The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Lamont’s nepotism fuels sense of privilege
What’s the quickest way to get from point A to point B? Nepotism, of course. That is if point A is an amateur rap career and point B is direct access to nearly all of Connecticut’s elite.
Gov. Ned Lamont’s decision to hire his cousin’s son as a “body man” with a salary of $52,000 to accompany him to events should strike a chord with you. Dissimilar as it may feel, it’s somewhat reminiscent of the college admission scandal that revealed how wealthy elites were using their stature and status to secure seats in Ivy Leagues for their kids. The similarity exists because it’s not about the current salary or their current enrollment status, it’s about the launchpad they’ve been granted access to and the lack of transparency that came with it.
The average musician makes less than $25,000 a year, according to an industry study published last year, conducted by the nonprofit Music Industry Research Association in collaboration with MusiCares and the Princeton University Survey Research Center. It’s probably not surprising that the local Connecticut/Massachusetts rap game isn’t very lucrative. But when your second cousin’s the governor… it probably really doesn’t have to be.
Charles Lamont Wolcott, Gov. Lamont’s second cousin, has since resigned from the role. Shortly after Hearst Connecticut Media Group published the story, Wolcott submitted a resignation letter, thanking the governor for the opportunity and wishing the Lamont administration success.
Some upset is warranted — tax dollars were being spent with little oversight and no transparency. On the other hand, the job Wolcott had secured didn’t necessarily require a degree or any certifications and he had worked in Lamont’s campaign as an aide. So should we really scrutinize and nitpick who the governor decides to hire for a 24/7 job that pays less than $25 an hour? In short, yes and no.
The hire was reviewed by Lamont’s legal counsel and he was not obligated to report it to the Office of State Ethics, according to state statute. But the real problem is the lack of transparency for a hire which was sure to raise questions and evoke controversy. I may have suggested a voluntary disclosure to the OSE for the sake of openness. That may have yielded complimentary remarks and garnered the trust and faith of concerned residents. But in the absence of that level of voluntary transparency, all that’s left is speculation and distrust.
It’s important to note that no laws were broken in Wolcott’s hiring. But the matter of legality isn’t in question here. For me, neither is Lamont’s decision to hire his second cousin for the role. Ultimately the reason this doesn’t sit well with so many is that without transparency and disclosure of the hiring process, it appears as though Wolcott was able to leverage his relationship with his second cousin to double his earning potential as a rapper.
Job hunting is seldom easy. So many Connecticut residents take to it with no guarantees of any kind. And even with the jobs they are adequately qualified for, it often feels like there’s little certainty that they’ll be offered the job if they don’t know anyone who works with the organization.
I actually don’t mind that Wolcott was about to receive a familyendowed come up. I think it’s a natural desire to help secure employment for your family members who need it. But I also know nepotism is a currency that poor families and families of color never have the opportunity to trade in.
I recently wrote about how education is considered to be the great equalizer. We like to believe that no matter where you hail from or how little your family makes, you’ll be able to rise through the ranks via hard work, grit, and selfdetermination. But the reality for so many people is a bit more bleak.
Access is power and not everyone has equal access — regardless of how much education they’ve been able to acquire. So I propose an amendment to the saying. One that will offer a more holistic view of the issues of extreme inequity at hand.
“Education is often a poor man’s best chance of accessing the rooms where power surges.”
It’s not catchy or anything, but I think it more adequately captures the uphill battle ahead of most working and lowincome class folks who will likely never be able to schmooze their way out of poverty. That’s not how the system works. Since lowincome people and people of color are less likely to know people in those rooms, and since those rooms are frequently inviteonly, education may get you close — but not close enough.
But it’s also not as if you can ditch your expensive pursuit of a degree because without education at all, women and people of color are far less likely to have access to highpowered connections willing to offer a job — even if it’s just a security position.
This is where the launch pad comes in. Today Wolcott would have been just a “body man.” But remember, that’s for the most important politician in our state. Should he have decided to become a certified bodyguard and secure a 2or 4year degree in security education the midlevel security job his second cousin gave him will decorate his resume very nicely and prime him for a long and lucrative career with state and citylevel protection agencies nationwide.
Wolcott may have been the best candidate for the role. If he stayed, he may have even proved to be a necessary part of Lamont’s motorcade, providing familial insight and comfort while keeping him safe. But taxpayers deserve an abundance of transparency. And even though we’re talking about $52,000, which amounts to less than half a percent of the state’s budget, for me it’s not really about the money. Just like Operation Varsity Blues, it’s always about privilege and access.