Tag Archives: Mandatory face coverings

Christina Strawbridge on masks: ‘I’m hoping we can rise above politics here’

Benicia City Council to decide on city-wide mask mandate at Aug. 24 special meeting

Benicia Herald, by Galen Kusic, August 20, 2021
[Reprinted with permission, not available online.  Subscribe]

Nearly 81 percent of Benicia’s residents are fully vaccinated, making it the second most vaccinated city in the county, next to Rio Vista. However, as the Delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the country, state and in Solano County, Benicia is not being spared.

Over the past five days, Benicia has recorded 20 new COVID-19 cases, an average of five new cases per day, for a total of 1,187 cases since the pandemic began. And while Benicia has the lowest incidence rate in the county at 4,305 per 100,000 residents, the uptick is alarming.

That is what spurred Mayor Steve Young and Vice Mayor Tom Campbell to bring back a discussion on whether to mandate masks in public indoor spaces within Benicia. The eight other Bay Area counties have already implemented the mandate, while Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas is the lone holdout. In a unanimous vote on Tue. night at the regular City Council meeting, councilmembers voted to bring back the item for a vote on whether to implement the mandate at the Aug. 24 special meeting.

“I implemented a mask mandate within our store a week ago because of the Delta virus strain,” said Councilmember and First St. business owner Christina Strawbridge. “I think it’s the responsible thing to do. I have to protect my staff and I have to protect my customers…I’m hoping we can rise above politics here.”

Matyas has been invited to attend the meeting. It should be a spirited conversation at the least as the majority of residents spoke out in favor of the mandate.

Benicia Author Stephen Golub: Open Letter to Benicia City Council on Indoor Mask Mandate

Eight good reasons to enact the strongest policy possible

Benicia resident, Stephen Golub

Dear Mayor Young, Vice Mayor Campbell, and Council Members Strawbridge, Largaespada and Macenski:

I am writing to urge that:

  1. consistent with the eight other Bay Area counties, the City Council adopt a very strong indoor mask mandate for Benicia when it considers a resolution regarding this matter at its August 24, 2021 meeting;
  2. it take into account the overwhelming evidence in favor of masks, as exemplified by a compilation of 49 (mostly) peer reviewed studies (a few of which in turn reviewed hundreds of other studies) documenting the effectiveness of masks against Covid-19;
  3. the Council consider the guidance from many authorities regarding this matter – not least that of the CDC, which “advise[s] that all individuals — including vaccinated ones — wear masks indoors in areas with ‘high’ and ‘substantial’ COVID-19 transmission,” since Solano and the other Bay Area counties fall into those two categories;
  4. conversely, the Council view with appropriate skepticism testimony from Solano County Health Officer Bela T. Matyas, should he weigh in against the mandate, given that
    1. for much of the pandemic, his office has apparently ignored or discounted the expertise of the eight other Bay Area counties’ health departments as well as the CDC and many other experts regarding Covid-19 policies and
    2. that Solano’s Covid case and hospitalization rates are substantially higher than those of the other eight counties;
  5. the Council similarly view skeptically Dr. Matyas’ claim that “the transmission that is occurring, that is causing this surge, is all in people’s homes, backyards, parties, camping, and is not in the environment where these masking recommendations are going to apply,” given
    1. the sweeping nature of that claim (all transmission occurs in private settings, including outdoor ones, rather than indoor public settings?),
    2. the rapidly evolving reality imposed by the highly infectious Delta variant, which greatly increases risks, uncertainty and cause for caution,
    3. the threat of “long Covid” (for which symptoms can persist for many months or perhaps permanently, even for individuals with mild or asymptomatic cases),
    4. Solano’s being consistently out of step with other Bay Area counties, the CDC and many experts, and
    5. Solano’s (perhaps resultantly) poor case and hospitalization track record relative to those other counties;
  6. it consider the strong possibility that the failure to adopt a mask mandate could undercut Benicia businesses, tourism and even property values, as many individuals and families who might consider shopping or moving here could look askance at a city that rejects a policy adopted throughout the Bay Area, in many other California and U.S. cities, and even in such parts of the country as Louisiana;
  7. the Council appreciate that an indoor mask mandate will make life easier and safer for the many Benicians staffing or considering returning to work in our stores and restaurants, including the young woman who thanked me for wearing a mask in her shop despite the sign outside saying that vaccinated persons (such as myself) need not do so; and
  8. the Council decides in favor of protecting all of us, particularly but not only the immunocompromised and children too young to be vaccinated.

I am not a health professional. But as a concerned Benician, it seems clear that the indoor mask mandate will help save Benicians’ health and conceivably even their lives.

