VALDOSTA — Could a mask mandate be coming to Valdosta?

City Councilman Eric Howard would like to see it.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s recent executive order allows for local governments to pass mask mandates in response to COVID-19 – if they meet certain standards. Howard spoke to The Valdosta Daily Times about his desire to see a mask mandate here and his hope to get the item on a future Valdosta City Council agenda. 

Howard said he sees a mandate helping local businesses, particularly small businesses, and better securing the health and safety of local residents.

“I don’t want anyone to go into a store and then you’ve got to worry about customers getting mad at them because the store put the sign up saying ‘wear a mask,’” he said. “Put that on us. … We can take businesses out of politics. If the city mandates (masks), we can take the heat.”

Howard said this week he does not know how long a mandate would last but mentioned possible milestones such as COVID-19 numbers going down after local schools and Valdosta State University have opened or possibly lasting until a vaccine becomes available. He did not mention specifics about what areas and type of gatherings would require masks.

“I don’t want any of our businesses to be targeted saying, ‘we’re not going to shop here because y’all are making us put on a mask,’” Howard said.

 

Valdosta City Manager Mark Barber said Wednesday afternoon no council members have approached him about adding a mask mandate to the City Council agenda. Items brought to him by members with council support usually are added to agendas, he said. 

The Valdosta Daily Times spoke with all seven council members, and they support discussing the issue during a regular meeting, but they split on voting for a mask mandate.

While Councilman Andy Gibbs supports adding a possible mask mandate to the city’s agenda for discussion, he does not see the need to mandate masks for all city residents.

Gibbs said he stays in contact with South Georgia Medical Center, and the hospital’s decrease in coronavirus patients during the past two weeks has showed him promise.

“The first thing I did was do my research with our local hospital here to figure out what our count was. Is COVID going up? Are the numbers going up? Is it going down? Is it the same?” he said. “What we’ve had in place I think everyone has done a good job so far.”

Mandating masks isn’t a novel concept to Councilwoman Sandra Tooley. She mentioned mandating masks in all city government buildings a month ago, which the city has already implemented, she said.

Tooley, a registered nurse who works in one of the South Georgia Medical Center intensive care units, said she tested positive for COVID-19 and had to quarantine for 15 days before testing negative. Although she was asymptomatic during quarantine, she emphasized her support to require all Valdosta residents to wear a mask in public and said she would vote in favor of the measure.

“We need to wear masks,” Tooley said.

Councilman Tim Carroll’s concern revolves around enforcement. Supportive of an agenda item, Carroll said he would likely vote against a mask mandate because he doesn’t see a way to enforce it.

“I don’t know that our current (police) force level could enforce such an ordinance,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to me to adopt an ordinance that you can’t enforce.”

Councilman Sonny Vickers said he likes the idea of mandating masks, but like any ordinance passed by government, “the devil is in the details.”

“You have to look at what the ordinance says but I’m in favor of doing something,” Vickers said.

Mandating masks is something Councilwoman Vivian Miller-Cody has advocated for months – both in-person and on Facebook. The move is needed for safety of the elderly, teachers and students, she said, and noted her outspoken view on the matter has caused pushback from some residents online.

“My goal is this: our (COVID-19) count is still going up. Out of all the ugly comments I received, our count is still going up,” she said.

Councilman Ben Norton said while he wears a mask in public, he would not support a citywide mask mandate.

“If I’m in public, I do wear a mask. I don’t believe in mandating that,” he said. “I think that we can encourage people to — show the facts, how it does help prevent all kinds of disease from spreading.”

Mayor Scott James Matheson is not a voting member of the council, nor can he get items placed on the agenda, but said he opposes a mask mandate.

“It’s easy to mandate something. Tough to enforce,” he said. “(Wearing a mask) is the right thing to do but a mandate weakens our position. It does not strengthen it.” 

Howard said he hopes to at least see a mandate on the agenda for discussion.

Requiring residents to wear a mask shouldn’t be a political matter, he added.

“A mask doesn’t have a D or a R on it,” Howard said.