After a discussion and a 4-1 vote on March 21, the Healdsburg City Council moved to no longer require masks for attending council meetings. Effective immediately, masks are optional to attend in-person counc
Masks will no longer be required, regardless of vaccination status, for attending Healdsburg City Council meetings. Instead, masks will be optional for both attendees and city council members.
The meeting protocol change was made following a 4-1 vote — Vice Mayor Ariel Kelley held the dissenting vote — after Councilmember David Hagele pulled the item from the consent calendar and made a motion to remove the mask mandate. Councilmember Skylaer Palacios seconded Hagele’s motion.
During public comment, Brigette Mansell said her hope is that whatever the council decides it is going to serve the people that have to be in the building and not just the public because they have to be comfortable in their own space to be able to do the work they’re going to be doing.
Palacios said it makes sense to be in line with county and state guidance but that it is important that people feel comfortable attending meetings.
Councilmember Evelyn Mitchell agreed with the idea of removing the mask mandate and to let people who are uncomfortable continue to wear them. Vice Mayor Ariel Kelley said she’d feel a lot more comfortable about removing masks if the council felt there was certainty about what the future holds for COVID.
“If anyone reads the national, international news we know that there’s a spike in cases happening in Europe right now with a new omicron variant that is now starting to increase case counts on the east coast of the United States,” Kelley said. “We’ve seen this exact trend happen over the last two years where cases started in certain places and then they trended toward the east coast of the United States and then the west coast a month later, so we are trending in the wrong direction. Cases are increasing today in Sonoma County. I understand that we are not seeing the same amount of hospitalizations and death, which is great mostly because of the increase in vaccination rates. I do think it is premature to declare victory on COVID, but I think it is fine if we want to make it optional for people to wear masks.”
She said her biggest concern is for those who are unvaccinated because they are cancer patients or are immunocompromised or cannot be vaccinated because of their personal health situation.
“I would hate to make those people uncomfortable about attending our meetings because we are choosing to unmask, so while I understand that some may want to take their masks off for their own personal comfort, I’m thinking about those who are most vulnerable,” Kelley said. “So I would be voting no.”
Mayor Ozzy Jimenez said one of the things that’s important to him is to recognize and acknowledge that the virus is still existing within the community and that there are folks who are vulnerable.
He said he would like to have a recommendation in the motion for masks to be worn, but to be optional.
Hagele said the idea is in line with what he was suggesting. “If people aren’t comfortable they can still wear masks. I think the whole point is to get it in line with what the county is doing, so there is always the option if things do turn and we as a city have pivoted to address and meet crises and I don’t doubt that we would do that again,” Hagele said.
