Washington supervisors once again reject countywide mask mandate

The Washington County Board of Supervisors discussed but failed to approve a COVID mask mandate for Washington County when it met in regular session Tuesday.

According to Washington County Attorney John Gish, the supervisors have no authority to impose the mandate.

During the public comment session, three employees of Halcyon House spoke in favor of a countywide mask mandate. Another person opposed the mandate, and one favored the mandate for the next eight weeks.

Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen said that while she understands why people resist government mandates, when an individual's behavior threatens the life or safety of another, a mandate may be necessary. A government mandate is not perfect, she said, but it follows the best advice of medical professionals.

Another person said 74 percent of those testing positive were wearing masks all of the time; therefore, the science does not support wearing masks since masks trap bacteria in front of a user's face.

Public Health Administrator Danielle Pettit-Majewski said the county has seen an improvement in cases since the governor's mask mandate. She said the county's current 14-day rolling positivity rate is 11.1 percent. She said it was 20 percent just a few weeks ago before the governor's mandate.

COVID Update

Pettit-Majewski said that to date 8,945 people have been tested for COVID-19 and 1,635 have tested positive. In the past 14 days, 144 tested positive with 60 testing positive in the past seven days. The positivity rate for Washington County is 11.1 percent.

It is 16.3 percent for Jefferson County and 9.6 percent for Johnson County. There are four patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Washington County. There have been 3,273 deaths in the state and 24 deaths in the county.

Budget and Salaries

The Compensation Committee has recommended a 3 percent increase for all elected officials for the coming fiscal year. The matter was tabled until Dec. 22 when a decision will be made.

The supervisors discussed departmental operational budget guidelines. The guidelines included a freeze on operational expenditures. The guidelines included a 2 percent compensation increase to be divided among employees as the department head wishes.

A motion to allow no increases for either elected or nonelected officials failed on a 3-2 vote.

Other Business

In other business the supervisors:

' Acknowledged a $20 donation to the K-9 fund.

' Designated the Kalona News as one of the Washington County official newspapers for publication of official 2021 county proceedings.

' Administered the oath of office to recently elected county officials and deputies.

' Joined an ongoing statewide lawsuit and possible settlement agreement with distributors and manufacturers of prescription opioid medications.