Regarding Councilwoman Rita Heard Days recent vote on rescinding the county mask mandate. This sends the wrong message to her constituents who comprise a vast majority of unvaccinated St. Louis County residents. We all know that wearing masks and keeping socially distant helps to keep down the spread of COVID and the new Delta variant strain. Hospitalization and deaths are soaring again. That is the message that needs to be reinforced by any means necessary to avoid such a disastrous loss of life and overrun our hospital system.
Thankfully, many are wearing masks and socially distancing in the stores and other public places, but the lack of a mandate gives those who refuse to wear a mask, that much more latitude to endanger the rest of us. They don’t have the freedom or the liberty to infect our family and friends because they are too politically charged or choose to ignore proven scientific data. Â
We wish more were vaccinated and, yes, the outreach in the Black community was way too slow for too long. Sites to get the vaccine are plentiful now, however, and we are still begging folks to get vaccinated.
That’s where Councilwoman Days could be a major force with helping to reach out to her community by educating them and getting the correct message out to them. Instead, she has chosen to make this about an on-going feud with the County Executive and repeatedly voting with her Republican colleagues who don’t have her best interest at heart. She has chosen to turn her back on her community and those who supported, campaigned and voted for her.
We can allow our elected officials to politicize and use deflection tactics while people are dying. The real Bogey man or woman in the room was the Council Chairwoman and the puppet master Councilman Tim Fitch.
Normandy Township Regular Democratic Club