Citing safety concerns and hopes to be consistent with the city of Columbus, Lowndes County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Monday morning to keep the county’s mask mandate in place and to review the policy at the end of October.
Supervisors’ decision came in contrast to Gov. Tate Reeves’ Safe Recovery Order last week, which allowed the statewide mask mandate to expire. The mandate, which he put in place Aug. 4, was lifted after the state saw declining numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations statewide, Reeves said. Face masks are still required in schools, college stadiums and places such as salons, barber shops and spas that provide “close contact personal care services,” according to the order.
But in Lowndes, the weekly number of cases is on the rise, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health. Although the weekly toll dropped from more than 140 in late July to double-digit figures in recent weeks, the case count increased from roughly 40 per week at the beginning of September to 57 the week of Sept. 26 — the latest when data is available.
As of Sunday, the county has seen 1,644 cases and 58 deaths related to COVID-19.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks, who moved to extend the mask mandate, said doing so would protect the health of county residents.
“If we do away with it, people are just going to quit wearing it,” he said.
District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith said Monday morning he supported the proposal because it would be consistent with the city’s policy. As of Tuesday, the mask mandates in Columbus, Starkville and West Point are still in place. Starkville leaders will hold a hearing on the matter tonight and Oktibbeha County voted to extend it Monday.
“Consistency is what we should be trying to create here,” Smith said. “I think adding a mask mandate to what is already signed by the governor allows us to continue to do what we’ve done from day one — to be consistent.”
District 2 Supervisor Trip Hairston and District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders both told The Dispatch after the meeting they believe the mask mandate is for the better.
“I thought it was important to keep the consistency. If the city is going to have one, the county should have one too,” Hairston said.
“Masks are not to protect me from getting the virus, it’s to protect me from giving the virus to somebody else, and I think it’s important that we do that,” Sanders said.
However, supervisors have not discussed how to effectively enforce the policy.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins could not be reached for comment by press time. He previously told The Dispatch it would be difficult to enforce the regulations due to the lack of manpower, and his deputies would not actively seek out to write tickets for mask requirement violations unless they receive complaints.
Except for the mask mandate, supervisors adopted all other policies laid out in Reeves’ executive order, which will expire Nov. 11 unless otherwise extended.
The order limits group gatherings to 20 people indoors and 100 people outdoors where social distancing is not possible. Businesses are allowed to operate at up to 75 percent of their maximum capacity, with the exception of movie theaters, which is limited to operate at 50 percent of their maximum capacity. Restaurants and bars must allow in up to 10 customers per table and cannot serve alcohol between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
County Administrator’s salary set for $125K
Supervisors also voted unanimously to set the salary for new county administrator Jay Fisher at $125,000 a year, the same amount former administrator Ralph Billingsley received during his tenure. Billingsley, who worked in that role for 12 years, retired Oct. 1.
Brooks, who moved to set Fisher’s salary, appealed to his fellow supervisors Monday morning to set the amount based on the position instead of based on the person. He also said he hopes his colleagues would allow Fisher to independently make his own recommendations.
Fisher, who was hired as the assistant county administrator in April, started May 1 with a pay of $50,000 through September.
Brooks, who voted against Fisher’s hiring in April, was the only one to abstain from the Monday vote to confirm Fisher as the new county administrator. Brooks previously claimed Billingsley was forced out by Sanders and said the position should have been advertised.
Yue Stella Yu was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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