Letters to the Editor at Sebastian Daily for Sunday, November 22, 2020.
I just listened to your Friday, Nov. 20th, report on the Sebastian mask mandate.
I understood you to say that Governor DeSantis, by executive order, made it impossible for local municipalities/ governments to pass mask mandates that have penalties associated with them as the reason the Sebastian City Council decided not to extend the mask mandate in the City.
You went on to say that local businesses can require masks and that masks must be worn in all City buildings.
My question is if a person does not wear a mask in a city building, is the city able to enforce a rule that makes citizens wear a mask in them? Does the City in fact have a mask mandate for government buildings, or are they overstepping the Governor’s executive order?
I don’t understand how the City can mandate wearing a mask in government buildings and not in private businesses under the Governor’s executive order.
Can you clarify? For the record, I wear a mask in public and am not opposed to wearing one.
Sincerely,
Bill Wood
Sebastian
I read with concern and disappointment about the decision of the City Council on wearing masks in businesses and in areas where the public is served.
I found the rationale related to limiting freedom to be both ridiculous and morally troubling. While I am not currently a resident of Sebastian, I do own property in the city and plan to retire there in the future.
For the time being, I limit my visits to Sebastian and definitely limit interaction with as few persons as possible when there precisely because of the lax attention to issues of public health and well being that are now reinforced by city “leaders.”
In a quite different setting the Republican governor of another state sums up the issue for me. Here’s his statement. I consider him an enlightened leader, unlike some.
“Speaking directly to the COVID-skeptics and to those who refuse to wear masks and follow his social distancing mandates, Scott said that ‘they can do what they want,'” but he added:
“Don’t call it patriotic. Don’t pretend it’s about freedom. Because real patriots serve and sacrifice for all, whether they agree with them or not. Patriots also stand up and fight when our nation’s health and security is threatened. And right now, our country and way of life is being attacked by this virus — not the protections we put in place.”
William Finnin
Sebastian Property Owner
It amazes me that while the covid virus is increasing not only in Florida but in the whole country that any political body would remove the face mask mandate for businesses this is tantamount to criminality.
Theresa Oleary
Sebastian