Marin County Approves Citations Up To $500 For Not Wearing Masks
SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) – The Marin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt an ordinance that allows county enforcement officers to cite individuals who are not complying with COVID-19 safety measures.
Specifically, citations ranging from $25 to $500 can be given to individuals who are not wearing masks, according to Assistant County Counsel Renee Brewer.
The ordinance allows for enforcement by county personnel and will be used as another tool to ensure compliance with public health orders, according to Brewer.
Some local residents spoke up against the ordinance, arguing that it will increase tensions between people of color in Marin County and law enforcement officers. A few locals questioned the power that such an ordinance will give police officers in Marin County.
"I don't think it's right, I think it sets a bad precedent," said Kyle Hendrix.
"As a small business in the community we need people to come to stay alive and its difficult because it puts us in the position of policing our patrons," said Patsy McCollugh. "The onus on us."
Others, like Anna Belanger were in favor of the ordinance.
"Why not? If everybody has to do it then it's only fair!" she said.
"I think that this is what we need to do so that people take it seriously," said Caroline Anderson.
According to county health officer Dr. Matthew Willis, Marin County is still on the state monitoring watchlist for COVID-19 cases, prohibiting any schools from offering in-person instruction until Marin County is off the watchlist for at least two weeks.
Willis assumes that every Marin County school will start out the 2020-2021 school year online if case numbers continue as they are now and Marin stays on the state watchlist.
According to Willis, as of 4 p.m. Monday, Marin County has 2,288 cases with a positive testing rate of 7 percent.
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