Lamont’s reopening: Impossible task made harder

On the day Gov. Ned Lamont announced sleepaway camps would remain closed for the summer, complaints flooded in from all directions.

Two days later he said he’d reconsider, ushering in a new set of complaints. That was Thursday. As of Tuesday afternoon, Lamont still had not made a final call.

Something similar happened with hair salons. After he heeded stylists who wanted to open, he listened to others who were worried about reopening

And for the past week he’s struggled with the state’s tribal casinos, which are slated to reopen June 1 — despite his insistence they should wait.

To top it off, Ray and Barbara Dalio pulled out of an unprecedented state

partnership — although they maintained their $100 million commitment — on the day the organization’s laptops arrived for underprivileged high school students who need to be connected during the shutdown. Lamont, stuck between legislators and the billionaires, again tried to appease all sides.

It’s a given that reopening the economy is harder than closing it. And Lamont has boasted an “opendoor policy” since his election, which makes governing that much harder. He’s willing to listen and — as evidenced by recent policy reversals — he’s inclined to reconsider decisions even after he’s publicly announced them and in spite of any negative response that might come his way.

That trait — an unusual one for a politician by many accounts — and Lamont’s effort to please the greatest number of people, can make governing more difficult than it needs to be under normal circumstances.

But in the midst of a pandemic, and given the unprecedented task of reopening a shuttered economy, it’s nearly impossible.

“At the very beginning of this pandemic it was a lot easier to shut things off and close things down. As you open things up, there is input, there is science, there is impact. But the governor’s approach to picking up his phone hasn’t changed. That’s something we know is going to lead to pushback in spots,” said Lamont spokesman Max Reiss.

“But that’s who the governor is,” Reiss added, noting that the administration is navigating “uncharted waters” in balancing public health with reopening the state’s economy.

“You’re not going to make everyone happy with every single decision. But the governor is not going to change his approach to being the collaborator in chief ... It’s not easy to make decisions during this. It’s just not. We are hoping that we are right on this stuff, with an understanding that we probably have not been 100 percent right. There is no playbook for the politics of a pandemic.”

Lamont has repeatedly

emphasized that he tries to frame every decision — and every decision to reverse a decision — around publichealth ramifications, with no consideration for the political fallout. Still, even Lamont notes, politics has found a way into the conversation.

“It’s really important to me that people unite and row in the same direction,” Lamont said during a webinar last week with Hearst Connecticut Media. “We’ve been really good as a state, but you can see the politics creeping in from the left and the right now.”

Making it harder

Lamont has made the reopening harder than necessary for a few reasons, said Rep. Vin Candelora, R-North Brandford.

First, he suggested the state establish standards for distancing and other measures, and not try to determine which businesses fit those standards. For example, he said, “what’s the definition of a restaurant?”

“We’ve overcomplicated this and government is good at that,” said Candelora, who will likely be the next House minority leader.

Second, Candelora said, “if they had involved more people at the grassroots level, some of these problems could have been addressed…But we’re surrounded by a lot of people that are at the 30,000 foot level.” By that he meant the nationally prominent health experts and business executives on Lamont’s reopening task force. “They’re not talking to the experts on any of these things and I think there is a level of elitism.”

And finally, Candelora said, Lamont is too willing to change his mind. “He’s got to stick to a decision good bad or ugly.”

At the same time Lamont’s team has opened direct conversations with groups they’ve never before interacted with — like the barbershop lobby — some legislators have said the communication and collaboration has been scant.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides said Lamont’s willingness to change his mind has caused a “lack of clarity and transparency,” and, as a result, a lack of trust.