Russ's Ravings: Saving Lives Means Economically Too

Editor's note: The following is Patch Field Editor Russ Crespolini's, hopefully, weekly column. It is reflective of his opinion alone.

I have to say while I haven't been a huge fan of Governor Phil Murphy I have respected his leadership during what has been really an unbelievably difficult and unimaginable time. He has worked hard based off of data and science and he has worked hard to save lives.

I know this because he says it repeatedly during his press briefings and posts it incessantly on social media. And I think that is great. And it is smart.

Lets face it, the man had a cancerous tumor removed and bounced back to take on this pandemic. I give him a lot of credit for that.

I also think he and Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York have a really solid good cop/bad cop routine going with President Donald Trump. Cuomo is all criticism and combativeness while Murphy preaches partnership and recovery investment. And I think, ultimately in the long run, it will benefit New Jersey.

But the problem is that Governor Murphy is so focused on the long game in terms of recovery that he is ignoring the immediate fiscal concerns that are causing a cascade of misery and worry through the Garden State.

And that is a mistake.

My colleagues and I have been inundated by people who don't have money to pay their most basic bills or feed their families. Businesses that have been shuttered and owners who can't get assistance. The self-employed that made their dream financially viable and then saw it all taken away from them.

And even those who aren't in such dire straights are seeing that deferred payments will still have to be made. Their watching their retirement funds and college funds and life savings vanish before their eyes. Their anxiety level is skyrocketing, their mental health is collapsing and the answer they are getting from Governor Murphy is: tough.

The Governor has said he won't be pressured into opening things early during this new coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic. And he shouldn't. He absolutely shouldn't. But what he also cannot ignore is the real damage being done as businesses are going under and mental health strain is ticking up.

I said it in my column last week and I am saying it again today, he needs to have an unemployment update right after New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli speaks. A fiscal update alongside the health one.

Because it all ties together.

And on Friday, he gave one. But it was brief, unspecific and not enough.

Right now access to mental health services are hampered, stress levels are incalculable and if he doesn't tap a relief valve into this boiler its going to explode like the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining."

The book, not the movie.

Or the miniseries and the book. But not the movie.

One of the reasons Murphy can turn a blind eye to this is because he is doesn't see it to the same degree the rest of us do. He has people weeding through his information for him. And honestly, the man is tasked with processing the fact that hundreds of people are dying daily in New Jersey and trying to fix it.

And to do so he has to negotiate with a federal government that that has shown a level of vindictiveness to the Garden State for the last few years.

I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

But Murphy has to take his eye off the long game just a little bit and give some attention to more than the most immediate physical needs. Because if he doesn't, he is going to find there are many residents who won't make it to the game's next quarter.

Russ Crespolini is a Field Editor for Patch Media, adjunct professor and college newspaper advisor. His columns have won awards from the National Newspaper Association and the New Jersey Press Association.

He writes them in hopes of connecting with readers and engaging with them. And because it is cheaper than therapy. He can be reached at russ.crespolini@patch.com