Montezuma County commissioners have defied Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ COVID-19 prevention orders, and one suggested the local Health Department could face firings and a reduced budget if it enforced them.
Commissioners said the statewide mandates lack flexibility for rural counties, where there are fewer people and coronavirus cases.
But District Attorney Will Furse of the 22nd Judicial District on July 21 pushed back against the county’s opposition to Polis’ recent executive order requiring face coverings in public places.
During the Board of County Commissioners meeting, Furse objected to a July 17 email from County Administrator Shak Powers that told county staff they did not need to follow Polis’ order.
The email said: “There will be no internal disciplinary actions taken against county employees (that work under the prevue [sic] of the BOCC) who choose not to wear a facial covering. There will also be zero tolerance of harassment towards employees or customers who choose to wear or not wear their facial coverings.”
Commissioner Larry Don Suckla added in a Facebook post last week that “Montezuma County will not be enforcing Polis mask mandate.”
Furse asked that Powers’ email be retracted because it undermined public safety and encouraged noncompliance with a state order. The county employs 242 people, 108 of them under the purview of the Board of County Commissioners.
“The mask mandate is meant to protect friends and neighbors, and its purpose is to get to a place of social and economic normalcy faster than if not in place,” Furse said.
Shak Powers email
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Furse said the executive order was “toothless” because there was no mechanism for enforcement, unlike public health orders, which can be enforced criminally. Regardless, he said, the mask mandate should be followed to help reduce a surge in the number of positive tests statewide.
“Masks assist in the reduction of the spread of COVID-19,” Furse said. “I humbly suggest this board provide the community with leadership to ensure human health and economic vitality.”
He said the pandemic got personal for him and his family when he contracted COVID-19 while traveling. He has since recovered.
Minimizing the mask order puts employees and the public at risk in the administration building, Furse said, and DA staff might consider moving to a new office.
The commissioners responded that department heads and elected officials can create and enforce their own staff policies, including requiring masks for employees and visitors.
Furse added that private businesses can enforce the use of masks with trespass laws. A customer who refuses to wear a mask and refuses to leave, could be charged with trespass, he said.
Mask exemptions include medical conditions, but not all business owners are aware of them. A resident who attended the meeting said she was denied entry to a local business for not wearing a mask, even though she claimed an exemption because of asthma.
The debate over enforcing the mask order has taken place in a tense and divisive political atmosphere.
The county Health Department, which is charged with disease prevention, follows directives from the Colorado of Department of Public Health and Environment. Local health officials can enforce public health orders through CDPHE and the District Attorney Office, but, facing opposition and possible job losses and budget reductions from the Board of County Commissioners, opted instead to educate the public on prevention measures, according to officials.
The Montezuma County Public Health Department is overseen by the county Board of Health, which is made up of the three county commissioners – Suckla, Keenan Ertel and Jim Candelaria. Commissioners control a portion of the Health Department’s budget and hire the director. Suckla’s and Ertel’s terms expire this year, and they likely will be replaced in the November election by Kent Lindsay in Cortez and Joel Stevenson in Mancos. Unaffiliated candidate Rebecca Samulski is attempting to petition onto the ballot to challenge Stevenson for the Mancos seat and is awaiting signature verification.
In meetings about pandemic management, the Health Department has faced pressure to avoid overly strict enforcement. County officials are concerned it will further harm businesses and the economy.
During a May 14 meeting, a resident raised the question of who controls the Health Department – the county or the state. Suckla responded, “They are supposed to be run by us. We do have control because we can fire them.”
During another meeting about enforcement, Suckla suggested the county pay the fines for any business ticketed for violating state health orders, then reduce the county Health Department’s budget by the same amount.
“We have butted heads with the Health Department on the issue of enforcement,” Suckla said in an interview, “but we’ve worked it out so that education about prevention and protection is the better approach.”
He said there was never a direct order by the county Board of Health that the Health Department not enforce the state health orders.
“We abided by the Safer at Home order,” he said. “People took personal responsibility and complied overall, they understand the virus is real and a serious problem.”
But there was an exception.
During the Safer at Home order, county commissioners allowed a promoter to hold car races with fans at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds, with safety protocols such as mask wearing, limited attendance and social distancing. Under the rules at the time, car races could only occur without fans.
When questioned about enforcement of the race violation, the Health Department referred The Journal to county Administrator Powers.
He responded in an email:
“The Montezuma County Department of Public Health is governed by the Board of Health and the Board of County Commissioners. Any violations of or need for enforcement of Colorado Public Health orders would need to be sanctioned and backed by the BOCC. Therefore, any questions or concerns about failure to enforce should be directed to the BOCC/Board of Health for their response, including any inquiries from the news media.”
Commissioners also pushed back when there was a suggestion to hire additional health workers and turn the fairgrounds into a field hospital.
“That was premature and expensive. Our hospital has sufficient capacity, and we are facing a budget shortfall,” Suckla said. “If our numbers explode, we will not ignore it, and at that point all options are on the table. I don’t think the Health Department is looking the other way; they can enforce, and are on the right track using education to get compliance if they see violations.”
There has been a sense that enforcement of public health orders with penalties has not been a priority.
Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin has said that he would not issue citations for violations of the public health orders, saying it was a Health Department matter.
Furse said when the state public health orders were being issued, he had been working with the county Health Department on avenues of prosecution for serious violators of the orders, but health officials suddenly backed out of the discussions.
“Montezuma County Public Health Department supports the mask order issued last week by the governor of Colorado,” said director Bobbi Lock. “We are sticking with what public health does, which is education and prevention, those are our pillars on how to operate. One of the key prevention measures is wearing a facial covering, especially when indoors.”
Lock said the department will model that behavior when staff is attending events such as community testing that is ongoing the first and third Tuesday from 3 to 6 p.m. Other measures include actively managing all positive cases within the county, including residents and tourists. Contact tracing is a priority for all cases in order to decrease the spread and educate the public.
“A key concept that we all need to remember as we work our way through this pandemic is that public health and financial health of our community are not separate entities,” Lock said. “In fact, they are intertwined like a web. The two work in unison to make our community healthier, both physically and financially. If our case counts continue on the current trajectory that we are on, we risk the health of both components for Montezuma County. We want our businesses to remain open. We want our schools to be able to open. We want our students and all the staff involved in the education process to be as safe as possible.”
Lock said her department does not have the capacity, funding or support for enforcement.
“However, we do have the ability to educate and promote a solid prevention message through our work and model what we hope our community members will support,” she said. “Please join us as we work together to keep moving in a positive direction.”
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
