Transpar ency has not been a priority for Lamont, Dems By Bob Ste fanowski 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 th an any dollar figure could represent. Many will use the crises to reflect on what ’ s truly important in life, reevaluate priorities and adjust the i r behaviors accordingly. Unfortunately, some Connecticut politi cians used the opportunity created by the crises to feather their own nests rather than serving the people they represent. Recently, Democrat State Re p. 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 I t d oesn ’ t get much lower than this. Allegedly taking mo ney intended to help a community harmed by a horrible virus and gambling it away at a local casino. If proved to be tru e, Rep. DiMassa needs to take ultimate re sponsibility and should be prosecuted to the full ext ent of the federal law. But the behavior of people in any organization is set by the tone coming from the top. L eaders set example . Their own actions reveal the values that are important to the organization and those that are not. Le aders decide the level of transparenc y given to key shareholders , whether they are customers , employees , or t ax payers. Unfortunately, Democrat leaders have driven Connecticut towards less disclosure , more secrecy with little account ability for their actions. It ’ s almost as if state officials believe the money they so easily spend is theirs. Forgetting that is comes from the t axes paid by hard working people ac ross the state. As just one example , Governor N ed Lamont ’ s administration awarded a state contract to accompany (S ema 4 ) where his wife ’ s venture capital form was invested. The contract was awarded despite wa rnings from The Office of State Ethics that contracts between Annie Lamont ’ s f irm or any associated companies in the State of Connecticut could present a conflict of interest. Governor Lamont, Mrs. Lamont, their immediate family and associated business es are barred from entering into any stat e contracts “ unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process , including prior public officer and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and the contracts awarded ” a n advisory opinion from the O ffice of Eth ics notes. It ’ s clear , at least to me, that the a ward of the S ema 4 contract ignored this clause of th e State Ethic ’ s option t hat 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 Lamont ’ s decided to address the s ituation by suddenly a greeing to give any profits t hey perso nally made on the contract to charity. Over a year later, Connecticut residents are still waiting for an explanation of why the awarding of Sema4 contract was done, why the payment wasn ’ t disclosed by the Governor to the public from the start , how much money the Lamont’s personally made on the deal and whether they delivered on their promise to donate these profits to char ity. This type of behavior sends a clear message to state and local off icials across 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 accountin g 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 pol itically connected companies benefitted from no - bid state contracts during the Covid19 cris is. A communications firm run by well - k nown Democrat operative received a wh opping $250,000 for a 3 - month contract that was then extended despite legitimate concern from lawmakers and an outraged public. Tax payers dol ed out a $2.9 million contract to a Democrati c campaign firm for COVID - 19 vaccine outreach to ten 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 - per son “ vaccine campaign team ” to deliver it? How many more Transpar ency has not been a priority for Lamont, Dems people were v accinated because of it? Did vaccine hesitancy go down? At the same time , Governor L amont has limited the ability of independent agencies to root ou t waste in these t y pes of inappropriate insider deals - stripping funding from the state ’ s contracting renewal board, eliminating staff and gutting it s ability to do the job. To add insult to injury , the L amont Administration has continued to stonewall mul tiple Freedom of Information requests by the news media and other s. I t took Kevin R en nie , a lawyer and form er Republican State Senator and Representative, over t wo years to obtain texts u nder an FOI request that ultimately sh owed a troubling tale of influence revolving a major corporat ion and the Governor ’ s inn er circle. Gov. La mont has in sisted on maintaining emergency powers to oversee the pand emic for two year s now - two - thirds of his term in office to date. T h e types of f raud s and irregularities regularly occurring now in Connecticut are e xactly 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 sta rts at the top. It begins by asking tough questions and holding people accountable. We shou ld immediately begin a forensic audit of how the COVID - 19 relie f funds were distributed and spent - in essence of a f iscal root can al. With billions of dollars spent, we need to ensure there are not other similar cases of frau d - and it ’ s more likely than not that there were other causes. 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 tax payers of Connecticut o n Sema4. The Governor should restore funding to the State Contracting Review board , compel officials to comply w ith outstanding F OI requests immediately and increase levels of transparency around Government purchases - particu larly in no - bid contracts to friends and family. We need to d etermine why it took a whistle blower to uncover the fraud in West Haven. Why didn ’ t normal checks and balances uncover it? Particularly given that West Haven is one of the cities under scrutiny of the State ’ s Municipal Accountability Review Board ! Each morning, Gov. Lamont settles into his o versized chair in front of a painting from his private art collection called “ Right to Know ” by N orman Rockwell The pa inting 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 pra cticing what his million - dollar painting preaches. The people of Connecticut have a right to know. Bob Stefanowski , a Republican was one of Governor Lamont ’ s opponents in the 2019 race for Connecticut governor.