Rock Hill lifts enforcement of mask rule after McMaster’s latest COVID executive order
Rock Hill’s mask ordinance is still in place, but the city’s enforcement of it has been suspended — a move that aligns with the governor’s new executive order on masks.
Monday night, the Rock Hill City Council voted 4-3 to lift “the enforcement and the effect” of the ordinance, first passed in July, which requires people to wear face coverings in food and retail establishments, such as grocery stores and pharmacies, city attorney Paul Dillingham said. A violation of the rule could result in a civil infraction.
The decision comes three days after South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order that no longer requires people to wear masks or face coverings inside state-owned buildings or restaurants when not eating or drinking.
“The governor has essentially taken away the mandate for all intents and purposes and made it a recommendation for South Carolina,” Dillingam said. “He even took out the part where cities are encouraged to adopt their own ordinances and procedures.”
The council will hold a formal discussion at its next meeting to hear comments from the public before any changes are made to the mask mandate itself.
“This has been an issue of such interest in the public,” said councilwoman Kathy Pender, who voted against suspending enforcement. “I think it’s unwise and unfair to make a change without letting the public know that it’s coming up for discussion.”
‘Not telling people not to wear masks’
Dillingham said that under McMaster’s new order, the city no longer could enforce its mandate.
“That order did a lot of things to undercut the legal basis upon which your existing ordinance stands,” he said.
According to the official language, McMaster’s order will “supersede and preempt any such local ordinance, rule, regulation, or other restriction.” Lexington Town Council, in Lexington County, suspended a similar mandate on Friday due to McMaster’s order.
“I would say on Thursday, I felt like you were on pretty solid ground legally with the ordinance,” Dillingham said. “On Friday, I no longer feel that.”
In recent months, there’s been a steady decline of new cases across the state, and as of Monday, more than half of South Carolina’s population is eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine.
Mayor John Gettys, who voted to lift enforcement, pointed out that Rock Hill’s vaccination clinic has administered more than 17,000 first and second doses of the vaccine, as of this week. More than 34,800 York County residents have been vaccinated as of Monday, according to the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control.
“I’ve been very clear from the beginning that I will follow the governor and DHEC based on what guidance they give and I’ve got to be true to my word,” Gettys said.
Councilwoman Nikita Jackson, who pushed for a mask mandate in July, said the city wasn’t strict in enforcing the mandate at City Hall. A group of residents against the mandate, known as Unmask Rock Hill, routinely attended meetings in protest without wearing masks.
“Even when we had the ordinance in place that we, the city of Rock Hill, agreed upon, we didn’t even try to enforce it then,” she said. “And it clearly states that any person that enters into a government building is required to wear a mask, but every meeting since September, we have allowed people to come in here without a mask. We even allow council members not to wear a mask.”
Councilmen Kevin Sutton and John Black, who both initially voted against the mandate, also regularly did not wear masks during meetings. Both voted to lift enforcement of the mandate.
“This, in my opinion, this was a legal matter,” Sutton said. “Not a matter of how many people have we lost during COVID, whether masks work or don’t work. The governor had to call it that way with his order.”
Despite the suspension, council members said they’d still encourage residents to follow guidelines from DHEC and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We’re not telling people not to wear masks,” Black said. “If they want to wear masks, they’re free to. I think what this does is it takes away the legal jeopardy of what the governor has actually issued.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2021 at 10:46 PM.
