ARTICLE
Ask any politician, CEO, business leader or a non-profit executive what are the most important skills to have when a crisis hits. The first words out of their mouth is clear and concise messaging. Effective and responsive communication is key. We have watched how the Governors of California and New York (among others) have reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hear a message of controlled concern — a calming voice. While we may not always agree with the message of Shelter in Place and Social Distancing practices, the messenger and the delivery have to be spot on for us to acknowledge that during the crisis someone is standing up and seems to be in charge. When Covid-19 crashed down on California, Gov. Gavin Newsom quietly tapped a team of experienced players to help him navigate the pandemic — including former CIA insider and White House pandemic adviser Nick Shapiro. Shapiro helped manage the H1N1 crisis during the Obama administration and was brought on as a temporary adviser to Newsom’s communications team in mid-March. Faced with the “extraordinary, all-encompassing" coronavirus outbreak, Newsom chief of staff Ann O’Leary — with the governor’s approval — made the move to “temporarily augment the governor’s team with a few key advisers with deep roots in crisis management,’’ Nathan Click said. Click is the Governor’s communication director. Two other advisers were added: Steve Kawa, who served as chief of staff to Newsom in the San Francisco mayor's office. Kawa has been described as “the behind the scenes power broker for three consecutive San Francisco mayors” — Newsom, Willie Brown and Ed Lee. Since early March, Kawa has been advising Newsom. When you face tough times, you surround yourself with people you can trust and who have shown loyalty as well as talent. Finally, in the last few weeks, Dee Dee Myers, a White House press secretary to former President Bill Clinton, has been consulted by Ann O’Leary, the Governor’s Chief of Staff about temporarily assisting communications with the governor’s Business and Economic Recovery Task Force. So it is no surprise that the Governor amped up his communication game with daily news conference where he calmly reports the latest COVID - 19 update. O’Leary cited the governor’s regular #NewsomAtNoon briefings as an example of the effective changes that have been made since Shapiro’s arrival, as well as the governor's regular, disciplined messaging. Newsom received national attention after California avoided the health calamity some had projected for the state based on early community spread. His ubiquitous presence early in the crisis led to appearances on MSNBC and CNN, in addition to non-traditional venues like TMZ.com, “The View” and "The Ellen Degeneres Show.” His messaging has not only won over former political rivals like Trump — but resulted in early praise from state lawmakers in both parties for issuing stay-at-home orders before any other state. That led to poll ratings as high as 83 percent during the crisis. Earlier this week, State Health officials say the coronavirus is controlled enough to possibly allow retail and manufacturing businesses to partly reopen — although individual counties have the option to keep stricter shelter-in-place rules. What will the Santa Cruz County Public Health Officer propose? We have reached out to Dr. Gail Newel to request a meeting with the greater Santa Cruz business community. We hope that she or the newly hired Margaret Lapiz (on loan from the Community Foundation) will be open to strategically engaging with us on a recovery plan. Meanwhile, we get our updates from the Governor which are followed up by another local order from Dr. Newel. “California is ready to partially reopen major sectors of its economy as early as this Friday, including retail shops and the manufacturers that supply them,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday. Clothing outlets, bookstores, florists and other merchants across the state will be allowed to offer curbside pickup as long as they obey physical distancing guidelines meant to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. California companies that make clothing, furniture, toys, and other goods those retailers sell can also resume operations, with appropriate worker protections. “This is an optimistic day as we see a little ray of sunshine on the horizon,” said Newsom on Monday. While more details on which specific industries would be allowed to reopen won’t be available until mid-day today, Newsom’s announcement marks the first major relaxing of the statewide shelter-in-place order he issued March 19 and the first time the Governor has offered a specific date by which California can enter the second stage of the administration’s four-stage recovery plan. During a crisis we look to leaders who actually are willing to lead. We know that the move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 and Phase 3 will take time and we must diligently keep a careful eye on the upward tick of the virus spreading. Santa Cruz County is doing an excellent job of bending the curve. For now, all we can do is wait and wait and ask the question: When will our local government invite the business community to the table so we can move from saving lives to saving livelyhoods?
