Jackson council approves face mask requirement
Jackson council approves face mask requirement
By Rebecca Huntington
Jackson Hole Daily
Via Wyoming News Exchange
JACKSON — People are now required to wear face coverings in many Jackson businesses.
The Jackson Town Council raced to approve an emergency mask ordinance, voting 5-0 at a special meeting Friday afternoon ahead of the holiday weekend.
Business owners had pleaded with councilors to pass such an ordinance after expressing frustration with customers rebuffing requests for voluntary compliance.
Councilor Arne Jorgensen said that fueled his support for the ordinance. His patience “completely vaporized,” he said, “when I started hearing the verbal abuse that our businesses and their staff were taking when they were making the decision, in their private businesses, asking people to put on masks.”
Jorgensen said the town needed to send a strong message. The emergency ordinance requires people to wear face coverings when they are inside or waiting to enter a business, including health care providers, and when riding in public buses or taxis.
The ordinance does not include outdoor spaces except for when people are waiting in line outside a business.
There are medical exceptions, and children under the age of 6 and individuals working in their offices are not required to wear masks.
The council heard three public comments, written and verbal, before voting.
Bob Culver and Gloria Courser both pushed for sticking with voluntary compliance instead of an ordinance, which could carry a citation and fine of up to $750. That’s the typical fee range for a town ordinance. In written comment, Courser said she went to Town Square to observe the situation Friday and saw many people wearing masks or with masks at the ready.
“Simply based upon my observed numbers today, 66% voluntary compliance out in the open air is looking pretty darn good,” she wrote.
She also urged councilors to take into account metrics beyond the number of new positive cases.
“When you look at deaths and hospitalizations,” she wrote, “the metrics do not appear dire.”
But business owners John Frechette and Christian Burch, who run three shops downtown and employ 18 summer workers, echoed comments from other business owners reporting that voluntary compliance wasn’t cutting it.
“We need your help to keep [our workers] safe and healthy as our town is beginning to resemble photos of beaches and pool parties in Florida and Missouri,” Frechette and Burch wrote to the town. “There are many people visiting from places where wearing masks isn’t a common practice.”
The shop owners reported providing customers with free masks but warned that approach might not be sustainable.
“We are giving away over 100 disposable masks per day,” they wrote, adding that “our days consist of speaking of or extinguishing aggressions about mask wearing.”
Supporters argue that an ordinance will lead to higher rates of mask wearing, which will help control disease transmission and reduce the risk of having to shut down businesses in the future.
The town ordinance applies only within town limits and could be replaced by a countywide order submitted to the state earlier this week by Teton County District Health Officer Dr. Travis Riddell.
State attorneys are reviewing that order. Town Attorney Lea Colasuonno said she was able to speak with the state attorneys briefly and updated the town ordinance based on their input.