinated because of it? Did vaccine hesitancy go down?
At the same time, Gov. Lamont has limited the ability of independent agencies to root out waste and these types of inappropriate insider deals — stripping funding from the state’s contracting review board, eliminating staff and gutting its ability to do the job.
To add insult to injury, the Lamont Administration has continued to stonewall multiple Freedom of Information requests by the news media and others. It took
Kevin Rennie, a lawyer and former Republican state senator and representative, over two years to obtain texts under an FOI request that ultimately showed a troubling tale of influence involving a major corporation and the governor’s inner circle.
Gov. Lamont has insisted on maintaining emergency powers to oversee the pandemic for two years now — two-thirds of his term in office to date. The types of frauds and irregularities regularly occurring now in Connecticut are exactly what happens when the normal checks and balances of government are overridden.
So how do we fix the toxic culture that has been created in Connecticut’s state government?
Changing the culture of any organization starts at the top. It begins by asking tough questions and holding people accountable. We should immediately begin a forensic audit of how the COVID19 relief funds were distributed and spent — in essence a fiscal root canal. With billions of dollars spent, we need to ensure there are no other similar cases of fraud — and it’s more likely than not that there are other cases. We need to find them and make an example of the people responsible.
Gov. Lamont should provide a complete accounting of the money his family made from the taxpayers of Connecticut on Sema4. The governor should restore funding to the State Contracting Review board, compel officials to comply with outstanding FOI requests immediately and increase levels of transparency around government purchases — particularly in no-bid contracts to friends and family.
We need to determine why it took a whistleblower to uncover the fraud in West Haven. Why didn’t the normal checks and balances uncover it, particularly given that West Haven is one of the cities under the additional scrutiny of the state’s Municipal Accountability Review Board?
Each morning, Gov. Lamont settles into his oversized chair in front of a painting from his private art collection called “Right to Know” by Norman Rockwell. The painting, created in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War, in Mr. Lamont’s words encouraged LBJ to “Just tell them what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and explain it to me.”
It’s time for the governor to start practicing what his million-dollar painting preaches. The people of Connecticut have a right to know.