‘Clear majority’: In lopsided debate on masks, Lancaster County goes with the public.
Gov. Henry McMaster asked municipalities to consider local mask requirements to slow COVID-19 spread. Lancaster County considered it. Elected officials didn’t come near passing one.
Lancaster County Council voted Monday night to encourage county residents to wear masks. Council members showed no support for any type of mandate. Some members had reservation even with the recommendation.
“I’m reluctant as a council member to even encourage people to wear a mask because I don’t know if it works or it doesn’t work,” said Councilman Terry Graham. “It will give those people a false sense of security.”
Council members say the same county that didn’t produce a single public comment on a $50 million general fund budget has been outspoken on the mask issue. There have been emails, texts, calls. Steve Willis, county administrator, summarized 24 public comments submitted prior to the meeting. One of them favored a mask rule.
The rest of the two dozen comments stated a combination of concern from masks being ineffective to prevent coronavirus spread to infringing on personal liberty, even causing sickness themselves.
Seven county residents showed up Monday to speak in person. All seven of them were against a mask mandate.
“This is a rare time in government where the citizens have spoken,” said Councilman Allen Blackmon.
Blackmon said he isn’t on board with the wave of public comment stating masks are ineffective.
“I do believe masks help, contrary to some of the things we’ve heard,” he said. “If it only helps 3%, it helps 3%. I believe in social distancing and I believe in washing hands.”
Yet, he said, the landslide of public feedback can’t be ignored.
“Clearly in my district the majority — clear majority — do not want to be mandated to wear masks,” Blackmon said.
Graham said he’s gotten lots of emails, both for and against a mandate.
“It’s interesting to me that the people who are against gave me stacks of scientific data why the face masks don’t work,” he said. “Ones who are for (didn’t).”
Councilwoman Charlene McGriff said she isn’t sure how effective masks are at preventing coronavirus spread.
“Personally I don’t think enough research has been done to determine whether this corona disease, if we should wear masks or not,” she said. “Right now I think we’re all just in a position, does it work or does it not work?”
McGriff echoed others in council in saying she chooses to wear a mask. She believes others should have the same choice.
“When history is written I personally want to err on the side of caution,” McGriff said. “And if wearing a mask can prevent anyone’s death, sickness, I’m in favor of that. But I hope you make your own personal decision as to whether you think you should wear a mask or not. And that’s your decision to make. I’ve made mine, and it’s left up to you to make yours.”
Councilman Larry Honeycutt believes coronavirus cases are declining to the point where there won’t be a statewide mandate, but said McMcaster could make that call and take the decision out of council’s collective hands.
“If our cases don’t go down he may mandate that we wear masks,” Honeycutt said. “I hope that doesn’t happen because I’m not in favor of it. But if he mandates we’ve got to, we don’t have any choice.”
Honeycutt said he and his wife, in their 80s, wear masks.
“Does it help?” he said. “I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. But I do wonder, why do doctors wear masks when they operate on you? Why do all the nurses wear masks when they operate on you? There must be something to it, to protect them. So if it helps me, then I’ll wear my mask. But I don’t want to mandate that you have to do that. I don’t think that’s right for us to do it. It should be up to the individual.”
Honeycutt admitted COVID-19 is a serious issue, but so would be any county decision to require masks.
“We’ve got a serious problem and whatever it takes to get us through it, I’m for it,”’ he said. “But I don’t want us to mandate anything on the citizens of this county.”
Councilman Brian Carnes believes the state either should make a statewide call on masks or provide a consistent, statewide rule for municipalities to consider.
“For every city, every town, every county that has an ordinance, it’s different,” Carnes said. “There is no set ordinance.”
That setup makes the mask issue difficult for people, especially people who travel, he said. Carnes also has concern what a mask mandate would require of Lancaster County law enforcement.
“We don’t have the police resources to have people going out and getting after people that aren’t wearing masks when they’re stretched as thin as possible to get out there and do the job that they’re required to do,” Carnes said. “To add this load on them I think is unreasonable.”
Councilman Billy Mosteller believes people should make their own choice with masks.
