WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Tuesday evening the Winnebago County Board heard a presentation for an amendment that would give the county health officer sole authority to enact stay-at-home orders.
The amendment reads in part:
The Winnebago County Health Officer may close schools and forbid public gatherings in schools, churches, places of employment, public buildings, private property, and other places, when deemed necessary, to control outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics.You can read the full amendment here.
“Decades ago the state legislature gave the power to issue health orders to the health directors of counties and sometimes municipalities if they weren’t covered by a county,” Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris said.
But Harris tells FOX 11 that power isn’t written into the county’s law.
“We discovered that we didn’t have the ordinance on the county books, and most counties discovered they’re in the same position. So while he (the county health officer) could make orders and had that authority given to him by the state, he didn’t have the ability to have it enforced.”
That’s why Winnebago County, and many others in Northeast Wisconsin, rescinded stay-at-home orders within a day of issuing them.
Winnebago County Health Officer Doug Gieryn tells FOX 11 he has no plans to enact an order, but he believes this is an important step for public safety.
“In order to truly protect the community, to help prevent spread, especially in a crisis situation, we need to have the authority to step in and stop activity from happening that’s a threat to the public.”
Not everyone is happy with the proposed amendment. That includes Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce President John Casper.
“Here you have the Supreme Court who says it’s unlawful for the state to do it, then they come around and they try to do the same thing. To me it’s a real overreach in terms of authority.”
Many residents expressed concerns similar to Casper’s at the board meeting.
“It’s very scary to me that one person could hold that much power,” Winnebago County resident Marcia Willming said.
“There’s a lot of concern out there, I just want the board to be aware of that,” Grant Stettler said.
One resident spoke in favor of the amendment.
The board plans to vote on the amendment at a later date. Harris said that could happen at the board’s July meeting.
