Charleston takes aim at SC lawmakers as it considers a legal fight of its own on masks
Before adopting a resolution that strongly encourages children ages 2 to 12 to wear masks while attending schools inside Charleston’s city limits, a handful of city council members suggested Charleston take the resolution even further when they meet again next week.
Their idea?
Make masks in schools for children under 12 a requirement, echoing a recent move by Columbia City Council that has already drawn legal ire from state lawmakers, South Carolina’s Attorney General Alan Wilson and Gov. Henry McMaster.
Council member William Gregorie, who represents parts of downtown and James Island, suggested Charleston go even further as the state’s largest city. He said Charleston should consider requiring masks inside all public buildings in the city, including schools — a move that could set the stage for a potential legal fight.
“I think that this issue is serious enough for the City of Charleston to take a leadership role to say that our children come first,” Gregorie said during Wednesday night’s emergency meeting. “I think it’s time for us to join the fight in the battle.”
The councilman then quoted the late congressman John Lewis from Georgia.
“Let’s get in some good trouble, folks,” he said to nods from some of his fellow council members.
The political debate unfolded despite the wishes of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, who at the onset of the meeting said he wanted it to be about getting council members to communicate a unified message to its citizens about public health — not politics.
The resolution, which passed by an 11-1 voice vote, encourages masking for children over the age of 2 and under 12 while they are either in school, indoors, or in crowds of 10 or more within Charleston city limits. The vaccine is not authorized yet for children under the age of 12.
The resolution also strongly encourages and recommends city residents and visitors wear a mask indoors and get vaccinated.
“The thought behind this resolution is for us all to be on one page, on one message to our community about public health and not about politics, and to ask folks to do what our health-care professionals are recommending,” Tecklenburg said at the beginning of the meeting, which was held virtually and live-streamed on the city’s YouTube page due to rising COVID-19 cases in the Charleston area.
Criticism of SC lawmakers
Despite the mayor’s request, a number of council members used their speaking time to take aim at state lawmakers, especially the Upstate lawmakers who fought for the insertion of a budget proviso that bars schools from spending state funds on mask mandates.
Councilman Karl Brady, who represents outer West Ashley and Johns Island, said the budget proviso “was so hastily written, and so badly worded it just defies logic.”
Without mentioning the name of the lawmaker who drafted and inserted the language into the budget, Brady alleged Rep. Stewart Jones, R-Laurens, did so to “ward off challengers” in next year’s election.
“They love home rule when they can ward off the federal government, but conveniently ignored it when it is convenient for them, meaning they hamstring local school boards and municipalities,” Brady said. “And I think most people would agree that the government that governs best is the government that governs closest to you.”
Councilman Jason Sakran unloaded his frustrations in one of the longest speeches of the night. He said the discussion about masks in schools in South Carolina had now become a cultural and political fight that overshadows society’s ability to think holistically and use data to inform decisions that affect the health of its citizens and its children.
“Many argue that being forced to wear masks violates their constitutional right to liberty. And I say this: I think it’s a mistake to think of liberty as an absolute self-indulgence without restraint,” said Sakran, who works for the Charleston County School District and has two children in public school.
Not everyone, however, was on board with the idea of potentially defying state law.
At the start of the meeting, Councilman Harry Griffin had been supportive of the resolution as written, calling it a “good compromise” and a polite way to ask people to get vaccinated and wear a mask indoors.
But by the end of the meeting, Griffin had soured on the resolution, though no changes were made to its language before passage.
“I have a hard time believing that our council would be willing to put our school district’s funding, the mechanism that allows our kids to go to school at risk by defying that,” Griffin said. “I don’t think that’s good trouble. We’re actually doing the exact opposite of what we say we’re trying to do, which is to send kids to school.”
He then called the push by his fellow council members “ridiculous.”
Medical experts weigh in
Before council members discussed the resolution, they heard from two pediatricians who both urged council members to pass the measure.
City Council also heard from Michael Sweat, a Ph.D researcher with MUSC and the lead of its Epidemiology Intelligence Project. He said the contagious delta variant was now responsible for about 90% of all coronavirus cases in the tri-county area of Charleston, Berekely and Dorchester counties.
At the end of Sweat’s presentation, Sakran asked if he expected COVID case numbers to increase as students return to school.
“Yes I do, if mask use is not in place,” Sweat said. “It’s just a fact that they protect people and delta is very transmissible.”
Ahead of the meeting, City Council also received written public comment from 44 people, according to the city clerk. Of the submissions, 15 said masks should be required in schools and 10 said the city should mandate both masks and vaccines people 12 and older.
Three people said government officials who use their platform to coerce people into decisions they are uncomfortable with is “immoral.”
The Charleston City Council will meet again on Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 8:09 PM.
