The City of Oxford passed a mask ordinance on Monday with a six to one majority, effective immediately through December 13th, 2021. Councilman Glenn Ellerbe was the sole vote against the ordinance, in part due to his view that there should be an exemption for those who are vaccinated. This ordinance was passed one day before Miami University instituted a vaccine mandate for students that goes into effect in October.
The ordinance, which initially applied to individuals ages six and above, was amended to include all individuals ages 2 and up at the Oxford City Council meeting on Monday evening. The amendment was proposed by Mr. Ellerbe and passed unanimously.
The council chamber was filled with members of the public who came to both observe and to comment on the proceedings. The majority of those in attendance were students at Miami University, many of whom also chose to address the city council members during the allotted time for public comment. Fifteen members of the public spoke in total, all but two of whom were opposed to the all-encompassing mask ordinance proposed by the council.
Miami student Landon Halverston expressed concern for the effect that the mandate will have on the businesses of Oxford, especially bars, where customers must be seated in order to remove their mask. He noted that this would mean businesses will be forced to reduce their capacity, thereby losing revenue that they may not be able to afford.
In response to these concerns, which were also pointed out by other members of the public, Councilman Jason Bracken made the claim that “people do not have the understanding that they think they do. There were a number of studies that came out after the 1918 pandemic and it showed clearly across multiple studies that the places that actually put in health policies recovered much quicker, much better.”
However, he failed to provide the source of this information, instead referencing the vague “number of studies” regarding the 1918 pandemic with no detail as to what those economic benefits were.
Mr. Bracken also demonstrated his disregard for the public’s voices in his reaction to multiple speakers, which included laughing and eye-rolling in response to their concerns.
Several individuals also made the comment that Miami students won’t be deterred by the mask ordinance: instead, they will take their business to the nearby liquor stores and gather in private residences where the ordinance does not apply.
Roughly twenty of the students in attendance exited the council chamber after the amendments to the ordinance were voted on by the city council, leaving the majority of the seats empty.
When asked to comment on the reasoning, one student said “The council was extremely disrespectful to the public comments, and they didn’t even acknowledge them as good points which is why I chose to walk out early.”
What does this student walk out mean? It may be a way of expressing the belief that the council had made their decision before they listened to the public. It may also be a warning to the city council, as if to say “we won’t listen to you if you wont listen to us.”
Only time–fifteen weeks, to be exact–can tell how the mask ordinance will affect the Oxford community and the small businesses in it.
