Palmer continues mask mandate discussion

PALMER — The Palmer City Council heard hundreds of emails read into the record by City Clerk Norma Alley and Deputy Clerk Kara Johnson on Wednesday’s continuation of last week’s meeting on Ordinance 20-016 which would enact a mask mandate.

On Nov. 18, 62 people spoke in person at the original meeting to discuss the ordinance and another 48 emails were read into the record. Just after 11 p.m., on Wednesday, the council unanimously voted to continue the meeting on Dec. 4 at 4 p.m., to read the over 200 remaining emails into the record. The meeting that began at 5 p.m., was recessed just before midnight on Wednesday.

“It is clear that masks and physical distancing are currently our most powerful and effective tools for slowing the spread of COVID-19. Communities, states, and countries that have enacted mask mandates across the board have had less hospitalizations and deaths and have been able to maintain a more open and functional society and economy,” wrote Dr. Tom Quimby. “A mask mandate is an intermediate step that has been shown to be a tool to prevent future more drastic interventions such as shutdowns. On behalf of our community and our community health care workers, I implore you to act with moral courage to enact a mask mandate. The evidence is clear this will result in net benefit to the health and wellness of our community.”

Quimby serves as the chair of the COVID-19 task force at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. As was the case when the ordinance was introduced Nov. 18, two dozen protestors stood in the parking lot of Palmer City Hall carrying signs and flags for much of the duration of the meeting, soliciting honks at traffic passing by.

“The government doesn’t have the legal authority to mandate mask wear. These authoritarian steps of mandating mask wear is unnecessary and unconstitutional. There is no scientific basis for this as deaths have not increased and exposure is inevitable as is the exposure to the common flu. There needs to be more exposure to create “herd immunity” which experts have stated, will lessen the effect on society of the virus in the long term,” wrote Brian Adams.

The controversial ordinance received an unprecedented amount of public comment with 675 comments given to the council in total. Of the 675, 607 were written comments, 62 were delivered at the November 8 meeting and six comments were given at the November 24 regular meeting. Of the 675 total public comments, 458 were against and 213 with four listed as neutral. Clerks Alley and Johnson traded off reading dozens of emails at a time to the council and were eventually relieved by City Manager John Moosey who briefly read emails.

“Since the introduction of lockdowns and the increasing societal pressure to wear dehumanizing and suppressive masks, I have seen holes torn in the fabric of each of those communities as fear and division, over mask wearing specifically, causes distrust and manipulation to arise. A forced mask mandate would continue to break down the social fabric that holds this town and its society together,” wrote Carolina Anzilotti. “Small businesses, especially during the approaching holidays, depend greatly on local shoppers to support them. Those that were able to survive the lockdowns over this past year would continue to suffer immensely by the impact of a significant loss of prospective shoppers who will either continue to be unnecessarily terrified by a mask mandate or who would not be welcome without wearing a mask. I know many, including myself, who will unfortunately be forced to take their business elsewhere because we stand up for our freedom and will not tolerate and unconstitutional mandate.”

Members of the public who offered their comments to the council both for and against the mask mandate argued that it would benefit the economy as well as the health of residents, citing different reasons on each side. Nearly 300 emails were read into the record on Wednesday, starting with the remainder of the emails in favor of the mandate.

“The Mat-Su Health Foundation is in full support of Ordinance number 20-016,” wrote MSHF CEO Elizabeth Ripley. “The city of Palmer has been a leader in public health in the state of Alaska before. You were among the early communities to adopt a smoke free workplaces law like the one that now protects citizens statewide. We hope to see Palmer lead in the COVID-19 battle as well.”