By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The Hill County Health Board met on Monday to discuss the mask wearing directive that was supposed to be issued last month.
However, the Order, which was approved in a 3-1 vote by the Board, needs to be signed by Board Chair Mark Peterson, who had not signed the Order as of Monday.
Monday’s meeting was called by Peterson, who was concerned about enforcement of the Order.
“We seem to have some not complete information on the enforcement side, and that’s why I have my problem,” Peterson, who voted in favor of the Order back in February, said at the start of the meeting. “That’s my concern. I really want to know what our expectations are on the enforcement side…We’ve gone back and forth on this, and I just felt we needed to have a meeting where we could get it clear once and for all.”
Fellow Commissioner Diane McLean, who provided the lone vote against the Order last month, cited an email from County Attorney Karen Alley arguing that enforcement of the order would be an impossible task. McLean also cited a March 3rd email from Larson saying she now favored a “strong recommendation,” rather than a mandate.
“I do not believe that we are in a situation which warrants us imposing a mask mandate,” said McLean, who was reading directly from the email. “Governor Gianforte’s Directive has been in effect since February 12th. Within his directive, he references CDC guidelines and industry best practices that businesses should follow, as well as those planning group gatherings or events. I feel like we promote those guidelines, explain the importance of still being vigilant in the fight to slow the spread of COVID-19, and keep our businesses and schools open, that we will get the support we need from our community. We are all wanting the same result…This information does not mean that in the future, there is not a possibility of more restrictions, but at this time, it is my belief that a strong recommendation for everyone to continue masking, social distancing and avoiding crowds would be the most effective.”
Board members Kristi Kline and Erica McKeon-Hanson held firm in their opinion that the mask order should be in place, adding that enforcement could come in the form of education.
“Obviously that’s great and it’s hindsight, but there was never that comment made on the 18th of February when we moved to have a vote. Nobody said anything about enforcement,” Kline said. The meeting closed at 5 PM and now here we are forward on March 3rd (when the email was sent) that there are issues now with this…Enforcement was never the intent. I don’t know that it ever had to be attached to it. The Governor’s directive clearly says that there is no enforcement.”
“I’ve heard from schools and from businesses that are actually looking for that document and that order so they have something that they can really feel like they can stand on,” McKeon-Hanson added. “That piece of paper. We have our vote, but that is what they are looking to to help them, because they want to ensure that facemasks are worn in their business and in their school. So where does that leave them? We really weighed all of those things on February 18th. And in terms of enforcement, this is more about education. I don’t think we’re trying to be heavy-handed. That’s not my intent at all.”
Sanitarian Clay Vincent was in support of the mask order back in February and said it is crucial that the public has some direction in the wake of confusion regarding the unsigned order.
“Most of them, they are going to take whatever is out there and say, ‘well, y’know, there are still a lot of our neighbors and people that have not been able to be vaccinated, we want them to get through this the same way. I still had some friends go to the hospital not too long ago. We haven’t had a lot of deaths (lately), but all it takes is one to say ‘shoot, we could’ve done this.’ Even if it’s just a direction to say we’re following the science on this. Somebody coming from Billings or coming from out of state could start (an outbreak) again. So let’s do the best we can. Just some direction. That’s all you can do.”
At the end of the meeting, McLean attempted to make a motion to change the Health Order to call for a strong recommendation for wearing face coverings in public, rather than the requirement. However, Board Secretary Kristi Kline said no action could be taken at the meeting, since the only item on the agenda was ‘discussion.’
There was no legal counsel at the meeting to sort out the issue, and the meeting adjourned without any action being taken. No other special meetings have been scheduled at this time.
Peterson says he will sign the Order once he receives another copy of it, adding that he misplaced his copy. Larson was not at the meeting and has been unavailable for comment.
When asked via email by New Media Broadcasters whether the unsigned order is in effect, County Attorney Karen Alley said she is unable to comment on the Board’s “discussion or intent,” since she was not at the meeting.
This post has been updated to clarify that the Board approved a Health Board Order, not a Health Officer Order. That means it only needed to be signed by Chair Mark Peterson, not Health Officer Kim Larson.
