Columbia City Council rejects mask mandate

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council voted 3-3 on the proposed mask mandate. The council needed a unanimous vote to pass the proposed city ordinance. Councilmember Ian Thomas was not in attendance.

Karl Skala, Ward 3, Pat Fowler, Ward 1, and Andrea Waner, Ward 2, voted for the mask ordinance.

Matt Pitzer, Ward 5, Brian Treece, Mayor, and Betsy Peters, Ward 6 voted no.

Dozens of protestors against the mask mandate gathered in front of city hall before pouring into the council chambers.

Treece and the council decided to suspend public comment at the beginning of the meeting because of turnout and the lack of masking inside of the council chambers.

Every seat was full in the chambers and there were about 100 people standing crowded around the back of the room.

At one point because of a city order requiring masks inside city buildings, Treece asked the attendees to put masks on but most, if not all refused.

Treece said the city clerk received over 700 public comments before 4 p.m. Monday.

"I intentionally did not count those 743 emails to see if there was a majority one way or the other because it doesn't matter," Treece said. "What really matters is what our public health director says, and you've heard her say at the microphone that this will not help us in fact it's a distraction from what we're doing."

While the crowd decided to voice its discontent during the health department director's comment, she was able to voice her main points.

"I don't believe that a mask mandate is going to significantly increase mask-wearing," said Stephanie Browning, the Columbia/Boone County health department director. "I really just believe our time is better spent working on education outreach and vaccinations."

Treece also had a similar opinion following the meeting.

"For the last seven days, this has been a distraction, and frankly complete disregard of the current mission of our public health professionals," Treece said. "Masks are important, they're an important mitigation factor in conjunction with vaccines, but there are only 24 hours in the day, and every minute and every hour that we spend talking about masks or mask mandates, we're not talking about vaccinations."

Waner voted for the mandate and said she was disappointed in the outcome.

"While I am not surprised by the outcome, I am disappointed," Waner said. "My son is five and unable to be vaccinated, so my default reaction is to do whatever is necessary to keep my child safe. When the discussion comes down to freedom of choice and personal liberty, or carelessness and cautiousness, I find myself in a defensive position, wanting to protect my family. Which is where I imagine many folks – on both sides of the issue – have found themselves."

Watch the Columbia City Council special meeting to vote on a mask mandate replay in the player below.

The emergency ordinance comes as the Columbia/Boone County health department reported 178 new confirmed cases of the virus over the past three days with 119 hospitalizations, 28 who are from Boone County.

As for vaccination efforts, 47.7% of Boone county residents are now fully vaccinated while 54.3% have initiated the vaccination process.

The last mask mandate expired on May 12.