Speakers before county commission dispute need for mask mandate

By Steve Sebelius Las Vegas Review-Journal

3 years ago

Jon Carlo speaks during a Clark County Commission meeting to discuss the increasing positivity ... — Jon Carlo speaks during a Clark County Commission meeting to discuss the increasing positivity rates of COVID-19 in Clark County on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Clark County Commission Chairman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, right, instructs people during public comment in a meeting to discuss the increasing positivity rates of COVID-19 in Clark County and the recent recommendations from the Southern Nevada Health District on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Officers escort Katrin Ivanoff from the Clark County Commission meeting for public outbursts as members discuss the increasing positivity rates of COVID-19 in Clark County on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Members of the public express their discontentment as officers escort Katrin Ivanoff from the Clark County Commission meeting for public outbursts as members discuss the increasing positivity rates of COVID-19 in Clark County on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Speakers at Tuesday’s Clark County Commission emergency meeting called to respond to the COVID crisis demonstrated clearly that local officials are fighting a deep well of vaccine and mask resistance.

Speaker after speaker told commissioners they would not comply with the mandate, that masks were ineffective in combatting the coronavirus and that a mask mandate was a violation of personal freedoms and even unconstitutional.

One even proclaimed: “I never got it (COVID-19) and I never wore a mask.”

In the end, commissioners voted to require employees at Clark County businesses to wear masks when indoors in areas open to the public. The Gaming Control Board later endorsed the mandate for casino employees as well.