Response to St. Louis County Mask Mandate.

Response to recently announced St. Louis County Mask mandate in in-door public places.

We have received numerous e-mails and phone calls from constituents passionately expressing their opinions regarding this past Friday’s announcement by St. Louis County that masks will again be required at in-door public facilities, regardless of vaccination status. In reading these e-mails, it is obvious that there is a great misunderstanding as to who has the authority to enforce the mandate. This misunderstanding has been fueled by bold public statements by elected officials that they have made the decision to defy and not enforce the county mandate.

A legal determination was made last year that concluded that no law enforcement agency (including St. Louis County Police Department) has the authority to enforce a County Health Department Administrative Order. Therefore, Chesterfield Police Department will not unilaterally enforce the mandate. However, if a business establishment imposes requirements on their patrons to wear masks at in-door public places and a patron refuses to comply, our officers will respond to a call from the business to keep the peace. To be clear, our officers will only respond to calls from business establishments in order to keep the peace.

Having said all this, I will personally say that I believe all eligible people should be vaccinated for their own safety, as well as the safety of others. Furthermore, although we all value our liberties and freedoms, I think it is a small sacrifice to comply with safety precautions that have been imposed. After all, we are in the midst of a world-wide pandemic that has already killed over 4 million humans and caused many more severe illnesses. We have heard of the resurgence of infection rates even within our own state and reports of vaccinated individuals becoming infected with the Delta variant.

If we do not exercise common sense and responsible judgment, we risk  prolonging the adverse consequences that none of us like having to endure.

Sincerly Mayor Bob Nation