By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
Should the public be required to wear face coverings in government buildings when they reopen?
Lincoln County courts will require it.
County employees can be required to wear face coverings. Businesses can insist customers wear them.
But can – or should — Lincoln County require the public to wear face coverings in county buildings — and be able to enforce it? Or should face marks just be encouraged?
Lincoln County commissioners tossed that issue around Tuesday during their weekly online meeting, deciding eventually to make a decision Monday, June 1, when courts are expected to ramp up their procedures after two months of coronavirus shutdowns.
Face coverings are one of a handful of ways health experts say people can help slow or stop the spread of the coronavirus, especially when people can’t be more than six feet apart.
A committee of county employees is recommending that Lincoln County “encourage but not require” the public to use face masks when they enter county buildings. That recommendation is based on a look at various state regulations, laws and legal opinions that might govern restrictions in public buildings, County Counsel Wayne Belmont told commissioners.
But Belmont said the county can require employees to wear face coverings – with exceptions for medical issues – when workers are helping customers or in offices where they can’t be six feet apart.
The inconsistency drew immediate pushback from Sheriff Curtis Landers, whose deputies screen people as they enter the county courthouse in Newport.
Landers said state court administrators are requiring everyone to wear face masks when appearing in local courtrooms as they start ramping up the number of hearings Monday. He contended if the state can require it in courtrooms, then the county can require them in other parts of their buildings. Landers said he later supplied other officials with a letter from the county’s insurance carrier encouraging them to require masks.
“We’re looking for consistency,” Landers said. “It’s very inconsistent. The state says OK. The county counsel says no.”
Belmont acknowledged that there’s more questions and uncertainty over face mask requirements than any other coronavirus issue he’s seen the past two months.
“If you put three attorneys in a room you’re going to get five answers,” he quipped.
Commissioner Claire Hall said the face mask issue is a “hot topic” with the public – many people wearing them to protect others, but just as many not heeding advice to use them as they travel or shop.
“We have such an important opportunity to send a message to the community…,” Hall said. “I feel like I know what we should do, but not sure what we can do.”
Belmont suggested there was time for his staff to investigate different interpretations, but was reminded that with courts reopening Monday there could be confusion as people go through screening to get to a courtroom while the rest of county offices are closed.
“There are 30 arraignments scheduled Monday and that’s probably the lightest day,” said assistant county counsel Kristin Yuille.
Landers said Wednesday that the county should be “doing all we can” to ensure the safety of employees and the public.
“I understand it’s a difficult decision,” he told YachatsNews. “But there’s a lot of information out there that says it’s a good practice.”
Commissioners decided to return to the discussion when it meets again Monday.
In other business, commissioners:
- Voted unanimously to reopen county campgrounds effective Monday or later, but keep group sites closed within those campgrounds. Some state campgrounds are reopening June 9.
- Were told by Belmont that the county is still waiting details from the state on what is entailed in Phase Two of reopening requirements. The county is eligible to apply for the second phase June 4.
- Heard that the Federal Emergency Management Administration had approved an $88,000 grant to rent motel rooms for people needing to quarantine but who have no place to go. The program is part of a state requirement to open the county for business.
- Heard from Public Health deputy director Nicole Fields that the COVID-19 infection rate in Lincoln County was 0.7 percent, based on nine cases and 1,369 total tests. Linn County has a 3 percent rate, Fields said, and it is near 5 percent in the Portland area. “We’re getting more tests done but our rate is still really low,” she said.
Given that the majority of people living in Lincoln County are over the age of 60, it is reasonable and prudent that masks (face masks or shields) be required in areas where social distancing is difficult or impossible. We also need to make sure that city and county government workers are protected so we can provide the services needed to open the cities and county and keep our older population as safe as possible. Lincoln County has been remarkable in its efforts to manage the virus, but requiring a mask in public spaces is such a minor inconvenience when weighed against a human life. Until an effective vaccine is available, this is the least we can do to keep yourself and our neighbors and friends safe. Please respect others and wear a mask.
Face masks are close to useless, especially when they are made of material not shown to be germ proof. They have made a lot of people sick and even killed some do to building up carbon dioxide. Why is it that every county has officials that want to push their authority by coming up with more restrictive rules then the state demands. There are three active recalls for our governor as I write, all because she has exceeded her authority. These government positions were created to enforce the will of the people, not to create a monarchy, yet that is what we are leaning to. No one is talking about the success of the states who were never in any kind of lock-down. Please, let the people decide. Many have been pushed to their limit with rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.