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This Georgia mayor is enforcing a mask mandate, despite pushback from the governor
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
When Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms enforced a mask mandate in Atlanta, Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp filed a lawsuit against her, calling the mandate a violation of his emergency orders that prohibits local leaders from adding to the state's requirements to protect against coronavirus.
Despite this action, Mayor Kelly Girtz also mandated masks in Athens, Georgia. However, he says he has not been sued yet.
“We are maintaining our mask mandate. The courts have not issued any cease and desist. And we believe we're well within our rights and in fact, well within the health care guidance that we’ve been receiving nationally and internationally,” he said.
He highlighted the importance of how a mask mandate creates a “level playing field” that ensures equal safety for everyone alike.
“It's the 30% of our population living in poverty, who are clerks at grocery stores, who are cleaning homes, who are maintaining facilities. So we're all in this together. So if we have a level playing field with a mask mandate, whether you're in a small business or a large, that maintains that level of order, in the same way that a residential speed limit of 25 miles an hour does the same in front of your home and mine.”
In addition to the residents, Athens also hosts about 40,000 university students, which is of concern to the mayor.
“I know that young people think of themselves as invulnerable, but the reality is that they are not,” he said. “Young people are by nature, again, loosey-goosey.”
“What we want is for everyone to take this deeply seriously, because in order for us to come out of this pandemic, we are going to need to all be practicing the best behavior possible. And frankly, when I ride down some of the college-occupied streets in this town, I don't see the best behavior right now, and we are going to need to step up our game.”
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