Wednesday, August 18, 2021
A4
OPINION
VOICE of the CHIEFTAIN
Mask decision
should be a
local one
T
he heavy hand of govern-
ment has always been one
of those peculiar aspects of
American democracy that often leave
voters scratching their heads.
No better example of that is the
recent decision by Gov. Kate Brown
to institute a mask mandate for all stu-
dents this fall.
The governor’s heart is in the right
place — she wants to protect voters
— but her heavy-handed dictum takes
away a key component to democracy
— local control.
There isn’t any doubt now that
coronavirus — and its variants —
are dangerous and have the capac-
ity to kill people. The science is clear
— coronavirus is a clear and pres-
ent threat to Americans and the best
way to eliminate the danger is through
vaccinations.
In the end, though, the decision to
get vaccinated is a personal one. The
same line of logic is central to the
current upheaval regarding the mask
mandate.
The governor’s school mask deci-
sion takes away the very important
element to our democracy of local
control and sends — we are sure
— the unintended message that the
school officials we trust to educate
our children are not capable of mak-
ing sound, safe decisions regarding
students.
A lot of local parents are up in arms
over the governor’s decision and have
exercised their constitutional right to
let area school district officials know
it. Just last week, our neighbor, Union
County Sheriff Cody Bowen, issued
a missive where he called the mask
mandate “unconstitutional.” While
this is not the space to argue the con-
stitutionality of the governor’s deci-
sions, Bowen’s letter to the governor
represents the prevailing mood among
many people.
Brown’s move is also a head-
scratcher because about a month ago
she lifted most coronavirus restric-
tions and, essentially, passed key deci-
sions on the virus back to area school
districts. That was a good, and right,
move.
The counter argument is, of course,
that coronavirus cases are spiking here
at home and across the state. There-
fore, the logic goes, to stop the spread
our schools must ensure everyone
wears a mask. That is indeed a good
argument. It carries a lot of weight
and should be evaluated carefully by
officials in every county.
Yet, that decision needs to be done
at the local level. The final decision
should be made with input from citi-
zens, elected and appointed officials
and school district representatives. If,
in the end, the prevailing consensus is
to mandate masks in schools, then so
be it. It will be a decision made by the
people with boots on the ground who
understand the unique aspects of their
region.
The people caught in the middle —
our students and school officials —
don’t deserve to be.
The mask decision should be a local
one. Period.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
School officials would have
‘ignored’ threat until state
stepped in
What a crazy world we live in!
“COVID-19 cases increasing in Wal-
lowa County at fastest rate of pandemic”
(Chieftain, Aug. 11). While on the same
front page is the article of the Wallowa
County School officials decrying the
state requirement forcing them to require
masks for schoolchildren.
While educational curriculum is
properly controlled by the district, the
safety of our children is another issue
entirely. These children under 12 have
no approved options for COVID pro-
tection beyond masking and social dis-
tance. Do these same officials really
believe that requiring children to mask
while in school is an infringement of the
officials’ rights? This variant of COVID-
19 has proven more dangerous to all,
including school children. The officials
are responsible for the safety of our
children while in their care. They appear
to disagree with a mask requirement at
school. Without a defined mask policy
the children will mimic their peers and
proceed as if indestructible. If these offi-
cials cannot see this as a “safety issue,”
perhaps they are in the wrong vocation.
In the midst of a pandemic these offi-
cials would have ignored a threat to chil-
dren until forced by a state mandate.
What a crazy world.
David Ebbert
Enterprise
Submission to authoritarian
maneuver robs our children
of liberty
With all due respect to the writers at
the Chieftain, I have to voice my dis-
agreement with the conclusion that “...
smaller districts can’t stand to lose
$75,000 or more in fines ...” (for being
out of compliance with state mask
mandates).
It is incredibly challenging to stand
firm in the face of backlash, especially
when finances are involved, but the real-
ity is that by submitting to yet another
authoritarian maneuver to maintain
power over our children, we are robbing
them of something far more precious:
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
EDITORIALS: Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Wallowa County Chieftain editorial board. Other
columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of
the Wallowa County Chieftain.
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and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the
right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that
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Contents copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.
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SENATOR
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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VOLUME 134
their liberty. We are showing them that
there is a price we are not willing to pay
for them to have the freedom to see one
another’s faces and interact with peers,
teachers, germs and the world unencum-
bered by face coverings, which have still
not been shown to provide any substan-
tial COVID risk reduction in this age
group.
This is to say nothing of the nega-
tive effects masks have on kids: “mask
mouth” (receding gums, halitosis and
cavities) as a result of more bacteria and
fungi retained in the mouth of mask wear-
ers, exposure to more virulent pathogens
like E. coli, staph and strep that sit on the
mask near the mucous membranes all
day, and the dehumanizing social effects
stemming from the inability to process
facial expressions. (For more info read
“Masking Children: Tragic, Unscientific
and Damaging” by the American Institute
for Economic Research, 3/10/2021)
Suggesting there is too great a cost to
pay for the welfare and liberty of our chil-
dren stands in sharp contrast to Patrick
Henry’s cry: “but as for me, give me lib-
erty or give me death!”
Rebecca Patton
Enterprise
General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com
Editor, Ronald Bond, rbond@wallowa.com
Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com
Advertising Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com
Designer, Martha Allen, mallen@eomediagroup.com
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