Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently wound down his daily COVID-19 briefings [the last regularly scheduled briefing was June 19]. At the end, he adopted a valedictory, mission-accomplished tone. He was thanking and congratulating staffers. He took to Twitter to proclaim that he has “the best team.” He thanked the media and anyone else who, in his words, “crushed the curve.”

The governor seems to believe that by playing the role of the conquering hero in front of the cameras, he will convince New Yorkers that it’s time to move on. He’s hoping that his actions won’t undergo scrutiny. He’s hoping to evade real accountability for everything that has happened since March. 

My message to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle couldn’t be clearer — we cannot let that happen. Fawning media coverage has convinced a lot of people that the governor delivered a master class in crisis management. The facts don’t back it up. 

A recent, explosive report from The Wall Street Journal detailed how major policy mistakes, logistical errors, and communication problems between state and local governments caused needless harm and death in our hospitals. Competing directives from the state and city allowed dangerous, inappropriate patient transfers. The governor’s laser-focus on ventilators came at the expense of securing needed dialysis machines, oxygen supplies, and even basic vital-sign monitors. The governor’s laser-focus on creating hospital beds was undermined by staffing and PPE (personal protection equipment) shortfalls. Patients died because ventilators secured by the state were faulty, and others passed away because untrained workers were operating them when respiratory therapists weren’t available.

The situation in our nursing homes was even more dire. The Department of Health’s directive that nursing homes take back patients who were positive for the virus, and thus transmission risks, was disastrous — more than 5,800 lives were claimed. Nurses who tested positive for COVID-19 were allowed to continue working, further endangering a vulnerable population. The governor also shielded nursing-home operators from legal liability, stripping families of what little leverage they had to demand answers.

Additionally, the governor must answer for the dismal performance of his Department of Labor. Even in areas with low infection rates, small-business owners and workers embraced the shared sacrifice of protecting vulnerable people from the virus. They did what was asked. They closed their businesses and stopped working. They were told the Department of Labor would have their back. That was a lie. So many workers waited months and months to get so much as a phone call back. How could the governor justify keeping their economies locked down while infection rates were falling and his bureaucrats were failing his people? 

“Even when the facts are discouraging, not knowing the facts is worse.” Those words are the governor’s and I agree with them. That’s why I am calling for bipartisan hearings in the Assembly to investigate our state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.        

Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C–Canandaigua) represents the 131st Assembly District, which encompasses all of Ontario County and parts of Seneca County. Contact him at kolbb@nyassembly.gov

These are uncertain, divided times for our nation. Unemployment is at mind-boggling levels, a virus we still don’t fully understand is stifling the course of ordinary life, many businesses are struggling, nationwide protests continue against systemic and deep-seated racism, and local policy makers face rising questions about policing and public safety. It’s no surprise that this is one of those rare moments of national reflection about our future course.

It’s also a moment of great attention to our political system because that’s how we’re going to work these things out. For me, this raises a fundamental question: What are politics and government all about, and how do we use them to make progress on such fundamental issues? 

 At heart, I’d argue, our political and economic systems try to provide an environment that enhances each person’s quest for happiness and a good life. We lay the framework for this in part through government, and through the politics that determines who runs our government and what they do once in office. 

 We do this through a representative democracy, a system by which citizens elect men and women to represent them in a national or state legislature in order to make the laws of the country. It’s an elaborate, complex effort, especially in a country as diverse as ours. Disparate interests are rampant at every level, and in order for government to work you have to try to build a consensus among those groups — while seeking collective security, economic growth, and protection for individual rights and liberties. That’s because our democracy promotes the idea that individuals are equal before the law, and that the rights we have enshrined in the Bill of Rights need to be protected. 

Representative democracy does not demand that its citizens participate, but it fails if enough of them don’t. It encourages civic engagement, community service, citizens living up to their obligations to their neighbors, and, of course, voting. It also makes room for all manner of communications, from letter-writing to participating in boycotts and protests. And it works best when people are well-informed and educated on the political issues. In this era especially, that places a burden on us all to find high-quality information and use it effectively and prudently.

The thing to remember about the system is that it encourages competition for political power among a wide range of groups and interests, and nothing is ever settled. If you lose, you’re given a chance to win in future elections. If finally, you win, you have the temporary power to achieve your legislative goals. But winning is never total. Congress and our legislatures represent the diversity of the population, and pretty much require cooperation and consensus-building to accomplish anything. This is both a weakness — it can be cumbersome — and a strength, since it allows for reasonable stability as all kinds of groups, including minorities of all sorts, strive to exert influence.

All of this creates a dynamic, energetic political sphere that challenges us. It’s remarkable, if you think about it: The system was crafted for a country of about 4 million. Here we are more than 200 years later, with 330 million people, with the same system helping to organize a country of enormous power, reach, and complexity. 

It’s evolved over that time, thanks to constant tinkering, reform, and improvement, and those needs will never go away. That’s what our system does: It calls on citizens to make it work and to make it better. There is no doubt that we face great stresses, and while we may make progress in enhancing individuals’ pursuit of happiness, it’s rarely straight ahead. We take steps forward and then retreat; we celebrate victories and suffer setbacks. But overall, when citizens speak up and become involved, we progress.                

Lee Hamilton, 89, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south central Indiana.