COVID 19 & Masks

On July 13, 2020, the City of Glendale had on their Common Council agenda both a resolution and an ordinance to provide guidance or enforcement for wearing masks. This was in the wake of the Wisconsin Supreme Court overruling a state wide health mandate and various active litigation in motion for health mandates applied by Racine, Dane, and other counties. That all said, Shorewood passed an ordinance specific to face masks the week earlier while Milwaukee passed one the same day as our meeting; both very different in enforcement than the way our ordinance was drafted. Shorewood only would provide ‘education’ for the violator, while Milwaukee would enforce by penalizing businesses not individuals.

Prior to the Monday meeting, upon seeing the agenda topic the Friday before, I created an online survey to collect feedback from my constituents on their thoughts, namely if we should support a resolution without enforcement or an ordinance with enforcement. Surveys do not get to the nuance of topics, though they do help establish if there is a preference or strong opinion one way or the other. I had a 35% response rate compared to the email audience count, which is very high, so a significant sample size. The response from those self declared in the 5th district was a resounding 2/3s saying yes to the ordinance with just slightly less supporting a resolution. Many who said yes to the ordinance did not say yes to the resolution, likely wanting the element of enforcement.

Come the meeting, all the Council was supportive of having greater mask usage. Ultimately, enforcement became the key topic. Discussion ensued about how could wearing masks be enforced, and what would be the penalty. The ordinance noted the North Shore Health Department (NSHD) would be the enforcement body and our standard municipal ordinance violation starting at $25 would be the penalty. Discussion continued about how the NSHD does not have staff to do so. We discussed the Glendale Police Department being added to the group that could enforce, and again concern about volume of calls as well as consistent enforcement were raised as a risk to the city if it were enforced for some not others. We also discussed where the masks should be enforced, inside or outside, etc. A key point many made was that businesses can enforce their own policies for masks, calling the police for trespassing if someone refuses to leave when not wearing one.

I proposed the following change to the verbiage, maintaining the same exclusions as in the initial ordinance, and recommended both NSHD and Glendale Police together support enforcement.

Pending a future declaration by the Common Council of the City of Glendale that the current COVID-19 pandemic emergency no longer requires, any person four years old or older who is present in the City of Glendale shall wear a face covering whenever the person is in an indoor or outdoor public space in which social distancing of 6 feet or more is not possible or is not occurring between groups that are not family or do not reside together.

In the end, a motion was made for a resolution, not an enforceable ordinance, and we had a role call vote. I voted against the resolution stating it did not go far enough. My thoughts are that our officers can enforce by complaint, like we do for all other general ordinances. Would many calls go without an officer responding, likely yes. Would many warnings be given, also yes. Would a $25 violation be grounds for a lawsuit, perhaps, though I feel that is highly unlikely.

Yesterday, I feel the Council did not do its part to safeguard citizens. We do not enforce every person who speeds putting others at risk, plenty of people smoke where they are not supposed to, etc. yet we have these laws because they set an acceptable standard for the protection of our citizens. A resolution is nothing more than a feel good action. Our constituents and businesses need more than a message, but rule they can feel confident in enforcing, stating it is unacceptable to put others lives at risk during a pandemic.

In absence of a rule, I call on all my neighbors to wear a mask and provide the leadership where our council has not. Ask businesses to instate a mask policy. Ask those that have them to enforce them, telling those without masks to leave, and letting them know if they do not leave they are in violation of trespass and the police will be called. Most of all, vote with your wallet and frequent those places that do promote a safe environment.

2021 update: The Council since unanimously passed an ordinance to have an enforceable mask mandate. This came after concerns that the State mandate would be overturned by the Supreme Court, which it ultimately did. Given the precedent of other local ordinances being upheld by courts, the risk of lawsuit was deemed lower, and based on the low number of police calls for enforcement of the State order, that was also was no longer a concern. I was pleased to be in the majority of this vote.