The Wrangell Borough Assembly held a special meeting Tuesday, Aug. 4. The only item on the agenda that evening was a discussion of a potential mandate requiring the public wear face masks. No formal action was taken in the meeting, as this was only a discussion item. The general consensus among the assembly was, while they strongly recommend and encourage the public to wear masks, they do not want to go all the way to mandating it.
This discussion was brought up at the request of the Emergency Operations Center, according to Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen. As the state is seeing increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases, as is Wrangell locally, they felt that it was important to bring up the subject of a mask mandate. Alaska has faced COVID-19 for 147 days as of Aug. 4, according to Dorianne Sprehe with the EOC, and there was no end in sight. She also said that state case numbers are at 4,125 cases as of the meeting's date. Locally, Wrangell currently has six active cases, and has seen a total of 15 cases. Nine of these were Wrangell locals, while the other six are non-locals.
"The science says if we wear a mask, or a cloth face covering, we will reduce the transmission of droplets shared from one person to another, and therefore reduce the spread that may come from a person's nose and mouth," Sprehe said.
Several of the questions asked by assembly members in this meeting revolved around what other communities have done regarding face masks. Assembly Member David Powell asked if the nearby city of Petersburg had attempted a mask mandate in the past, or something similar to it. They did pass a mask mandate in April, according to Jamie Roberts with the EOC. However, they let the mandate expire in May. It was too divisive amongst the community, she said.
Assembly Member Anne Morrison wanted to know what other
communities had mask mandates in place, and how effective they were. Roberts said that data on the
effectiveness of mask mandates was limited, but she said several cities in Alaska had mandates in place. She listed Cordova, Dillingham, and
Seward as cities with mandates that were a similar size to Wrangell. Von Bargen added that, according to her sister in the city of Valdez, there was a mandate in place too, but its impact was limited. Some people do wear masks, and others don't.
There was also a question of enforcement. Assembly members were not sure how they could enforce a requirement for the public to wear masks. Sprehe said that in Juneau, there is a $25 fine for not wearing a mask, and in Dillingham the fine can range from $100 to $1,000. She also said that Alaska Airlines has a policy of denying service to passengers who refuse to wear masks. However, the idea of enforcing a mask mandate in Wrangell was not an immediate priority, according to Von Bargen.
"I know we, at the EOC, have discussed, right now that if something moves forward we'd like to ask that a mandate be put in place but that there be no fine or enforcement in place right now, that it just be a definitive statement about wearing masks in the community," she said.
The discussion continued for some time, but several assembly members stated that they did not feel a full mandate requiring the public wear masks was appropriate at this time.
"I wear a mask whenever I go into the post office, into grocery stores, into any of the businesses, and that's my choice and I think it's a smart choice," Morrison said. "Forcing that on other people, I sincerely believe, is up to the individual businesses. That's their choice. If they don't want to have folks in their businesses that are not wearing masks, then they need to be responsible for that. On the other hand, people that want to go into those stores to purchase groceries, or whatever, they also need to be responsible citizens."
Several assembly members echoed similar opinions to Morrison's. The idea of a mask mandate was unpopular with some listening members of the public, as well. During the persons to be heard portion of the meeting, Wrangell resident Mike Lockabey stated his opposition to any mask mandate. He supported common sense provisions to combat COVID-19, he said, but he felt that this would be a step too far. Wearing a mask should be a personal choice, he said, not something the city should require.
Other discussion points in the meeting included whether Wrangell could receive more face masks for distribution from the state, the differences between a person self-isolating and quarantining, and other ways the city can encourage people to wear masks.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the assembly decided to ask city administration to draft a resolution encouraging the public to wear a mask, to be considered in their next meeting. They did not want to require wearing masks at this time, but they wanted to make sure the community knew the city's stance in favor of them.
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