Ask any politician, CEO, business leader or a non-profit executive what are the most important skills to have when a crisis hits. The first words out of their mouth is clear and concise messaging. Effective and responsive communication is key. We have watched how the Governors of California and New York (among others) have reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hear a message of controlled concern — a calming voice. While we may not always agree with the message of Shelter in Place and Social Distancing practices, the messenger and the delivery have to be spot on for us to acknowledge that during the crisis someone is standing up and seems to be in charge.
When Covid-19 crashed down on California, Gov. Gavin Newsom quietly tapped a team of experienced players to help him navigate the pandemic — including former CIA insider and White House pandemic adviser Nick Shapiro. Shapiro helped manage the H1N1 crisis during the Obama administration and was brought on as a temporary adviser to Newsom’s communications team in mid-March.
Faced with the “extraordinary, all-encompassing" coronavirus outbreak, Newsom chief of staff Ann O’Leary — with the governor’s approval — made the move to “temporarily augment the governor’s team with a few key advisers with deep roots in crisis management,’’ Nathan Click said. Click is the Governor’s communication director.
Two other advisers were added: Steve Kawa, who served as chief of staff to Newsom in the San Francisco mayor's office. Kawa has been described as “the behind the scenes power broker for three consecutive San Francisco mayors” — Newsom, Willie Brown and Ed Lee. Since early March, Kawa has been advising Newsom. When you face tough times, you surround yourself with people you can trust and who have shown loyalty as well as talent.
Finally, in the last few weeks, Dee Dee Myers, a White House press secretary to former President Bill Clinton, has been consulted by Ann O’Leary, the Governor’s Chief of Staff about temporarily assisting communications with the governor’s Business and Economic Recovery Task Force.
So it is no surprise that the Governor amped up his communication game with daily news conference where he calmly reports the latest COVID - 19 update.
O’Leary cited the governor’s regular #NewsomAtNoon briefings as an example of the effective changes that have been made since Shapiro’s arrival, as well as the governor's regular, disciplined messaging.
Newsom received national attention after California avoided the health calamity some had projected for the state based on early community spread. His ubiquitous presence early in the crisis led to appearances on MSNBC and CNN, in addition to non-traditional venues like TMZ.com, “The View” and "The Ellen Degeneres Show.”
His messaging has not only won over former political rivals like Trump — but resulted in early praise from state lawmakers in both parties for issuing stay-at-home orders before any other state. That led to poll ratings as high as 83 percent during the crisis.
Earlier this week, State Health officials say the coronavirus is controlled enough to possibly allow retail and manufacturing businesses to partly reopen — although individual counties have the option to keep stricter shelter-in-place rules. What will the Santa Cruz County Public Health Officer propose? We have reached out to Dr. Gail Newel to request a meeting with the greater Santa Cruz business community. We hope that she or the newly hired Margaret Lapiz (on loan from the Community Foundation) will be open to strategically engaging with us on a recovery plan.
Meanwhile, we get our updates from the Governor which are followed up by another local order from Dr. Newel.
“California is ready to partially reopen major sectors of its economy as early as this Friday, including retail shops and the manufacturers that supply them,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday.
Clothing outlets, bookstores, florists and other merchants across the state will be allowed to offer curbside pickup as long as they obey physical distancing guidelines meant to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. California companies that make clothing, furniture, toys, and other goods those retailers sell can also resume operations, with appropriate worker protections. “This is an optimistic day as we see a little ray of sunshine on the horizon,” said Newsom on Monday.
While more details on which specific industries would be allowed to reopen won’t be available until mid-day today, Newsom’s announcement marks the first major relaxing of the statewide shelter-in-place order he issued March 19 and the first time the Governor has offered a specific date by which California can enter the second stage of the administration’s four-stage recovery plan.
During a crisis we look to leaders who actually are willing to lead. We know that the move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 and Phase 3 will take time and we must diligently keep a careful eye on the upward tick of the virus spreading. Santa Cruz County is doing an excellent job of bending the curve. For now, all we can do is wait and wait and ask the question:
When will our local government invite the business community to the table so we can move from saving lives to saving livelyhoods?