KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mask mandate in eastern Jackson County ended 10 days ahead of schedule on Friday morning when county legislators voted 5-4 to suspend the county's health order immediately.
The decision came despite statistics that health officials said warranted a continuation of mask wearing indoors in public places, according to guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control.
But legislators have been under heavy pressure from constituents who opposed the restrictions, receiving many phone calls and emails asking them, and not always politely, to rescind the order, which was to have ended on Nov. 22.
County Executive Frank White, who wanted the mandate to continue until the deadline, said protesters had been outside his home. Legislator Jalen Anderson said the discourse on both sides of the issue has been uncivil and hurtful.
"What a time we live in that such anger controls the narrative," he said.
Anderson, Crystal Williams, Scott Burnett and Charlie Franklin had consistently voted to keep the mandate intact previously when the issue came up for a vote.
Tony Miller and Ron Finley had also been members of that voting bloc, but they broke ranks Friday and sided with Jeanie Lauer, Theresa Galvin and Dan Tarwater, who have long supported getting rid of the mask mandate.
Tarwater's effort to end it began in August, soon after it was imposed as COVID-19 cases were surging.
Sensing he was losing support for the mandate running its course, White asked the legislature to not end the restrictions immediately. He said it would create chaos and confusion in schools whose districts had not imposed their own mask requirements above and beyond the county's order.
They needed time to prepare, he said.
But Galvin said school officials have had plenty of time to prepare.
"The people of Jackson County want this over with," she said.
The mask requirement applied to urban and rural areas of Jackson County other than Kansas City and Independence. Kansas City ended its mask order last week. Independence has not imposed one since suspending its requirements last spring.
Elsewhere in the metro area, Wyandotte County's mask requirements are in effect until Nov. 18 and mask orders remain in effect for several school districts.
