Topline:
The Huntington Beach City Council voted to approve a resolution to ban mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the city, but it likely doesn’t hold much legal weight. State law requires local health departments to implement state health orders and cities can’t supersede state laws. The state hasn’t indicated it is going to reinstate any type of mandate.
The resolution: The resolution passed on a 4-3 vote and says individuals “should have a right to choose” whether or not to wear a mask or get vaccinated. City attorney Michael Gates told LAist in an email that the resolution formalizes the city’s position against “overreaching broad mask and vaccine mandates by other government agencies” and that “it was important to City Council to take this public position on a policy to ban mask and vaccine mandates.”
A political stunt? Former Mayor Kim Carr, who served during the height of the pandemic says the resolution is “performative” and “half-baked.” “Nobody’s talking about mask mandates. Nobody’s talking about vaccine mandates,” she said. “This is just more fear mongering and trying to get people angry about something.”
What’s next: Like other Southern California counties, Orange County has seen a recent increase in COVID cases, and hospitalizations have trended up since July. The state ended the COVID public health emergency earlier this year and the California Department of Public Health hasn’t indicated it will reinstate any type of mandate. The resolution will be presented and voted on for formal adoption at a later city council meeting.
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