Erie County Cracking Down On Mask Mandate In Williamsville
Oh, the irony. As the village of Williamsville held a meeting on January 10th to approve a resolution that would oppose "any further New York State and Erie County mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and other Covid-19 restrictions," they now have received a stipulation from The Erie County Department of Health for allegedly violating orders related to mask-wearing and face coverings during that very meeting.
According to a Tweet from WIVB's Chris Horvaitis, the village received the stipulation today;
Chris goes on to say that the stipulation also includes a $300 fine.
We confirmed that the stipulation was sent by the ECDOH, and that the fine is due on February the 5th. The Erie County Department of Health told us via email:
For the safety of participants and audience members at Village of Williamsville board meetings, our department hopes that the Village Board takes this matter seriously.
On December 10th of last year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that masks would be required to be worn in all indoor public places unless businesses or venues. This statewide mandate came out just weeks after Williamsville Mayor Deb Rogers publically spoke out against the Erie County mask mandate.
The Mayor, who is not against the use of masks, feels that her residents should be allowed to make their own decisions, and is on the record being against the mandates on both a local and state level.
The resolution that passed on January 10th doesn't have any mention as to what the village would do if the county tried to enforce any current or future mandates, but it looks like we may now find out. The resolution did go on to say that copies would be forwarded to the Governor and other state and local elected officials.
You can see the Letter from the Erie County Department of Health here: