MANATEE COUNTY – The mandatory face-covering requirement in Manatee County is no longer in effect as of today.
Manatee County recommends, but no longer requires, face coverings to be worn inside businesses when proper social distancing cannot be maintained.
During today’s county commission meeting, commissioners voted 4-3 to repeal the face-covering mandate adopted by emergency resolution on July 27.
The commission then unanimously adopted a non-binding proclamation proposed by Commission Chair Betsy Benac that strongly encourages people to continue wearing face coverings on a voluntary basis.
After two full pages of supporting “whereas” clauses, the adopted proclamation says, “Be it proclaimed by the Board of County Commissioners of Manatee County, that in the best interest of the county and the furtherance of public health, safety and welfare of the county, the board strongly encourages individuals who cannot socially distance to wear face coverings and supports businesses displaying signs requiring face masks to be worn in business establishments to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
Today’s action means the county no longer requires face coverings to be worn inside Bradenton Beach businesses. The county mandate applied in Bradenton Beach because the city commission has not adopted its own mask mandate.
When contacted this afternoon, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said the Anna Maria City Commission will vote on repealing its mask order next week and he plans to issue a separate emergency order pertaining to masks being worn on city property.
Resolution repealed
Commissioner Priscilla Trace made the motion to rescind and repeal the county’s face-covering resolution and commissioners Benac, Vanessa Baugh and Steve Jonsson supported her motion. Commissioners Reggie Bellamy, Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore opposed rescinding and repealing the face-covering resolution.
These actions came in response to the Phase 3 reopening order, EO 20-244, that Gov. Ron DeSantis issued on Friday, Sept. 25. In addition to allowing restaurants and bars to operate at 100% capacity, DeSantis’ order suspended locally-imposed fines or penalties for violations of COVID-19 regulations or restrictions, including face-covering mandates.
Chief Assistant County Attorney Bill Clague addressed DeSantis’ order.
“His emergency orders basically supersede ours. Our face-coverings resolution imposes mandatory requirements to wear face-coverings and imposes fines on individuals who don’t comply. Under the executive order, that is no longer enforceable.”
Clague said the Manatee County School Board still retains the sole authority to determine whether face-coverings remain mandatory at public schools. Clague also said businesses and governments can still require face coverings inside their buildings and facilities.
Public comment
Palmetto Pastor Joel Tillis was among those who supported the repeal of the face-covering mandate. Tillis recently dropped a lawsuit he filed in opposition to the mandate. He dismissed his lawsuit after the face-covering resolution was amended in a manner that exempts houses of worship.
“I believe that you intended the best for our community. I believe you did what was best for the physical healing of our community at the time. Now, I am here asking you for the emotional healing of our community. This issue of the mask mandate has divided us. It has hurt us and caused our community to be filled with anger and confusion. I am asking you to begin to heal a divided county – because masks may help, but mandates have hurt. Trust your constituents to decide for themselves. It is not the mask, but the mandate, that has divided us,” Tillis said.
County resident Andra Griffin said, “I haven’t worn a mask before. I will not wear a mask going forward. I didn’t wear a mask coming in here. I refuse to wear a mask because it’s not your decision what I should be doing with my body.”
Joining the meeting by phone, Swordfish Grill General Manager Bob Slicker offered another perspective.
“I have 70 employees and I just want to thank the commission for the mask mandate,” he said.
Regarding some of the previous comments made, Slicker said, “You have the right not to wear a mask. Please don’t come to my restaurant. You need to wear a mask in my restaurant because we care about everybody.
“Scientific studies have shown that masks work. Not wearing a mask is not kind. Not wearing a mask is not patriotic. Our parents would wear masks. Past generations would wear masks. This is about taking care of people.
“Unfortunately, without the mandate, I have 16-year-old hostesses and 18- and-19-year-old servers that are harassed daily by people who don’t want to wear a mask. My business picked up because you passed that mandate and made it easier for us all to do our job. Thank you for following science and listening to business owners. Having a mandate really helps us,” Slicker said.
Joining by phone, school board member Charlie Kennedy encouraged the commission to continue the face-covering mandate or least continue to recommend face coverings.
“There’s a lot of peer pressure around masks. When a business owner has a customer come into their establishment, or a school principal has a parent walk onto their school campus, that person can just say I am mandated to do this because this is what my local government is telling me I have to do. It takes a lot of pressure off our community and I think it sends a signal that we believe in science, that we believe in data. The vast majority of us know that masks are a positive step in the direction of suppressing COVID,” Kennedy said.
Commission comments
“I agree. It’s not the wearing of masks but the mandate itself that was the issue,” Baugh said.
In response to Slicker’s comment, Baugh noted that she, too, is a small business owner.
“The majority of people wear a mask – and not because of the mandate, but because they know it’s the right thing to do. I don’t think the mandate really made a big difference. It’s really up to each individual business as to whether they want to enforce the wearing of masks or not,” Baugh said.
Whitmore then said, “I respectfully don’t agree. I know masks make a difference. I’m looking at this graph here from the Department of Health.”
She was referring to 60 new positive COVID-19 cases discovered in Manatee County on Saturday and reported on Sunday.
Benac was the only commissioner who voted to rescind the face-covering resolution after previously supporting it.
After Jonsson made the motion to adopt Benac’s proclamation, Benac said, “It was an extremely tough decision for me, but I wanted to make it clear that my position has not changed. Everybody is saying you need to keep wearing a mask to slow the transmission.”
