The Coronavirus pandemic created great challenges to leadership around the world.
In order to best meet this crisis local, state, and federal governments all needed to contribute their share to minimize fatalities and reduce the spread of COVID-19. Local towns and cities played a key role during the pandemic. Mayors had the power to set and enforce state and federal regulations such as the wearing of masks, social distancing in public places. They were also in charge of providing PPE equipment support, information to the public regarding best practices, technical support, and more. The role of mayors was most important in supporting the poorest and most vulnerable population which suffered most during the outbreak from shortage of food, lack of employment and housing. Furthermore, the mayors were role models and set the tone by wearing masks, modeling social distance and treating their own employees with compassion during the pandemic.
Unfortunately, in New Britain, mayor Erin Stewart failed to provide the leadership needed to combat the pandemic. First, she was very late in closing city hall to the public (April 6, 2020) while most other city and town hall in Connecticut were already closed for two or three weeks. Second, while most businesses and local, state and federal governments were sending their employees to work remotely, mayor Stewart insisted on requiring all city employees to physically show up to work regardless of whether they could do work remotely. Third, the mayor refused to allow City Council members to participate in remote during the pandemic resulting in several alderperson not participating in meetings for several months. This was done despite continuous requests and complaints from Democratic members of the city council until eventually Governor Lamont issued an executive order in October 2020 requiring municipal boards to provide remote access to their members. Furthermore, even when the mayor provided remote participation, she used antiquated remote phone system while other Connecticut municipalities used zoom, Microsoft Teams and other widely available web-based systems. Fourth, mayor Erin Stewart did not appear in city council meetings wearing a mask nor other city employees attending the meetings, despite federal and state urging to do so. Similarly, many city employees working outdoors were seen not wearing masks while in proximity with co-workers.
Mayor Stewart also failed to provide adequate support to the city at large. The Consolidated School District of New Britain faced great challenges during the pandemic. While the school district reported that 10% of its students did not have access to WIFI and could not benefit from online learning during the pandemic, the mayor refused to provide any technical support such as hotspots, despite requests from the Democrats on the City Council. Only after the New Britain school board received financial help from the Federal Government did the mayor let her IT department cooperate with the school district.
In addition, Mayor Stewart failed to adequately utilize federal COVID money to help the residents of New Britain. A June 1, 2024, New Britain Progressive article reported that most of the $56,000,000 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money given to the city of New Britain to help communities recover from the pandemic were used for construction projects rather than to help the residents directly. The largest expenditure from the ARPA money, $11,000,000 was used for Osgood Park improvement and additional $10,000,000 was used to close holes in the city budget.
In conclusion, politicians should be held accountable, especially if they aim at serving in higher office. Let the citizens of Connecticut examine mayor Erin Stewart pandemic record as they consider if she deserves to serve as governor.
04 December, 2024
