So far, the decision of whether to mandate masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19 has been up to local governments in towns and cities around Vermont. While recommended by the CDC and the Vermont Department of Health, Governor Phil Scott has so far held back from imposing a statewide mask mandate — though that could change soon.
Here’s how it played out in the town of Waitsfield:
On July 13, the select board took up a resolution that would make it mandatory to wear a mask or other face covering in public places that are indoors, or where social distancing is not possible. The select board voted it down, 3-2.
The following day, Town Health Officer Fred Messer tried to use the authority of his position to overrule the select board. On July 14, Messer issued an emergency health order requiring masks in town.
Up to this point, his job had mostly consisted of things like checking out septic systems and rental properties.
“I don’t take any satisfaction out of this at all,” Messer said in an interview with VPR. “I wish I didn’t have to do it, but I felt that I had to.”
Messer is a longtime resident and public servant in Waitsfield. He takes his 3-year appointment as Town Health Officer seriously, especially in a pandemic. “The first line in my job description in the [Town Health Officer] handbook says I am responsible for the public health of my community,” he said. “I just felt that I had to do it, damn it all.”
More from VPR: Gov. Scott Hints That Statewide Mask Mandate Is Coming Soon
After the select board voted down the mask mandate, the debate over masks that’s been playing out across the United States — and here in Vermont — got going in full force in the Mad River Valley town, almost overnight. Many of Waitsfield’s 1,700 residents argued the pros and cons on Front Porch Forum, in emails to the select board, and in the local paper. As the pandemic progresses, evidence increasingly suggests that wearing a face mask helps to reduce the spread of COVID-19. While most residents were in favor of mask-wearing, several resisted a mandate.
"If there's no face mask policy in Waitsfield, I'm not to go into town. I'm to stay at home... We need to be a society that cares for each other in very dramatic ways, especially in this pandemic." - Alice Peal, Waitsfield planning commissioner
More from NPR: Can Masks Save Us From More Lockdowns? Here's What The Science Says
Meanwhile, the Town Health Officer’s emergency health order didn’t settle the matter. Burlington attorney Joseph McLean advised the town that Messer didn’t have the authority to issue a mask mandate “where any person in the town could then appeal back to the [select board] that had just the day before made a decision that was inconsistent with the emergency health order. And that didn’t seem particularly logical to me,” he said.
Plus, said McLean, Gov. Phil Scott’s emergency order explicitly leaves it up to local select boards and city councils to decide whether masks are mandatory. “So those two factors together really were the primary components of what I was looking at."
Other towns around Vermont have made decisions about masks without getting caught up in the quirks of local politics: Fayston and Warren, two of Waitsfield’s neighboring villages in the tourist-heavy Mad River Valley, have mask mandates. Other communities, including Hartford and Barre, have decided against it.
Then on Monday night, a week after the resolution was voted down, the mask question returned to the Waitsfield Select Board. Around 50 individuals convened on Zoom, and most of them spoke during the public comment period.
Alice Peal, a member of the town planning commission, spoke in favor of a mask mandate. She’s 68 and has rheumatoid arthritis, and a few weeks ago she finished a treatment of powerful immunosuppressants. She also has asthma. Since the start of the pandemic, her husband has gone out to the grocery store once a week, but that’s about it. “If there’s no face mask policy in Waitsfield, I’m not to go into town,” she said. “I’m to stay at home...We need to be a society that cares for each other in very dramatic ways, especially in this pandemic.”
"This vote isn't about where we care or whether we don't care, this is truly whether you're going to tell someone what they should do with their body, or what they shouldn't do with their body." - Jennifer Stella, codirector of Health Choice Vermont
Others, like Jennifer Stella, Waitsfield resident and codirector of Health Choice Vermont, disagreed. “This vote isn’t about where we care or whether we don’t care, this is truly whether you’re going to tell someone what they should do with their body, or what they shouldn’t do with their body,” Stella said.
Still others had concerns regarding enforceability, and the very nature of a mandate. The meeting went on for three hours, and at the end, the select board again voted 3-2. This time for an amended resolution that said wearing a face covering was “highly encouraged” in the town.
More from Vermont Edition: How A Statewide Mask Mandate Is Playing Out In Massachusetts
Town Health Officer Fred Messer told VPR that even though this new resolution doesn’t mandate masks, he is not going to try to issue another emergency health order. And it looks like masks might soon be required everywhere in Vermont — Gov. Scott said at his press conference earlier this week that he might issue a statewide mandate as soon as July 24.
If Scott chooses to do so, the decision will soon be out of Waitsfield's hands.
Update 7/24/2020 12:21 p.m.: On Friday, July 24, Gov. Phil Scott announced a statewide mandate requiring that masks or facial coverings be worn public spaces, both indoors and outdoors, where social distancing is not possible. The mandate includes exceptions for those with certain health conditions and children under the age of 2, and will go into effect Aug. 1.
Update 8/4/2020 10:35 a.m.: Jennifer Stella's title has been updated to accurately reflect her current position; she is the codirector of Health Choice Vermont, no longer the Executive Director of the Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice.
