Rantz: Sloppy messaging by Inslee creates confusion on coronavirus

Governor Jay Inslee announced emergency measures to stall the spread and mitigate the impact of coronavirus. But some unintentional, sloppy messaging created unnecessary confusion. It needs to be addressed before it turns into panic.

In an emergency action, Inslee announced restrictions on social gatherings of above 250 people in King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties. This makes sense.

While Inslee acknowledged that number is somewhat random (why not 200? 300?), he came to it after consultations with health officials and local leaders. Beyond this guidance, there are some significant questions.

Conflicting messaging

After Inslee said no social gatherings over 250, King County announced limited gatherings under 250. Why couldn’t this be announced at the same time by Inslee?

Inslee telegraphed area-schools should ready contingency plans to close. This made it sound like those plans weren’t already underway for what seemed to be the inevitable. Then, after the press conference, Seattle Public Schools announced they would close for two weeks. This couldn’t have been managed and announced at the press conference?

Inslee and crew indicated this wouldn’t close down restaurants. But Inslee also said he doesn’t want people going to bars standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

Grocery stores are not impacted by the closures. But are malls impacted? What about movie theaters?

They say this is now binding — we have to abide by the emergency declaration. But they also essentially said there will be little to no enforcement. While Inslee said his actions are not Draconian, there are legal implications and questions. What if a group of citizens wanted to protest these actions? What if churchgoers decided to show up for service anyway? Will they be stopped? Will they be arrested?

Clear reasoning

There’s an easy way to explain to people why we’re limiting social gatherings.

A sporting event is a luxury, not a necessity. Attending a concert is not something you do to survive or earn a living. And we’d like to stop the spread of coronavirus, so cutting down on extracurriculars, as it were, sounds like a smart strategy.

But that message didn’t come through via Inslee.

Inslee expected the public to connect the dots. We’re in crisis management here. You have to be clear, concise, confident, and repetitive. We don’t air a single commercial on KTTH. We air many, with the same messaging because rotation sticks. We didn’t get that from Inslee. I hope we do and I hope he continues frequent press conferences, just with tighter messaging.

Does Inslee want this job?

I don’t mean to bag on Inslee. I want him to be a great leader right now. I want us to be safe. I thought he did a reasonable job this week, despite the sloppy language, and thought he handled the meeting with Vice President Mike Pence with class, after a decidedly classless tweet. He deserves kudos for that.

But Inslee made a comment, off-hand, that was so alarming I went back and listened to it a few more times: “I wish I didn’t have this on my shoulders right now. I wish it was on somebody else’s…”

This is a bad way to position yourself as a leader. People are looking to you to guide the state through a crisis.

If you wish it were on someone else, step down and appoint someone else. Or do what you were elected to do and lead.

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow @JasonRantz on Twitter.

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