“I believe it should be people’s choice,” he said. “It is a matter of the individual being comfortable going into a store, or going to church or wherever they go. If they want to wear a mask, let them wear it.”
Chairman Steve Harper agrees.
“I’ll wear it when I’m required to,” he said. “I think it’s up to each individual.”
Citizen take on masks
Citizens who spoke Monday night leaned on common themes. They said masks don’t work and should be up to personal choice. Sheila Hinson from Kershaw is ready to get life back to normal.
“I think people should have a choice,” she said. “I think we need to get back to our schools starting up. I think we need to get back to businesses being able to open and make money. It’s hurting a lot of people that’s got businesses. When it hurts them, it hurts us in Lancaster County.”
Kim Lineberger is a business owner who has concern about what a mask rule would mean for her liability. Including any breathing or other health complications her employees may experience from mask usage.
“As a business owner in Lancaster County it concerns me that somebody mandates that my employees have to wear a mask and that I have to be responsible for that, and that I could pay a fine for that,” Lineberger said.
Nutramax Laboratories founder Bob Henderson said he has more than 500 employees and no mask requirement.
“We have very few people using them,” Henderson said. “We’ve had I believe eight positive cases. They’ve gone out, quarantined, come back. It has not spread to any of their coworkers. They brought it in from the outside.”
Henderson said people are changing their entire way of life for a virus with lower spread than others like H1N1.
“We’ve got to learn to let our immune system do its job,” Henderson said.
Amber Canaan from Heath Springs said she is a nurse and heads research for a large corporation. Canaan shared a wide range of studies and statistics she says show masks are ineffective or only partly effective in slowing viral spread.
“Masks don’t work,” she said. “They don’t prevent colds. They don’t prevent the flu. And they lower your oxygen levels, and that’s dangerous.”
Ruth Blair said she is a mother of four. Among her friends, people who wear masks often get sore throats, headaches and other issues she believes are related to mask usage. The people she knows who have gotten COVID-19, she said, wore masks regularly beforehand.
“If they work,” Blair said, “why did they test positive and get sick?”
Mike Borquez and Brenda Williams own four mom and pop businesses. They include an auction site, a restaurant, a service center. Borquez said it’s been difficult getting people to come back from unemployment due to benefits they received, and he sees the coronavirus pandemic as hard enough on business without a mask requirement.
“It’s been a real struggle for small businesses,” he said. “The businesses that survive are the big ones like Walmart, Burger King, McDonalds. Those that have billions and billions and billions of dollars in resources. They didn’t get hurt at any of this. All of those drive-up businesses are doing more than they ever did before.”
Williams said she notices health impacts when she wears masks.
“They don’t work,” she said. “I suffer from migraines and ever since I’ve been having to wear masks, I go home every day with a migraine headache. They don’t work. They make you sicker.”
County government impact
Even without a county mask rule, face coverings are required statewide in restaurants, schools, state government buildings and large public gatherings. Last week McMaster asked municipalities to consider local mandates. Willis said Lancaster County checked that box Monday night.
The county opted for a recommendation, modeled after what York County did last month.
Lancaster County is responsible, per McMaster’s order, to make sure the statewide rules are followed.
“He required local governments to enforce his order,” Willis said. “We have no choice. That in essence is state law, and we have to enforce it.”
By the end of the week Willis expects to have a county version of a mask rule ready, similar to the state one for state facilities. It would apply to all county facilities.
“It’s no secret to anybody here,” Willis said. “We have employees that have COVID. They’ve been exposed, and we’re doing our best.”
Willis said he wants to avoid what some other counties faced, having to shut down county administration buildings due to coronavirus spread. The county has some employees on split shifts now to avoid outbreak concerns.
“I can’t run the risk of having some of our departments just wiped out,” Willis said. “If everybody is present and we don’t take precautions in the treasurer’s office, and it’s the end of the month and somebody comes up and needs a tag? If I’ve got everybody in the treasurer’s office under quarantine, we’re hung. There is nobody else. We’re not that big an operation.”
