I am pleased with how the vote went for the city wide mask ordinance. I am disappointed that you would have voted to have one. I am concerned about you not recusing yourself from the vote, due to being an employee of Panhandle Health. That is not ethical in my opinion, a definite conflict of interest.
I am also disturbed by the mayor claiming only 12 people can be in a room that hold 125, and that only one point of view was presented. This is a violation of Idaho Open Meeting Laws even with the Emergency Declaration from Gov. Little.
Here are some thoughts to keep in mind:
Over the past 3 months of the Panhandle Health Mandate I’ve felt like we were being divided.
We are split up.
We were the haves and the have nots.The masked vs. the unmasked
The masked people were looked upon as good while the unmasked were looked upon as selfish and undesirable.
Neighbors are calling the police on one another when they see a mask violation. Masked people seem to feel empowered to confront the unmasked and are even being aggressive.
Dr. Arlie Esau from Hayden has written a paper with his thoughts against the Panhandle Mask mandate:
“Covid 19 is a health care issue. Before I go further, I want to introduce two of the oldest guiding principles that guide doctors helping patients in making health care decisions. This is the first principle:
First Do No Harm
It’s foundation is based on solid reasoning. Inherent in the principle is this caution that unless you have solid reason to believe that an intervention has a much higher probability of benefit than harm, you should not intervene. A bad outcome where there has been intervention is the responsibility of the doctor. A bad outcome where there is no intervention, in accordance with this principle is a matter between the patient, nature and God.
Here is the second principle.
Informed consent is based on the moral and legal premise of patient autonomy: You as the patient have the right to make decisions about your own health and medical conditions. You must give your voluntary, informed consent for treatment and for most medical tests and procedures.
Both these principles are being violated.”
Telling people that they can’t shop without a mask is denying them the freedom to feed their families. What about denying someone the right to work? Go to the DMV? Enter City Hall? People without masks were being denied liberties and access to all kinds of goods and services. We are also hearing reports of people being denied medical care unless they wear a mask as well as submit to a covid test.