Wichita City Council passes mask mandate, effective immediately

Masks will be required in Wichita or violators could be fined.

After a more than 3.5-hour special meeting on Friday, the Wichita City Council voted 4-3 in favor of mandating masks. Council members heard from roughly 12 medical professionals, who all spoke in favor of the ordinance, as well as six people who spoke remotely at Century II — to help with social distancing. Five of the people spoke in favor of the masks.

Council members Jeff Blubaugh, James Clendenin and Bryan Frye voted against the measure.

The measure requires masks or any face covering to be worn in public spaces where 6 feet of social distancing “at all times is not possible” and at businesses. Employees in a closed room must wear a mask if social distancing can’t be maintained. Exemptions are for children under the age of 5 and people with medical conditions that prevent them from wearing a mask. People do not need a mask while eating or drinking at a restaurant or similar business as long as social distancing is met with “only infrequent or incidental moments of closer proximity.” The social distancing does not apply to people who live together.

The ordinance sunsets Aug. 11.

The medical professionals included a surgeon, OB-GYN, Wichita Public Schools director of health services, pediatric specialist and infectious-disease doctor. All of them said their colleagues agreed with a mandate.

Mayor Brandon Whipple called the special meeting to try to put the ordinance in place before the holiday weekend.

Doctors warned that action needed to be taken now, ahead of the holiday weekend. They said cases spiked from gatherings on Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.

“If there is not action taken today there will be serious consequences,” Dr. Steven Davis said. “So I just want you to be forewarned.”

Council members Clendenin and Frye had both asked to postpone the discussion until Tuesday for additional time to take public input and vet the ordinance. Whipple said he would make amendments to the ordinance to address their concerns and call another special meeting in a couple hours.

Instead, the council made amendments and voted on the ordinance.

One of the amendments reduced the fines to $25 for first convictions, $50 for second and $100 for third and subsequent convictions.

“I think we would engage in education, information and officer discretion before we went into enforcement,” Wichita deputy chief Jose Salcido told council members.

Dr. Thomas Moore, an infectious-disease specialist noted masks have helped the Japanese economy from shutting down. Other medical officials noted that studies show masks can help save economic fallout.

“Without (the mask mandate) we will see a tsunami of cases that will cost lives,” Moore said.

After health officials spoke, Clendenin said decisions shouldn’t be made out of fear. Clendenin said the state statute is clear the mask mandate would have to be set at the county level.

Whipple, noting Clendenin said he didn’t have a medical degree, asked Clendenin if he had a law degree. After Clendenin said no, Whipple said that the legal staff would be better equipped to answer the question. The city attorney said she didn’t believe the ordinance violated state law but all ordinances can be challenged.

Dr. Rebecca Reddy, a pediatric specialist, said doctors aren’t scared and she’s been impressed with their bravery to treat people with a deadly disease. She said elected officials should have the same bravery and they should weigh their conscious, and not politics, before voting.

Reddy said schools wouldn’t be able to have in-person students this fall if the curve doesn’t flatten.

Dr. Sheryl Beard, a family physician at Ascension Medical Group, said the disease spreads by respiratory droplets that happen when people speak. It can go 6-10 feet when people speak and further when people yell at a football game. She said wearing a mask is like wearing a condom, since “everyone wants to sort of share each other’s air” and this keeps both of them safe.

“If we want to continue to go to the hairdressers and have football games this fall, and have our kids in schools, I think it’s very important we have mandatory masking,” Beard said. “So recommendations for masking doesn’t seem to work. So I would currently encourage the council to enforce mandatory masking.”

Frye asked Beard to confirm that there is no mandate on wearing condoms.

After Beard agreed, Whipple said: “And just in that same line of thought, people aren’t getting pregnant by airborne droplets currently, is that correct? ... If they were then maybe we might be mandating a cloth mask if it was making people pregnant. Is that correct?”

Beard laughed and said yes.

The mayor said his frustration reached a boiling point Thursday night, after the Sedgwick County Commission overturned an order by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly to mandate use of protective face masks to fight the coronavirus.

The decision came despite reports from the county’s health officer and health director that COVID-19 cases are “exploding” in the Wichita area.

County Commissioner Lacey Cruse, who opposed the recommendation along with commissioner Jim Howell, spoke at the City Council meeting Friday, urging them to pass the “common sense” ordinance. She also read an email from Wesley Medical Center president Bill Voloch where he urged masks be mandated.

Wichita has most of Sedgwick County’s people, businesses, hospitals and COVID-19 cases, but the city’s elected leaders have taken a backseat to the county on nearly every COVID-19 public health decision.

A legislative change empowered county commissions to exercise home rule over public health decisions related to COVID-19 response, which enabled the commission to overrule Kelly’s order.

“The legal department has advised us that in the event that the Sedgwick County Commission fails to act, we can utilize home rule and create an ordinance to protect Wichita the best we can from COVID-19,” Whipple said. “So that’s what we’re going to do.”

Instead of mandating masks in public indoor spaces and when in close proximity outdoors, as Kelly’s order would have done, the commission voted to “strongly suggest” mask wearing. Thursday’s vote was effectively a moot gesture, as the commission approved suggesting mask-wearing in public over a month ago.

“Since the County Commission took us off the original plan, we have seen nothing but an explosion of COVID numbers,” Whipple said.

He also blasted the commission for playing “word games” instead of making clear, decisive public health directives.

“The idea that we ‘strongly suggest’ people take this advice has failed,” he said. “There’s no evidence that shows that strategy has worked, and now we are in a much worse position.”

Whipple said masks are the last line of defense against the virus and essential to preventing another shutdown.

“I’ve got to do something. I’m responsible to the people of Wichita to try to protect us from COVID, and this is one of the only tools I have.

“This is the last second, Hail Mary pass to keep us from a shutdown,” he said. “Wichitans have already paid a huge economy price up front for this. We don’t want to pay that again, and that’s why the business community and the medical community are on board with this measure that is going to help protect our vulnerable populations.”

This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 10:33 PM.