Sapulpa’s controversial mask mandate resolution was discussed Monday evening March 15th in a City Council Study Session.
The Council passed the mask mandate in a 6-4 vote on November 16th, 2020. It went into effect on November 18th until January 4th, 2021. At its January 4th meeting, the Council voted 5-4 to extend the mandate an additional 120 days (until May 3rd, 2021).
On Monday, City Attorney David Widdoes explained that unless the Mayor or a majority of the 10-member Council asks to put the issue to be amended or rescinded on an upcoming regular City Council meeting agenda, it will stand until its expiration on May 3rd.
Widdoes said that this week, the item was placed on the study session agenda at the Mayor’s request, so he and City staff could “understand each individual Councillor’s opinion” on the matter, and to see if a majority wanted it to be put on a future meeting’s agenda.
When Mayor Craig Henderson asked his fellow Council members to please share their opinions, Councilor Bruce Bledsoe asked for the rescission of the mandate to be put on the April 5th agenda. He said that “with the states that have already [dropped the mask requirement], it’s our responsibility to take another look at it.”
Councilor Joseph Hale reported that he has “had several business owners and citizens ask if [a mask requirement] could be left up to the business.”
Henderson specifically asked to hear from the Council’s pharmacist, Councilor John Suggs. Suggs began by emphasizing, “I really hate that this issue has divided our community, almost right down the middle. I hate how it has divided our Council, with very strong feelings on both sides. That’s what we see when people come into the room…I would love to hammer out some kind of compromise that we could be unanimous on. I think we could phase out the masks. I think the example we have set has been important for the community. As the one who made the motion with the expiration date, I’m very willing to compromise on the matter, and move on to other matters that are important to Sapulpa.”
Bledsoe said, “Our next meeting is April 5th. I think we should at least put it on the agenda.” He further stated that the Council “could have handled [the decision] better. We incited people when we cut down their comments to three minutes. I’ve had many, many phone calls, emails, and comments from people who were disappointed in our representation.”
When Widdoes said, “If six of you want to revisit the matter at the next meeting, I need to hear it.” However, no one else spoke up. When he specifically asked Councilor Hugo Naifeh if he was interested in amending or rescinding the proclamation, Naifeh said he was “a hard ‘no’” on that.
Widdoes said that he is sure “everyone is aware of the good news that the State of Oklahoma and Creek County’s concerning rates have all decreased,” including all the “rates we were concerned about when this proclamation was issued.” And that he knows that “we all want to go back to a more normal way of life as conditions go down.” However, he said that from what he has “heard from other city attorneys, [most other nearby municipalities] are looking at [rescinding their mandates] sometime in April, due to the fact that people are traveling during Spring Break this week.” He said, “We’re all hopeful we don’t see a spike. I’m encouraged that if the trends are the same, we maybe should look at amending or totally removing [the mandate] earlier than its expiration date.”
But, he cautioned, “with the vaccine rollout and the portal making it available for those 16 and up who are in a school setting, I think around 600,000 Oklahomans have had both vaccines, and it should be close to a million soon.” He implied that it would not be prudent to make changes before as many people as possible are vaccinated and are two weeks out from their second dose.
One person signed up to speak publicly at the regular City Council meeting, concerned citizen and longtime Sapulpan, Don Diehl.
Diehl said that the last time he addressed the Council he spoke about the “importance of transparency on the part of City Council members.” He said, that, tonight, “I come to make a statement and give a reminder at a time when the national news may reign supreme, but locally, we are governed by those who govern us. We are not a monarchy. For the people, by the people, of the people. Supposedly. I feel like the Sapulpa City Council at this juncture and in the event of the COVID-19 phenomenon needs to be reminded that there are two sides to every story. We used to ask, as journalists, ‘What is your source?’ I want to lend my support for access, transparency—if people want to come together in this hall to debate a mask mandate, then that ought to be allowed. It ought not be a matter of division. The people of Sapulpa are smart people who can follow good leadership. There’s a great divide when people feel like they’ve been silenced.”
Vice Mayor Carla Gunn, who began her comments by saying, “I’d like to say that I’ve been biting my tongue for months, to the people who have been comparing the mask mandate to slavery and to my people. I’ve gotten death threats. I have a medical background, and for me, we finally did something right and numbers are going down. We’re at the tail end of this, just a little bit more time, and we’ll be able to look at it with a clear eye.”
She continued by saying that she had a short video about local nurses and other medical professionals on the frontlines of the pandemic, people who “have taken care of your loved ones,” that she wanted her fellow Councillors to see. While asking a City staffer to please play the video, Bledsoe interrupted, saying, “We don’t need to see it.”
A disconcerted Gunn said, “I’ve always respected you and everybody’s view on this council. I’ve never argued with one single person about their views. So you can give me the respect to watch this video. These are local nurses…”
Again, Bledsoe interrupted, saying, “I want to go on record to say that I am against watching this video.”
None of the other eight councilors in attendance appeared opposed to watching it, and the four-minute clip was played. It featured doctors and nurses from various Oklahoma hospitals saying that they wished the people who do not support mask mandates and other safety protocols could see what they see every day. “Masks protect both yourself and the people around you. They are not a political statement. It’s about caring about each other and loving each other,” stated one of the professionals shown in the video.
When it ended, Gunn stated, “Those are local nurses, one is a hometown Sapulpan. Thank you for listening, because I’ve sat through multiple meetings and listened to everything, and some people don’t agree [with everything that has been said] and are afraid to speak up.”
Mayor Henderson told Sapulpa Times that he “will wait to see the numbers at the end of this month, as that will be two weeks past spring break. If there is not a spike, and I feel there is a majority of the council wanting [the proclamation] placed back on our regular agenda, then it probably will be.”
He concluded by saying, “I was disappointed in the Council’s inability to respect others’ thoughts and feelings on this matter when not in agreement. I’ve always tried to respect other Councilors, even if we disagree.”
Considering the statements made by both Widdoes and Henderson, the mask mandate is not going away for at least a month. Henderson, as stated above, will wait until two weeks after the end of Spring Break to see if the numbers of active cases and deaths have increased, which would be the week of April 5. It would take another two weeks to get it on the next agenda, which would be for the Monday, April 19th meeting, at the earliest.
There is a slim possibility that the mandate could be rescinded two weeks before the expiration date of May 4th, but it is unlikely, given that there is not a majority of the Council who wants to consider it, let alone rescind or amend it.
Widdoes mentioned another option for hearing the issue early, which would be if three councilors were to call for a special meeting to consider it. Should this happen, however, it is unlikely that a majority of the Council would agree to it.
