Broken Arrow City Council kills mask mandate vote

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — While holding their meeting at the Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center, Broken Arrow City Councilors allowed a proposed mask mandate to die before even going up for a vote.

The council also rejected a resolution that would have encouraged the wearing of masks.

If approved, Ordinance 3672 would have required masks to be worn in public and was structured much like existing mask mandates in effect in the cities of Tulsa and Jenks.

The council ultimately opted not to make a motion at all regarding the ordinance, with one councilor announcing, “I’m not making a motion for it,” before moving on to discussions about a mask resolution.

Resolution 1372, if approved instead, would have pledged “support to those property owners and businesses who require the use of masks” in the city. It was structured similar to the resolution that was voted on but also died, back in November.

Councilor Johnnie Parks and Vice Mayor Scott Eudey voted in favor of the resolution, while Mayor Craig Thurmond and Councilor Debra Wimpee voted against it.

Since the vote for the resolution ended with only a 2-2 tie, due to a COVID-related absence of council member Councilor Christi Gillespie, the resolution dies.

As before, many residents were not pleased the council was voting yet again on any sort of mask legislation. Many signed up to speak at the conference center for up to three minutes each.

Council members were again told by residents they did not want a mask mandate in the city, some claiming that a mandate is in violation of the U.S. Constitution, while others told council members they believe mask-wearing negatively affects a person’s health.

These comments came after local health leaders spoke to city councilors about COVID numbers.

According to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Broken Arrow continues to have a higher rate of new infections than Tulsa, a city that enacted a mask ordinance last summer.

Tulsa reported 509.69 new infections per 100,000 people, while Broken Arrow reported 728.28 new infections per 100,000 people as of this week.

Broken Arrow has had 104 residents die after contracting COVID-19 — a rate of 94.44 per 100,000 — exceeding Tulsa’s rate of 81.27 deaths per 100,000, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

Cox Media Group