The Sandersville City Council voted to table the proposed mask ordinance at their Tuesday, January 19 City Council meeting.
Prior to voting, the Mayor and Council heard from Garrett Brown who stated he was against a mask mandate.
“Let the American people, citizens of this great town, decide for themselves what is in their best interest,” said Brown. “Do not be like those same tyrannical and unjust governments of the past and of other nations who dictate to their citizens what they shall and shall not do.”
Following Brown’s remarks, Sandersville Mayor Jimmy Andrews explained that cities throughout Georgia have mask ordinances. He also stressed that the proposed ordinance is not designed to generate revenue or punish businesses.
As previously reported by WACO 100, Mayor Andrews directly stated at the January 4 City Council meeting when the first reading took place concerning the proposed mask ordinance, “private businesses can make their own decisions on whether or not to require masks.”
“It’s a dangerous precedent to let government determine what is in the best interest of the citizens,” said Brown.
Councilperson Mayme Dennis commented on the issue, explaining that she was the Councilperson who brought this topic to the Mayor and City Council.
“And I encouraged them to support me in this issue,” stated Councilperson Dennis.
During the meeting, Councilperson Dennis cited the 400,000 deaths in the United States attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also referenced a new strain of the COVID virus.
“We’re looking at some of this strain hitting Sandersville because on the video [at the U.S. Capitol], you’ve got people from Washington County that were at this riot at the Capitol, and they said it was a super-spreader event – not wearing masks because they’re saying the same thing you’re saying,” said Councilperson Dennis.
Brown remarked that he didn’t say people shouldn’t wear masks.
“I repeat my statement: it’s a dangerous precedent to let the government determine what is in the best interest of the citizens,” said Brown. “I never said anything about who should and shouldn’t wear masks, but individual rights are important.”
Mayor Pro-Tem Jeffery Smith addressed the fines in the proposed ordinance.
“It’s never been about the fines,” said Councilperson Dennis, agreeing with Smith.
City Administrator Judy McCorkle provided changes to the proposed ordinance to reflect the Mayor and Council’s decision not to fine people not wearing masks.
Councilperson Danny Brown remarked that he saw both sides of the issue – people are dying from COVID-19, but he doesn’t want to tell people what to do.
“You can’t satisfy everybody,” said Mayor Andrews.
Councilperson Jason Davis commented that he would be in favor of tabling the issue to allow the public time to provide input.
Councilperson Jason Davis moved to table the proposed ordinance until the next City Council meeting. Mayor Pro-Tem Jeffery Smith seconded. Also voting in favor of tabling the issue was Councilperson Danny Brown. Councilpersons Mayme Dennis and Henry Watts voted in opposition.
As previously reported by WACO 100, The proposed ordinance notes that evidence indicates that the use of face coverings reduces the transmissibility per contact by reducing transmission of infected droplets in both laboratory and clinical contexts. Public face covering wearing is most effective at stopping the spread of the virus when compliance is high. This evidence supports the conclusion that the adoption of more widespread face covering requirements can help to control the COVID-19 epidemic by reducing the shedding of droplets into the environment from asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals
The ordinance goes on to explain that it will only be enforced in the portions of the city that are located in a county in which the prevalence of confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the previous 14 days is equal to or greater than 100 cases per 100,000 people according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The Georgia Department of Public Health’s report from Tuesday, January 19, lists Washington County’s number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 over the last two weeks at 763, which equates to 155 total confirmed cases in two weeks.
As outlined in the proposed ordinance, masks/facial coverings would not be required in the following circumstances:
– In personal vehicles or upon residential property;
– When a person is alone in enclosed spaces or only with other household members;
– When the individual has a bona fide religious objection to wearing a facial covering or mask;
– While drinking or eating;
– When a licensed healthcare provider has determined that wearing a facial covering or mask causes or aggravates a health condition for the individual or when such person has a bona fide medical reason for not wearing a facial covering or mask;
– When wearing a facial covering or mask would prevent the receipt of personal services or performing work in the course of employment;
– When complying with the directions of a law enforcement officer or for the purposes of verifying a person’s identity, such as when purchasing alcohol, tobacco, or prescription drugs or when engaging in a financial transaction;
– Children under the age of ten (10) years;
– When the individual is having difficulty donning or removing a face mask or face covering without assistance;
– At any polling place and no individual shall be denied ingress or egress to or from a polling place for failure to wear a facial covering or mask; and
– When outdoors and maintaining social distancing from anyone other than individuals with whom they cohabitate.