At a recent meeting of Lewis County’s mayors and commissioners, Mayor Brandon Svenson of Winlock caused the entire meeting to be shut down by refusing to wear a mask. See The Chronicle article by searching “Brandon Svenson” at chronline.com.
As a county resident and taxpayer trusting that our local officials will carry out the important work of local government, this is unacceptable.
This situation goes right to the heart of the debate about the balance between individual liberties and the wellbeing of the many. One person, Mayor Svenson, refused to follow the guidelines in place and also refused the multiple accommodations that were made to enable him to attend the meeting maskless.
Because of his personal choices, every individual there at the meeting was sent home and no county business was conducted. How much important work on behalf of a county full of people went undone because of the actions of one person? What about the rights of the rest of us to have the county continue to carry on necessary business?
Mayor Svenson is not the only culpable party here. I think Commissioner Gary Stamper and the mayors made a poor call in canceling the meeting and sending everyone home rather than making Svenson take responsibility for his actions. Instead of sending everyone else away and shutting down the meeting, why wasn’t the mayor asked to take personal responsibility by leaving the room and attending the meeting by Zoom? It sounds like it wasn’t just Svenson who shrugged his shoulders at the idea that no productive county work would get done — it was the commissioners, mayors and everyone else at that meeting.
Are we really OK with the rights of one individual preventing an entire county government from functioning? Because that’s exactly what happened here. And let’s be clear — this incident sprang completely from Svenson’s wish to make an issue out of not wearing a mask. I was informed in a phone call with one of the county commissioners after this incident that not only had a Zoom room been set up for those not wishing to mask up, but the commissioners’ office had also been made available for the mayor. He was not denied the opportunity to participate in the meeting — quite the contrary. And instead of making a clear, cogent point about individual liberties, the mayor (who is also chair of the Lewis County Republican Party) simply read out bits and pieces of the federal and state constitutions. As far as I could tell from The Chronicle’s reporting, he offered no clear reason or purpose for his actions. The only clear result was that no business was conducted by the county’s mayors, impacting tens of thousands of residents of the county’s municipalities.
Let’s have this debate on individual liberties and the wellbeing of the larger community. Let’s not see similar behavior again prevent this county from continuing to function. I would ask our county commissioners and other officials to meet, discuss this point and develop a plan of action if this situation arises again. We need to wisely and sensibly balance individual liberties with maintaining the common good.
LL Hauer
Winlock
