Surely Johnson County wouldn’t be foolish enough to overturn Kansas mask order — right?
Kansas City-area leaders on both sides of the state line once touted regional cooperation in the battle against COVID-19.
“While the metro area may be divided by city, county, and state lines, the spread of COVID-19 will not be deterred by them,” Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. said in a statement in mid-March. “We must respond to this disease as a region and take the necessary steps to slow its spread and protect our neighbors regardless of where they call home. ”
The need for cross-border coordination hasn’t gone away. In fact, it’s only intensified with the alarming spike in coronavirus cases in the region and nation.
That’s why Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s statewide order to wear masks in buildings open to the public beginning Friday — which mirrors Kansas City’s and Wyandotte County’s existing orders — is so welcome and so important to the region’s public health.
And it’s why Johnson County commissioners need to reject any motion to overturn the governor’s order locally in their special meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday.
At the end of April, Johnson County’s own Public Health Officer Dr. Joseph LeMaster emphasized the importance of working with Kansas City and Jackson County. Well, as of Monday, Kansas City, Jackson County, Wyandotte County and Douglas County had all ordered that people wear masks in commercial and public buildings.
But Johnson County inexplicably did not follow suit.
Now the county has a chance to join the rest of the area — simply by doing nothing and allowing the governor’s mask order to stand.
By overturning the governor’s order, Johnson County would find itself an outlier in the area, on the outside looking in when it comes to protecting its citizens from the coronavirus.
Commissioner Mike Brown, a fierce opponent of mandated masks, called for Thursday’s meeting to overturn the governor’s order — though he acknowledged in a Facebook post Monday that, “Over the weekend I received a ton of emails from folks. Most of the emails were attempts to encourage the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners to implement face mask requirements for our citizens and aligning with WyCo/UG and KCMO.”
We certainly appreciate Brown’s passion for individual liberty, but it’s wholly misguided on this issue during a relentless pandemic. Besides, every law restricts freedom in some way. That isn’t a disqualifying characteristic by any means. In this case, the minor inconvenience of wearing a mask is completely overwhelmed by the compelling public interest of saving lives.
Commissioners Jim Allen and Janeé Hanzlick, as well as commission Chairman Ed Eilert, all noted their reliance on LeMaster’s opinion. So a lot is riding on what the good doctor has to say — and his view will be all the more intriguing since he did not call for mandatory masks last week when Kansas City and Wyandotte County did.
For his part, Eilert noted Wednesday that there were some 300 new cases in Johnson County last week — and some 200 already this week.
Back in April, LeMaster emphasized the need “to promote regional coordination with other neighboring jurisdictions and to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19 in Johnson County from neighboring areas that are experiencing outbreaks.”
What’s changed, except the increase in cases?