With county ordering masks, CB ponders enforcement

Marshals rely on education first

By Mark Reaman

Since Gunnison County Public Health director Joni Reynolds had signed a new Public Health Order Monday afternoon that included a provision requiring that people in Gunnison County wear masks, the special meeting called by the Crested Butte Town Council for Monday evening to discuss the issue was, as mayor Jim Schmidt stated, “moot.”

Instead of discussing the town implementing such an order, the council and some members of the public spent an hour and 15 minutes on a Zoom meeting talking about how to enforce the new regulation and how to get visitors to be aware that wearing masks was required in town.

Under the new county order that went into effect Monday (see page 1), people must wear face coverings when going inside a local business in the county, when riding public transportation and outside in places where maintaining six feet of social distancing is not possible. Schmidt noted that most other Colorado resort towns have similar requirements in place and he supported the county order.

“It is important to follow the county guidelines in the health order,” noted council member Chris Haver. “Even moving from the current Blue risk level that we are in to the next one of Yellow would have a big negative impact on us.”

Council member Will Dujardin reminded the people that the state could pull the variances granted to Gunnison County if an outbreak looked likely in the area. That would impact things like size of gatherings and how local businesses can operate. “We need to stay on top of it,” he said. “Going from Blue to Yellow would be a bad thing.”

As for the specific issue of masks, Dujardin said while walking down Elk Avenue he has not seen a lot of “compliance.”

The Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey of businesses asking if they supported requiring masks in Crested Butte. While the survey did not come up Monday evening, according to chamber executive director Stephanie Sandstrom, 63 percent of the 205 respondents who took the survey felt masks should not be required. Sandstrom did note that the survey was shared on Facebook and so some anonymous people, perhaps not business owners, took the survey as well.

Council member Malika Magner asked chief marshal Mike Reily how the new mask order would be enforced in the town.

Schmidt said he had talked to the Marshal’s Department about buying disposable masks to hand out to people not wearing face coverings, with the $1,000 donated to the town by second homeowner Tim Wirth.

“We want to be consistent with the rest of the county,” Reily emphasized and said a meeting of other local law enforcement chiefs would be held soon. “Our first step is always education. One thing I am concerned about with education and enforcement is that it puts officers in contact with people not wearing masks and if that is done multiple times a day the officers could get sick themselves. Handing out masks to hundreds of people on Elk Avenue seems a bit ominous.”

Town manager Dara MacDonald said the town had purchased reusable masks and given them to the chamber of commerce to hand out to visitors and businesses at the Visitors Center.

Eileen Specter suggested using signage in the county and the town to educate the people when they first arrive in the area about the order to wear masks.

MacDonald said the county health order encourages using the state signs on the highways to raise awareness. She said she has been in touch with the Crested Butte Community School about utilizing its message board at the entrance to town and is considering a banner over Elk Avenue.

One meeting participant suggested property managers, short-term rental owners and hotels could distribute the message as well.

“It would be great to have a standard message and have a consistent public information campaign for visitors,” said council member Chris Haver.

Magner pressed Reily for his enforcement plan.

“We are open to recommendations from the council or anyone,” said Reily. “But we will probably stick to the current situation. Step one is education. We can explain the order and direct them to where they can get masks. People could potentially get cited but jail is really not an option. Trying to educate and get compliance is the goal.”

“But now that the county requires masks how will we enforce it?” asked Magner. “I’d appreciate some specifics at the next meeting on how the marshals expect to get compliance.”

“It is not like us to just strong arm people,” replied Reily. “There is a need for a huge public information component. That’s the goal. I’ve said many times that wearing a mask is about respecting your fellow human beings. We all want to keep the virus numbers down and keep the hospital open. Masks can help.”

“But the order means it is not a choice,” reiterated Magner.

“True. And some people will not wear a mask out of pure orneriness,” said Reily. “So what is your suggestion for enforcement?”

“How do you deal with dogs off leashes?” asked Magner.

“We sometimes give away leashes. We sometimes write a ticket and the people have to go before judge Eden,” explained Reily. “We all prefer that people don’t have to go before the judge.”

Reily said no tickets have been written in the valley as a result of someone not following the previous health orders. “Up to this point the orders have changed a lot and the ball has been all over the field so people didn’t know what was current. Hopefully this settles in and people understand the new order and comply. Perhaps businesses will have masks to give people. With this order business owners now have something to fall back on when people enter the establishments without masks. They can say it is a county order and not up to them but they could lose their business license if the orders are not followed. We aren’t going to come in with a tape measure and make sure people are six feet apart. We want to support local business.”

Magner said she liked the idea of the marshals handing out masks to those not wearing them before issuing tickets.

In response to a question from local bar owner Mary Boddington, Reily said the businesses would not be held liable for customer behavior. But if a business was flagrantly flaunting their disobedience of the new county health order, they could likely expect a visit from law enforcement.

Council member Laura Mitchell noted that town already seemed busier than normal for June and the marshals were probably now busy performing more typical police work.

Magner confirmed that she had heard several businesses were doing record numbers compared to last year.

Haver said it was important that businesses had masks available and that perhaps the town could subsidize them. Boddington said that would be appreciated.

Dujardin suggested everyone carry a mask with them and have it ready to wear if a place like Elk Avenue was busy and social distancing not possible.

Lisa Merck suggested perhaps volunteers could step up to take some of the burden off the marshals and help educate visitors about the mask mandate. She also emphasized not having the public obtain health-care–quality masks like N-95s. They should be left for clinics and hospitals since they were sometimes hard to obtain and she said buffs and bandanas would be sufficient for most public situations.

Jim Starr suggested signage about the mask mandate be erected over all of the town entrances.

Suzanne Pierson suggested local artists could help spread the word in various ways and she recommended keeping the information dissemination somewhat light. For instance, she said, given one of Colorado’s claims to fame, the Visitors Center could be tagged as the Facemask Dispensary.

“We all need to buy in,” concluded a final meeting participant. “There is a social compact of what we expect of one another. That is better than a regulation or a law.”