Gov. Rell works nearly every other day

When Wilbur Cross was elected in 1930, being governor of Connecticut had been a part time job for nearly 300 years. But Cross changed all that.

Democrat Cross, the retired dean of the Yale Graduate School and a widower, moved to Hartford, rented a room at the Hartford Club and quickly decided going to his office in the Capitol every day would be better than sitting in his lonely room.  And anyway, the state was in the throes of the Great Depression and there was plenty of work for a governor to do.

His successor, Raymond Baldwin, who would be governor through World War II, saw no reason to return to part- time governing and that has been the rule for succeeding governors, at least until now.  

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Since she was elected to a full term in 2006, there’s been talk that Governor Rell is not as engaged in the day-to-day business of her office as, say, Wilbur Cross was. The Fairfield County Weekly and the other Advocate newspapers reported that Rell’s daily schedule is heavy on ceremonies, soft on interviews with friendly radio personalities and light on meetings with legislative leaders, department heads and others who conduct the real business of the state.  

The paper also added a link to the governor’s schedule for a couple of weeks in September and October that tended to support its contention that Rell sometimes seems to be functioning more as the lieutenant governor, with chief of staff Lisa Moody doing more governing than she should. That may be why I, and maybe you, can’t think of the name of the present lieutenant governor.

Rell’s press secretary, Chris Cooper, didn’t help her much when he told the paper the governor shows up at the office “nearly every other day.† A few days after this remarkable defense had been widely circulated on popular Web sites and in at least one daily, The New London Day, Cooper offered an amendment, claiming he really said, “The governor is at the Capitol nearly every day, other than when she ends one day downstate close to where she is starting the next one.â€

That’s a bit better, depending on what your definition of “nearly†is.

The Fairfield paper’s review of the governor’s official schedule from Sept. 1 to Nov. 18 found Rell had “69 radio interviews and 45 ceremonial events,†as well as “more talks with conservative radio hosts Brad Davis or Jerry Kristafer than she did with commissioners running the chronically troubled transportation and children and families agencies.  Or with legislative leaders, for that matter.† 

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Maybe Rell didn’t meet with legislators because the legislators weren’t around, even as often as she was, if you believe the spin from press secretary Cooper.  “You could come to the Capitol any time from June to January and be hard-pressed to find a couple of legislators in the building,†Cooper said, thereby annoying both the majority Democrats Rell must work with and the few Republicans left to support her.  

And Cooper also neglected to note that the Legislature is a part-time body, receiving part-time pay while the governor gets $150,000 a year, along with a nice place to live in Hartford — no room in the Hartford Club for governors these days —a car and driver and other official trappings.

When The Hartford Courant reported the governor’s slender work schedule in the spring of 2007, her staff claimed the formal schedule didn’t begin to describe the work she does on behalf of the taxpayers every day.  But, as WTIC’s Colin McEnroe pointed out last week, the staff either didn’t or couldn’t beef up the work schedules the Fairfield County Weekly found more than a year later.  

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In contrast, the official schedule of Rell’s predecessor, John Rowland, was chock full of official sounding meetings, which would indicate either a lighter workload by the current governor or at least a poor effort by her staff to make her look busy. Take your pick.

One thing Rell did learn from Rowland was how to use radio and television to the governor’s advantage.  Remember Rowland’s self-serving, state-subsidized ads on local television, urging Connecticut residents to visit Connecticut? Rell seems to be outdoing her predecessor, especially with ads that feature her in the role of state mama. She tells us how to dial 911, get flu shots, wear our seat belts and fight what appears to be a new disease every week in feel-good ads that serve to remind us we have a nice governor who really cares about us.

Despite, or maybe because of, her lack of involvement in the controversies and tough issues that usually torment governors, Rell remains extremely popular with record high approval ratings. She has indicated some interest in seeking a second full term in 2010 by forming an exploratory committee last summer. If she does run, it will be hard to imagine an opponent resisting the temptation to deride “Governor Rell, working for you nearly every other day.â€

Simsbury resident Dick Ahles is a retired journalist. E-mail him at dahles@hotmail.com

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