Mask mandate explained
Dear Editor,
On September 14th, the Maryville City Council voted to extend the current face covering ordinance through November 24th of this year. This decision was not taken lightly nor made without a great deal of careful consideration. I voted to extend the ordinance for three reasons:
1) The data collected by the Nodaway County Health Department clearly show that after the ordinance was put into effect on July 27th, the county’s numbers of new daily positive cases began to trend downward, and stayed low until approximately August 15th, when roughly 7,000 Northwest Missouri State University students began moving to town. After an expected “move-in spike”, new daily positive cases are again trending downward, nearly to the low levels of early August. This is proof positive that masks work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
2) Our community partners and local health care experts requested an extension of the ordinance. As I noted Monday night, both Mosaic Healthcare and Nodaway County Health strongly urged the extension of the ordinance to help safeguard public health, and Northwest noted the mask mandate was central to their ability to remain on ground this fall, for the benefit of our local economy. We cannot govern in a vacuum, and we must listen to our community partners when they are asking for support.
3) Finally, the national data show nearly 200,000 American deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including seven here in Nodaway County. According to a September 11th article in the New York Times, Missouri has the third highest infection rate in the country. The pandemic is not over. Now is not the time to pull back on mitigation efforts
I firmly believe the role of a city councilperson is to gather and analyze data from reliable and vetted sources, examine an issue from all sides, and make the best decision possible at the time for the wellbeing of the community and its citizens. We may not all agree; in fact, the timing of the ordinance extension was debated and the vote was split, 3-2. But at the end of the day, we were able to discuss the issue in a respectful manner, vote our conscience, and carry on with the business of the city.
The social media debates over the city’s actions, however, can be much less productive. Name calling, mischaracterizations, and data misappropriation are just a few of the tools in the online dissenter’s toolbox. I would urge the residents of our community to strive towards a civil public discourse, to an understanding that you can disagree with someone without tearing them down. Our city will be the better for it.
––Tye Parsons
Mayor Pro Tem,
City of Maryville
