GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The Green Bay Common Council voted 9-3 in a special session Thursday night to approve a city-wide mask requirement.
The vote came after about an hour or citizen comment and council discussion.
“There aren’t going to be a whole lot of original arguments that we’re going to hear this evening. So be concise, get to the point, and make sure that we can move on to all of our residents that we have here,” Mayor Eric Genrich said ahead of that discussion.
Points from both sides were made from the council and a handful of citizens who logged in to take part in the meeting.
“If this was the ‘Barb Show’ and it was just all about me, then what the heck, we don’t need masks. But it’s not just only about me. It’s about a lot of other people too,” said Alder Barb Dorff. “Had this resolution not said it was going to end May 5th, that’s what I wanted to propose.”
“Unfortunately, we see politics has gotten into this. Instead of our concern for each other, we’re more concerned about our political stance. And I think it’s sad,” said Alderman Bill Galvin.
Alderman Brian Johnson used a football analogy for lifting the mandate at this point in the vaccination process.
“Aaron Rodgers doesn’t throw a pass to the ten-yard line. He throws it into the endzone,” Johnson said. “Nobody is going to die by having to wear a mask for four more weeks. Somebody might if they don’t have the opportunity to get their vaccine before getting infected…Four weeks will give everyone that ample opportunity to secure that vaccination. For those individuals who choose not to get the vaccination, then I think it’s appropriate for us to start having that conversation about the elimination of the mandate.”
Johnson adds that he doesn’t necessarily think there needs to be a debate on gating criteria, but there should be conversation about the threshold for when it’s appropriate to lift the mandate.
Meanwhile, Alderman Chris Wery pointed to Jacksonville, Florida – who recently ended their mask mandate. Reports show their infection rate is on the low end of the CDC’s ‘moderate’ category at about 13 out of 100,000. Right now, Green Bay is in the same ballpark with 19 out of 100,000. The CDC cutoff between the ‘low’ and ‘moderate’ categories is 10 out of 100,000.
Wery also sent out an email to his local mailing list on Wednesday.
“Given the short notice, I’m happy and surprised to note that 218 people replied. As you’d imagine, it was evenly split. 108 were for the mandate, 110 against,” Wery said. “It wasn’t a slam dunk either way. And we’re all good friends and neighbors, everyone who’s replying to us. Let’s just respect each others decisions. Mask or not, vaccine or not, it’s still a free country. But let’s just be nice to each other…encourage people if you’d like, but let people choose. This is a free country, so I’m against the emergency powers and against extending the mandate knowing full well that we’re all going to catch grief from everybody on either half, but these aren’t easy decisions.”
There were a number of back-and-forth spats between citizens and alders that eventually led to City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys muting the entire meeting. Those particularly included Alder Randy Scannell, who repeatedly asked citizens on both sides whether they believed in science.
Scannell later said he understands that people were frustrated with him, but explained his reasoning.
“You are not experts in immunology. You don’t have a doctor’s degree in these areas. So your opinion in this area doesn’t count. Neither does the opinion of my fellow alders, and neither does my opinion!” Scannell said. “To expect me to make an opinion is crazy! I’m going to follow the CDC and their guidance is to social distance, mask up, and wash hands…I think we do this until the professionals blow the whistle and say ‘Alright, come on out.’ That’s what I’ll be looking forward to.”
There were a lot of questions surrounding the legality of the city’s order, especially in the wake of the state Supreme Court striking down the statewide mandate.
“With respect to constitutionality and whether that the council has the authority to enact something like this? Absolutely,” said Deputy City Attorney Joanne Bungert. “The decision that struck down the statewide mask mandate does not apply to local authority. That focused solely on the governor’s authority under a different statutory section…the Supreme Court did not weigh in or discuss that mask mandates are unconstitutional or are themselves unlawful. It focused solely on the authority of the governor to declare emergencies in the way that he did, and then whether the subsequent orders issued under those emergencies were valid.”
This order will run through May 5th.
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