Assembly rejects mask mandate, opts for public education

The borough assembly decided not to reinstate a local mask mandate at their Tuesday meeting. Rather, they asked borough staff to pursue a public education campaign strongly recommending that people wear face masks and take other safety precautions during the current surge in COVID-19 cases.

The assembly vote was 6-1.

The meeting was held via Zoom, a reversal from the assembly’s short-lived return to in-person meetings. City Hall has been closed since last week due to staff exposure to COVID.

Dorianne Sprehe, with the Wrangell Emergency Operations Center, reported to the assembly that the community had six new cases as of Tuesday evening.

That raises the total in the past two weeks to 34. Of those, 26 were active as of Tuesday, the most at any one time since the start of the pandemic.

“Given the local surge of cases, and the situation around the region and state with case counts and ICU beds, the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) and administration felt is prudent to bring a mandatory face covering requirement back to the assembly for consideration,” Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen wrote in her introduction of the ordinance for the meeting.

The proposed mask mandate carried the same guidelines and enforcement policies as previous mandates. The public would be required to wear masks in indoor public settings and other communal spaces, with some exceptions, or risk a $25 fine. If approved, the requirement would have sunset on Sept. 7.

“This is an interim measure,” Von Bargen said. “Masking up helps us in that interim phase to reset things, to get those numbers to come down.”

The mask mandate, and face masks in general, have been controversial topics for Wrangell in the past, just as in much of Alaska and across the country. However, no members of the public asked to speak on the issue at the assembly meeting.

Regardless, assembly members showed reluctance to adopt the mandate.

“We’re not going to change any minds by having this today,” Assemblymember Ryan Howe said. “People have already made up their minds and they’re not going to change them.”

Mayor Steve Prysunka questioned why the city was pursuing a full mandate as its first attempt to tamp down the spike in cases, rather than public education. While he agreed the COVID situation is serious, he said the municipality had not done anything to try and educate the public and get them on board with wearing masks voluntarily.

“It doesn’t appear that we’ve made a good-faith effort to get people to comply on their own without a threat,” he said.

The assembly considered several approaches, whether they could amend the mandate into a more palatable recommendation, if they could simply postpone the vote, and whether they could revisit the idea of a mandate in the future if it became necessary.

Eventually, members agreed they did not want to move forward with the mask mandate. Instead, they directed Von Bargen and the EOC to put serious effort toward public outreach and education on the importance of wearing masks.

Elsewhere in Southeast, Juneau is under a masking requirement, in addition to limiting indoor gatherings to no more than 20 people — though there is no limit if everyone at the event is fully vaccinated. Bars and restaurants are limited to 50% of their indoor capacity.

Sitka, which has 84 active cases as of Tuesday, is “strongly encouraging” face masks indoors and outdoors when people cannot maintain a safe distance.

The Haines Borough, also hard hit in the COVID surge this month, has advised its residents: “We are all getting tired but we need redouble our efforts. Please wear a mask when you are out and about, please social distance and keep your social bubble small.”

 

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