WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – It was unclear Friday whether the Jefferson County legislature will, in fact, hold a meeting to roll back a COVID-19 mask requirement.
At least one county legislator submitted a letter asking the special meeting, now set for Tuesday evening, be cancelled.
Thursday, a group of nine county legislators requested the special meeting, after the chairman of the legislature, Scott Gray, declared a state of emergency Wednesday and announced a requirement that county residents mask when indoors, in public.
Gray was reacting to a spike in COVID cases in the county.
His actions angered some legislators, because he didn’t consult them or tell them of his decision in advance.
“We weren’t part of any conversations, we weren’t part of any meetings, between health care professionals and the county, and we don’t make unilateral decisions like that. That’s just bad government,” said Bobby Ferris, District 11 legislator who represents part of Watertown and Rutland.
Things changed Friday – though not the anger – because Governor Hochul announced a statewide mask and vaccine mandate.
“The bottom line is hers has stronger language, which will supercede ours,” Gray said.
And because of Hochul’s action, some of the nine legislators changed their minds Friday, and decided the special meeting should be called off.
District 7 legislator John Peck said he submitted a letter to County Administrator Robert Hagemann, requesting the meeting be cancelled.
But others, including Ferris, said the meeting should still happen. There are two items on the agenda – one, a resolution that the legislature could use to either rescind the county’s state of emergency or modify it to get rid of the mask requirement Gray imposed, and two, a censure of Gray.
“He doesn’t understand what he did wrong. He doesn’t understand that he took 14 other legislators and didn’t ask for their opinion or their help,” Ferris said.
Gray allowed Friday that he could have handled things better, maybe sent an email with details to his fellow legislators. But he pointed out that only two legislators, Ferris and Phil Reed, the likely next chairman, attended Wednesday’s state of emergency announcement.
“At the end of the day, the decision was still the right decision – and they still had the opportunity to be here and to hear first hand. And they didn’t,” Gray said.
It appeared to county officials Friday that even if only one of the nine legislators who initially requested the meeting still want it, the meeting must be held.
But that doesn’t mean anything will happen.
It’s possible not enough legislators will show up. In that case, the meeting would start and end quickly.
More likely, there won’t be enough votes – 10 are needed – to suspend the legislature’s rules so the two resolutions can be considered.
Several legislators told 7 News Friday that they had little interest in continuing the fight, given that Gray will no longer be chair of the legislature in a few weeks.
Gray got support as well as criticism Friday, including a phone call from Governor Hochul.
And medical professionals stressed Friday that the underlying issue – mask and vaccine mandates – remains critically important.
“Right now, Samaritan is holding its own, but there’s a limit to everything,” said Dr. Jan Turcotte, chair of Samaritan Medical Center’s Board of Trustees.
“That’s why anything we can do right now, such as getting vaccines and wearing masks, is going to mitigate that stress and keep us going.”
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