Oral history interview with Neale Lunderville

Oral history interview with Neale Lunderville

Neale F. Lunderville describes his role as a volunteer assisting the administration of Vermont Governor Phil Scott during the state's response to COVID-19 pandemic. Both Lunderville and Liz Miller, a chief of staff to former Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, were initially asked to support the Agency of Education's transition when schools closed in March 2020. In particular, he explains how they were tasked with figuring out childcare solutions for essential workers. He also discusses his background in crisis management more generally, comparing the COVID crisis with previous experiences such as Vermont's response to Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. He notes some flaws in the state's initial COVID response, including too much prioritization on securing ventilators when many states were competing to attain them. He expresses the belief that one key to the state's success was consistently exercising honesty and transparency when they did not have answers to people's questions. He also briefly shares his own recollection of contracting COVID and being treated with Paxlovid in the summer of 2022.

Neale Francis Lunderville was recruited as an unpaid volunteer consultant by the administration of Vermont Governor Phil Scott at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He had previously served in Governor Jim Douglas' administration as both Secretary of Administration and Secretary of Transportation and was the recovery officer for Vermont after Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. He also volunteered to assist the Scott administration's response to the statewide flooding in July 2023. At the time of this interview in 2023, he was president and CEO of Vermont Gas.

Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.

2023-07-20

Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project

AudioFileCOVID-039

MP3

WAV

Audio file

Permission to publish material from the Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project may be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.

Johnson, Mark

Lunderville, Neale F.

39 min., 34 sec.

Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4215