Marietta council: Masks not required in city buildings, starting next week
May 13—Come Monday, face masks will no longer be required in city of Marietta and Marietta Board of Lights and Water buildings, the City Council decreed Wednesday night.
The repeal of the mask mandate passed 4-3, with Cheryl Richardson, Michelle Cooper Kelly and Reggie Copeland opposed.
The repeal also calls for city staff to phase into a "normal" workplace environment at the discretion of the city manager, and for the removal of signs "of restrictive mask nature" from the buildings.
Other benefits for city employees, such as sick leave for people who may have been exposed to the virus, will likely end soon, City Manager Bill Bruton said.
Richardson said at Monday's work session the city should wait, as it was still dealing with COVID-19 issues. Two or three city employees are currently in quarantine due to the virus, per Bruton.
Richardson was also worried about employees working in close quarters, such as riding in cars together. When council discussed the issue two weeks ago in a committee meeting, Kelly said the city ought to wait another month to allow more time for vaccinations and immunity to increase.
Councilman Grif Chalfant has argued that city employees should have free choice in the matter and that they've had ample opportunity to get vaccinated. Anybody who wasn't vaccinated by now probably doesn't want to get their shot, he reasoned.
About 37% of Georgians have received at least one dose of the vaccine and about 28% are fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. COVID-19 cases in Georgia are at their lowest point since May 2020.
In the council's Wednesday agenda preview session, which occurs before the regular meeting, opponents were asked if they would agree to the repeal if the effective date was pushed back two weeks, to May 31. Kelly and Richardson agreed they could support that. Kelly had also expressed concern that city staff did not have a concrete plan for phasing back to normal, so Councilman Joseph Goldstein proposed that staff present plans and policies to council two weeks from now.
During the regular meeting, however, Chalfant made a motion to repeal the mask mandate but kept the effective date of May 17. He did, however, include Goldstein's suggestion to order staff to come up with and present a concrete plan.
