Adam Rogan
RACINE — One alderman and many community members have already raised concerns about the proposal, crafted by Mayor Cory Mason’s office, that would require masks to be worn in public spaces and many businesses in the City of Racine.
Alderman Henry Perez, who has repeatedly raised constitutional concerns about orders and ordinances restricting citizens and businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is again opposed to the proposal coming from the mayor.
Mask requirements are already in place in the City of Milwaukee and in Dane County, one has been proposed in Green Bay, and they are also planned countrywide in France and England.
For one, he said that most businesses he’s been to in recent weeks have been following social distancing guidelines by erecting transparent barriers barriers and having employees wear masks.
“They (most businesses) are taking precautions to keep their businesses afloat,” Perez said. “The businesses are already hurting.”
He also questioned how the ordinance would be enforced, considering the ordinance proposal released Monday listed no form of enforcement for the proposed fines. In a text, City Spokesman Shannon Powell said that the details regarding enforcement would be discussed at Tuesday’s Executive Committee meeting.
The ordinance, according to the current proposal, wouldn’t be able to go into effect until Monday, July 27, but it is set to be voted on by the Executive Committee and then the City Council on Tuesday, July 21.
The proposal only said that the city attorney could revoke businesses’ respective licenses if they ignore the ordinance, if the ordinance is passed, a concept that Perez felt was “a grab for power” by the mayor that reminded Perez of his youth in Communist-controlled Cuba.
“I think that it’s just wrong. I think it’s a violation of rights,” Perez said of requiring masks in Racine
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