Second rally against Healdsburg vaccine mandate arrives at empty City Hall

Protesters rallying against the Healdsburg City Council’s November decision to require proof of vaccination in order to attend in-person council meetings gathered at the Healdsburg Plaza to march to City Hall Monday night.

The only problem? No one was in the building.

With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases associated with the highly contagious — though less deadly — omicron variant, last night’s council meeting was the first to return to a Zoom-only format since in-person meetings resumed Nov. 15.

Healdsburg’s vaccine mandate for the council chambers has been the subject of no small controversy, particularly because one council member, Skylaer Palacios, has been outspoken about her refusal to get the vaccine. Protesters have claimed the council’s decision is discriminatory against people making personal medical choices, while others have also accused the council of being discriminatory against people of color, as Palacios is an Afro-Latina woman and the Latinx community is less likely to be vaccinated.

Council members held only three meetings hybrid in-person with a Zoom option, with the second regular meeting on Dec. 6 going online only because of safety concerns over the protest following their interruption and the final hybrid meeting a cannabis workshop on Dec. 18.

Fourteen protesters sharing a common opposition to vaccine mandates gathered in the Healdsburg Plaza between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on Jan. 3, sheltering under the gazebo from Monday night’s light but constant drizzle. Their intention was to interrupt the council meeting as a much larger group of 40 did on Dec. 6, banging on windows and walls in the corridor outside the council chambers after being denied entry.

Monday night’s protest group, some members of which carried signs opposing vaccines and vaccine mandates, arrived at City Hall just after 6 p.m. to find the building empty, with its interior lights off.

“How fearful,” a female protester with a protest sign attached to the bottom of an umbrella said upon arrival, referring to council members.

“Why don’t we do what they did in Australia and light the place on fire?” a male protester said, before clarifying that he was joking.

The group peacefully exchanged viewpoints and information for about 10 minutes outside the building before disbanding, with one declaring “Say no to mandates!” and another suggesting, “Let’s get together when they’re going to be here!” as they departed.

A straw poll conducted by a participant found only two self-identified Healdsburg residents among the protesters, with the majority coming from Santa Rosa.

Based on statements given to SoCoNews and conversation between protesters, few in attendance cared much about the controversy as it related Palacios and Healdsburg politics. Rather, the majority of protesters seem to have been rallying around the Healdsburg City Council’s recent requirement that prospective attendees show proof of vaccination prior to entering the council chambers as a flashpoint to express their opposition to vaccines and vaccine mandates in general.

A married couple who asked their last name be omitted to avoid further strain on their familial relationship because of their viewpoints on vaccines said they’d traveled from Sonoma Valley after seeing an advertisement for the march on social media.

Steve B. questioned the safety of the vaccine, stating, “What brings us out is we’re against mandates. We’re not anti-vaccine, but I’m not interested in getting the vaccine, and I’m against this concept of coercion of vaccine mandates.”

Steve’s wife, a holistic nutritionist, said she had no real opinion on the recent controversy around Palacios in particular, but was in attendance because of her opposition on principle to vaccine mandates in general.

“I’m a liberal actually,” the Sonoma Valley resident said. She and her husband have faced ostracization from friends and their children because of their activism, which she blamed on the media for creating a narrative that those who don’t get vaccinated are hurting others.

Another protester who refused to give her name but identified herself as a 17-year-old Santa Rosa resident was the sole participant to wear a mask at the event, and she said it was her first protest. She said she was wearing the mask to protect people around her, as she recognized that the coronavirus is dangerous to certain groups, but that she felt no personal fear of the getting the virus.

“I feel like everybody should have a choice when it comes to their own body … I don’t think that anybody should be forced to do anything they don’t want to do,” she said. She also mentioned disdain over a perceived abandonment of the religious and medical exemptions to vaccine mandates, which she said were being ignored by those in power.

Meanwhile, on Zoom…

As the protesters arrived at City Hall, the city council meeting was beginning remotely, but certain activists associated with organizing the Dec. 6 and Jan. 3 protests spoke up during public comments.

Shelby Pryor, who identified himself as a stakeholder of Sonoma County, accused the Healdsburg City Council of misleading the Latino community, unspecified claims they had violated the Brown Act and ultimately moving the meeting online under false pretenses. Pryor also criticized the process of appointing new Healdsburg mayor Ozzy Jimenez, who Pryor said “sold out” his Latino community, to his post. Mayors are commonly selected through an appointment process among council members.

Adina Flores, who identified herself as being in a relationship with Pryor, echoed many of Pryor’s sentiments accusing the council of racism, and criticized the lack of publicity around the location change.

“(City Manager Jeff Kay) and your staff failed to bring the last-minute location change to our attention. It seems that the location change was due to your fear of protesters, not the omicron variant,” Flores said.

Flores also criticized the council for not posting agendas in Spanish.