Clover mask mandate fails despite surging COVID-19 cases in SC; York to vote next week
Michael Schonfeld stepped up to the podium in the community center in front of the Clover Town Council.
Through the mask he’d worn all day, which covered his mouth and nose, he made his case for why Clover could benefit from instituting a mask requirement — even admitting that while it was perhaps unenforceable, a mask mandate could still increase compliance.
“What we do today can have an impact,” Schonfeld said.
A few remarks from residents and Clover Mayor Greg Holmes later, an emergency resolution to require facial coverings in restaurants, stores and other public places failed, 2-5. Instead, in a resolution that was passed immediately afterward, the council is “urging” its residents to wear masks in public, effectively emphasizing what the South Carolina state government has been communicating for months.
Council member Ke’on Barber said he conducted a survey prior to the meeting and concluded that town of Clover residents were essentially split on the issue.
“One hundred sixty-six people (from the survey) said that they were town of Clover residents,” Barber said. “Eighty-three people said ‘yes’ for the mandatory requirement; 83 people said ‘no, it should not be mandatory.’”
With the vote, the town of Clover becomes the first municipality in York County to deny an emergency mask mandate. Rock Hill and Fort Mill each passed resolutions last week that require residents to wear masks in public, enforced by fines. Chester also passed a citywide mask ordinance last month, and violators of the rule can be fined up to $500 and face jail time up to 30 days, The Herald previously reported.
The Clover mask mandate, had it passed, would have issued fines of up to $25 for violators, and up to $100 for businesses who violated the mandate.
“At this time, I just can’t confidently stand behind a mandatory mask ordinance resulting in fines for noncompliance due to the fact that the COVID-19 virus is not quite as serious or as deadly as they made it out to be,” said Clover Council Member Amy Nivens after the mandatory mask vote failed.
She also said many of the people she spoke to thought that being told to wear a mask is an infringement of a constitutional right and made other points, adding, “I also will say that at this time I don’t feel like we have the resources for our police officers to properly enforce the ordinance. I do believe that it should be optional.”
The decision came Monday as York County had another 64 confirmed COVID-19 cases and one death reported. York County hasn’t had fewer than 25 cases reported in any single day since a pandemic high mark of 104 cases reported July 3.
York County had its first case reported March 17. Since, there have been 1,946 confirmed and three probable cases. York County has 13 COVID-19 deaths. Clover and Lake Wylie share the 29710 zip code. As of Monday afternoon, 29710 had 242 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Areas to the west have fewer reported cases, while areas to the south and east have similar figures.
After the meeting, Holmes told The Herald the language in the emergency mask mandate resolution is similar to what is in the resolution that urges its residents to wear masks in public places.
Holmes and Martha Bratton voted in favor of the emergency mandate.
“It’s pretty much the same language, but I feel as though by now, we have been recommending and urging folks to do the right thing,” Holmes told The Herald. “The Governor, not in his last press conference but two press conferences before, stated that either we as South Carolinians do the right thing, or he may have to put some pressure on us.”
South Carolina surpassed the 58,000 confirmed case mark statewide with new figures out Monday. The state has 961 confirmed and 11 probable deaths since March.
York City Council mask decision
York City Council also voted down a mask requirement Monday night, but with a vote count that likely will pass it in a week.
Council voted 4-3 in favor of an emergency ordinance that would’ve required masks in retail or food service establishments. Yet 4-3 wasn’t enough to pass the emergency proposal.
“As an emergency ordinance, in order for it to be adopted, it requires two-thirds of the members (6)...,” said Seth Duncan, city manager. “We have seven members present, so that actually would go down as a fail.”
Council members then approved first reading of the proposal in traditional form, which would require two readings. That vote also was 4-3. That means council could finalize the proposed ordinance on July 20.
It was the same 4-3 margin that got a mask ordinance before council in the first place, as a majority of members a week ago called for Duncan to bring back a proposed rule.
The York County rule likely to pass next week almost mirrors one given as a model by the Municipal Association of South Carolina which makes it similar to other rules under consideration or recently passed in the area. The rule would carry a $25 civil fine, if passed.
Fort Mill mask decision
Fort Mill Mayor Guynn Savage defended her town’s face covering mandate Monday night amid at least some claims the decision was political.
“It was made based on health and safety,” Savage said.
Among public comments submitted prior to the virtual town council meeting, there were a resident who said he couldn’t find information on the July 6 meeting where the town passed a mask mandate, another who favored the a mask mandate, and one who said council members had veered from conservative values. That resident doesn’t want a mask mandate despite watching her husband suffer from COVID-19.
“I absolutely disagree with the mask ordinances,” read comments from that resident, read into the record Monday night. “At the very minimum the science surrounding them is debated. There is no consensus on that.”
The resident also took issue with the July 6 meeting happening without public notice.
“It was passed almost secretly,” the resident wrote.
Savage acknowledged it was a “very short and quick meeting” to decide the mask mandate, but said there wasn’t a political agenda or an attempt to bypass public input.
“This decision was because the numbers in (town zip codes) 29715 and 29708 literally more than doubled in a very short period of time,” Savage said.
Savage said she hears from people who insist higher numbers are reported due to more testing for COVID-19.
“It is, but it’s also because the virus is out there,” Savage said. “We’ve begun to hear of neighbors and friends and family members that had contracted this virus. Not everybody has an easy time with it.”
Davy Broom, town manager, said Monday the calls since the ordinance began July 8 largely involve locations outside town limits. Several highly populated parts of Fort Mill like the Carowinds and Baxter areas, for instance, aren’t in town limits.
“To date we’ve not had to issue any citations,” Broom said.
Councilman Jamie Shirey said other areas where mask rules have passed, have seen a flattening of new coronavirus cases. A town ordinance made sense to him.
“I’d much rather play on the side of caution than not,” Shirey said.
Town rules allow fines of $25 to $100. The rules involve retail and restaurant space, much like similar rules in Rock Hill and elsewhere. The Fort Mill mandate went into effect for 30 days.
Savage said the town has received numerous comments.
“We have a pandemic like everyone else,” she said. “There isn’t a path or a win-loss record to be had and looked at. We’re doing our dead level best to put our fellow constituents first.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 9:28 PM.
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