Masks no longer required in Roeland Park after efforts to extend COVID-19 mandate fails
Masks are no longer required in Roeland Park after the City Council in a split vote Monday evening turned down efforts to extend the mandate.
In a 5-4 vote, the City Council voted to let the mandate expire Monday.
The City Council had unanimously approved a mask mandate in August to combat climbing COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious delta variant. It required everyone to wear face coverings inside public spaces.
City leaders extended the mandate in October, becoming the only city in Johnson County to have such a mandate. At the same time, the Prairie Village City Council decided against prolonging its citywide mask mandate, allowing it to expire at the end of October.
Councilmember Jennifer Hill had move that the mandate be extended to the end of the year.
During discussion of the motion, Councilmember Jim Kelly said: “I think it’s just getting to the point where we have to let people make their own decisions.”
He said while he believes people should continue to wear masks, he wasn’t in favor of extending the mandate because it’s rather unenforceable.
