Columbia City Council passes mask ordinance
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia City Council approved an ordinance Monday night that will require people to wear face masks. The ordinance will go into effect at 5 p.m. on July 10.
Ward 5 council member Matt Pitzer was the only council member who voted against the ordinance. Six of the seven members had to approve the ordinance for it pass.
The Columbia City Council met at city hall at 7 p.m.
The ordinance will require anyone 10 years and older to wear a face mask both indoors and outdoors if closer than six feet to other people.
People would not be required to wear masks when with members from their own household.
There would be a list of exceptions, including for people with conditions that prevent them from being able to cover their face, while exercising outdoors and more.
The city charter allowed the council to pass the ordinance the same night it was introduced.
The council reviewed and passed several amendments to the order before approving it.
One of the amendments exempts property owned or exclusively operated by Boone County from having to enforce the ordinance. An example would be the Boone County Courthouse or the Boone County government building.
The council also approved an amendment that will allow the health department to create other exemptions to the ordinance.
The council also failed to adopt several amendments. One of those amendments would have removed language that requires people to wear masks inside their homes when people who are not members of their household are there and they are unable to practice social distancing.
Another amendment was not approved that would have removed the requirement for employers to provide masks for their employees.
Columbia Mayor Brian Treece said it was important for the council to review the ordinance which he asked to be drafted now because of two trends in the number of cases. That first trend is the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in Boone County. This is the number of days it takes before 100 cases are reached.
"That has gone from 55 days, to 26 days, to 14 days, to seven days, to now four days, and we haven't even begun to see the results from tests over this weekend," Treece said.
Treece said the other trend that is concerning his is the positivity rate of tests, which has gone from 0.4 percent in the first week of May to 14 percent as of July 3 he said.
Treece said a mask ordinance could prevent more businesses from having to close their doors after employees test positive, and the economy can begin to recover.
"We send a strong message that Columbia is a safe place to do business and that's good for our economy," he said. "It also gives parents the confidence they need to send their students back to school, whether that's at university, or the colleges or at Columbia Public Schools."
Two groups gathered outside of city hall before the meeting began Monday. One group was supporting the ordinance while another group was speaking out against it.
More than 25 people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting about the ordinance.
Jeff Overstreet was with the group speaking out against the proposed ordinance. He said he views the ordinance as an affront to people's personal liberties.
"The saying of, 'My body, my choice' applies here on such an intimate scale. There is nothing more personal than someone telling you you can't do something with your own body," Overstreet said.
Several people in the group of around 30 speaking out against the ordinance voiced concern about the fact people would be required to wear masks in their own homes if someone who was not a part of their household were there.
"I think it is absolutely ridiculous to think that they can mandate what you do inside your own house going so far as to saying, 'Hey, on your property you have to behave a certain way,'" Overstreet said. "This has nothing to do with health and safety. This has to do with, again, with personal civil liberties."
"If this passes tonight I will have to choose to take my money and my business elsewhere to another town completely," Overstreet said.
Several people raised questions about how the ordinance would be enforced. Overstreet said he believed it would allow police and law enforcement too much power, and wondered how far punishment would go.
Treece said the city wants to establish a community ethic that Columbia is a safe place through enforcement.
"I liken this to the same way that we enforce that all employees must wash their hands after they use the restroom. Do we have a police officer there watching to make sure you do it? No. Is it gross if you don't? Yes. Could people get sick if they don't wash their hands after using the bathroom? Of course," he said.