So, please adopt the strongest policy possible. If you reject the mandate, your legacy could well be, “They voted for Covid.”

Sincerely,
Stephen Golub


Stephen Golub, Benicia – A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.

Benicia resident Stephen Golub offers excellent perspective on his blog, A Promised Land:  Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.

To access his other posts or subscribe, please go to his blog site, A Promised Land.

REMINDER: Facemasks are mandatory in Benicia…and statewide!

Benicia order in effect as of June 16, California as of June 18

By Roger Straw, July 10, 2020

Face coverings is NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE – it’s for your safety and mine, and for STOPPING the pandemic.

But I see way too many people in public places not wearing face masks.  Yes, right here in Benicia.

On June 16, the Benicia City Council passed Resolution No. 20-78, A Resolution of The City Council Of The City Of Benicia Requiring the Use of Face Coverings in Indoor and Enclosed Public Spaces.  Two days later, the California Department of Public Health issued its mandatory “Guidance For the Use of Face Coverings.”

Both documents spell out circumstances and situations in which face coverings are required, as well as exceptions to the orders.  Today might be a good time to review both, and be prepared when you go out.

Be aware – as of yesterday, we had 409 positive cases of the virus in Solano County, including 40 here in Benicia.  It’s here among us, and it’s incredibly contagious.

I know… we’re all tired of the social distancing and the masks, but we need to maintain our focus to beat this thing.  Let’s all keep our politics – and our aerosol emissions – to ourselves.

Solano County wake up! Gov. Newsom threatens counties that don’t order mandatory masks

Newsom threatens California counties that defy coronavirus rules as cases spike

San Francisco Chronicle, by Alexei Koseff June 24, 2020 
Gov. Gavin Newsom at a news conference in Sacramento on June 5.
Gov. Gavin Newsom at a news conference in Sacramento on June 5. Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom could withhold financial relief from local governments in the upcoming state budget if they do not follow guidelines that he says are necessary to tamp down the spike in coronavirus cases in California.

The budget deal with legislative leaders announced this week ties $750 million in funding to replace lost tax revenue for county services, as well as $1.3 billion for counties and $500 million for cities from the federal bailout package, to local governments’ compliance with the stay-at-home order and other state requirements on the coronavirus response.

Newsom, through his Department of Finance, could order state officials not to send local governments their portion of the money if they do not certify they are following the rules, which include a new mandate for Californians to wear masks nearly everywhere outside the home.

At a news conference Wednesday, the governor said that authority would give him leverage over those who “simply thumb their nose” at state guidelines. He did not specify how cities and counties would be expected to prove their compliance, though he added that he was trying to encourage good behavior rather than punish bad behavior.

“We give an enormous amount of power, control and authority to local government, but what we’re now looking for is accountability,” Newsom said.

Since the state rolled out its requirement for face coverings last week, county sheriffs and local police chiefs from Orange County to Sacramento have announced that they do not plan to enforce the order. The mayor of Nevada City, in Nevada County, encouraged residents to defy the mandate to “prevent all of us from slipping down the nasty slope of tyranny.”

Newsom, who has previously used state regulatory agencies to pressure businesses and local governments that defied his lockdown measures, said Wednesday that the “power of the purse” would give him another tool.

“If counties that have submitted that they need more state money to address this pandemic but are unwilling to enforce the rules and laws related to mitigate that pandemic, it seems not only counterintuitive that you would continue to provide those resources, but actually harmful to the broader effort,” he said.

California reported a record 7,149 new cases of the coronavirus Tuesday, Newsom said, which he attributed not only to an increase in testing but also a rising rate of positive tests. The state has recorded more than 12,000 cases in the past two days.

Hospitalizations of coronavirus patients have grown by 29% over the past two weeks, to 4,095, though the governor noted that is only a fraction of the state’s capacity.

Newsom blamed the spread on more Californians venturing out of their homes to visit family and friends, which he suggested was threatening the ability of the state to continue reopening its economy.

“Many of us, understandably, developed a little cabin fever. Some, I would argue, have developed a little amnesia. Others have just, frankly, taken down their guard,” he said. “It is our behaviors that are leading to these numbers, and we are putting people’s lives at risk.”

Earlier this week, Newsom acknowledged that he might have to shut down businesses again if the state loses control of its coronavirus outbreak. He released a video with former governors Jerry Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gray Davis and Pete Wilson encouraging the public to wear masks.

On Wednesday, Newsom pleaded with the public to continue washing their hands, wearing face coverings and avoiding large crowds and intimate gatherings.

“Consider others in your life and strangers. Love thy neighbors like yourself,” he said. “If you cannot practice physical distancing, then are you practicing love?”