Did LaMar Cook have a political patron for gov.’s aide job? Questions swirl

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Maura Healey and her staff have repeatedly rebuffed inquiries about former Western Massachusetts aide LaMar D. Cook's qualifications for the $115,000 per year job he held when he was arrested last month for drug trafficking .

Healey stopped short of offering more information, except to say Cook, 45, was immediately fired.

Her office didn't respond to requests for Cook's resume or letters of recommendation that helped him land the post.

The void of information has left the question open as to who was the political patron — or patrons — to put Cook's application top of mind for Healey.

Then-City Council candidate LaMar Cook waves to cars passing by the Church in the Acres on Wilbraham Avenue in Springfield on Aug. 16, 2022. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)

While Cook had built a reputation as a leader in Springfield's Black community — earning accolades for his work on a back-to-school charity for urban youth — his professional life was almost exclusively in hospitality. Cook also unsuccessfully ran for School Committee and City Council.

The political world has been abuzz about Cook's rise from hotel director to the western branch of the Governor's Office. Several sources have told The Republican that state Rep. Bud L. Williams was his entry.

Ron Brace Sr., from left, state Rep. Bud Williams and Hotel UMass Director LaMar Cook at the Black Springfield COVID-19 Coalition Christmas Party at the Cozy Courtyard Pavilion on State Street in Springfield on Dec. 21, 2021. (Ed Cohen / Special to The Republican, File)

Williams, however, has flatly denied this and denounced the notion as unfounded gossip.

"You will find no paper trail there," Williams said. "I don't do the hiring. I don't do the vetting for the Governor's Office."

Springfield City Councilor Marcus Williams, from left, then-state Rep.-elect Bud Williams, Zaida Govan, City Councilor Ken Shea, and LaMar Cook at the Ward 4 Democratic Committee Holiday Egg Nog Sip in Springfield on Dec. 15, 2016. Marcus Williams is the state representative's nephew. (Chris Marion / The Republican, File)Chris Marion / The Republican

When asked if he went to bat for Cook in any way, Williams responded: "I don't know what that means."

Derryl Gibbs, from left, state Rep. Bud Williams, Antonio Delesline, and LaMar Cook at the Dads Make A Difference picnic at Adams Park on Father's Day in 2021. (Ed Cohen / Special to The Republican, File)

Williams, a fourth-term Democrat for the 11th Hampden District, said he exerted no influence at all for Cook to get the job.

"I don't even know him all that well. I know his grandmother," Williams said.

The Christian Cathedral holds a ceremony as Eastern Avenue is renamed Rev. Dr. MLK Way. State Rep. Bud Williams, Springfield Housing Authority's Executive Director Denise Jordan, Archbishop Timothy Paul and Springfield City Councilor Tracye Whitfield pose for a photo with other attendees, including LaMar Cook, second from right, in front of the new street sign on June 28, 2019, Springfield. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican, File)

The representative and former city councilor said he actually joined in an effort with former Springfield Mayor Michael J. Albano to urge the governor to make the Western Massachusetts posts cabinet-level positions, but it didn't result in a change.

Community leaders and parents gathered at the Rebecca Johnson School to welcome students on the first day of the school year in 2019. State Rep. Bud Williams is in the background, left, and LaMar Cook is in the foreground, right. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)

Cook was appointed as deputy director of the Western Massachusetts office of the governor in 2023 along with Kristen Elechko, of Northampton, as director.

Janice Guzman, left, talks with LaMar Cook, then Gov. Maura Healey's Western Massachusetts deputy director, as advocates for increased pay and benefits for personal care attendants held an informational picket line at the Statehouse offices in Springfield on July 25, 2023. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)

His arrest was came after he received kilos of cocaine at his office at the "Little State House" on Dwight Street and in two other instances to his former employer, Hotel UMass at the Amherst campus.

The 45-year-old was arrested by state troopers on Oct. 29. He has been held behind bars without the right to bail after after two hearings in Springfield District Court. He appealed that decision to a judge in Hampden Superior Court. That motion remains under advisement.

Cook also was charged with driving without a license and illegal possession of a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

LaMar Cook, former deputy director for the governor's regional office in Springfield, is arraigned at Hampden District Court on Oct. 29 on charges of cocaine trafficking after 8 kilos of the drug were delivered to him at the state building on Dwight Street a few days before. (Douglas Hook / The Republican, File)Douglas Hook

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