Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz Wednesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”
You may have seen President Trump and Vice-President Pence next to each other in public delivering pandemic updates.
But Connecticut’s governor and lieutenant governor? They’re under order to stay apart until the spread of Covid-19 passes. And they’re following the order.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said the state’s public safety director issued that directive to her and Gov. Ned Lamont more than two weeks ago.
“That was sobering,” Bysiewicz recalled Wednesday during an appearance (over Zoom) on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program. “The governor and I are trying to model good behavior” by following the directive.
“It’s a different world,” Bysiewicz reflected. And she’s adapting to it.
The self-proclaimed “people person,” known for showing up in person to all 169 of Connecticut’s cities and towns with the near regularity of the U.S. Postal Service, is now connecting with constituents and other leaders through online Zoom conferences.
But she’s also still showing up in public. Almost every day she’ll still show up in public to (citing a few examples from the past two weeks) join a Hartford Hospital exec to press the public health-funding implications of participation in the U.S. Census, or checking in on a “grab-and-go” emergency food site with Waterbury’s mayor and on conditions at Suffield’s Hastings Farm and Guilford’s Bishop’s Orchards.
But she stays outdoors. She stays at least six feet from anyone else.
And when the TV reporters ask questions, she speaks from the other end of microphone-tipped selfie-stick.
Much of her recent public work has centered on getting people to complete the 2020 U.S. census form. Bysiewicz had already taken statewide lead of that effort before Covid-19 hit and sent everyone indoors. She helped 156 communities form “complete count” committees.
Now, with most people in basic quarantine, those committees can’t proceed with plans to knock on doors or approach people at parades and festivals.
So they’ve turned to other tactics, like a Wednesday two-hour online census “festival” in New Haven (in which Bysiewicz participated) and appeals to pastors, business leaders, local elected officials, and other community leaders to tap their networks virtually.
“Use your virtual pulpit,” Bysiewicz said. “Use your email network. Use your social media account. Use the telephone.”
The federal government has extended the deadline for people to complete their forms to Aug. 20. Millions of dollars in federal aid to local communities may hang in the balance.
So far 37.6 percent of Connecticut households have completed census forms, Bysiewicz reported. That’s slightly above the 36.2 percent national average. “Now we need 62 percent to finish the job,” she said.
In New Haven, only 28.3 percent have responded so far, compared to 25.4 percent in Bridgeport, 34.8 percent in Stamford, and 28.9 percent in Waterbury.
On “Dateline” Bysiewicz also responded to listener questions about how to access federal aid flowing into the state to help families and small businesses cope with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 lockdown. (Small businesses can contact a state hotline at 860 – 500-2333, she advised.) Click on the video below to watch the full episode of “Dateline” with the lieutenant governor.