Concord City Council Approves Face Covering Ordinance: Update

CONCORD, NH — Despite the new coronavirus pandemic being nearly nonexistent in the city of Concord, the council approved a new mask ordinance Monday in a special meeting.

Councilors met at 7 p.m. via Zoom and took more than two hours worth of public testimony from residents about the issue.

A number of councilors, agreeing with both sides of the argument, ultimately voted to institute the ordinance and it was approved by a 14-1 vote.

The lone dissenting vote was Councilor Keith Nyhan of Ward 7, who also sponsored an amendment to raise the fine from $15 to $50 on the first instance, without a written warning.

Concord Mayor Jim Bouley, visibly upset by the amendment, said the point of the ordinance was to educate the public about the importance of protecting others — and not punishing people. He did not want to see, he added, homeless people being fined $50 for not wearing a mask, as an example.

But Nyhan countered that if the issue was that much of a public health crisis, the ordinance should have some teeth to it. He later insinuated his amendment was facetious and he was trying to make a point.

Later, the proposal was voted down.

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Another amendment proposed by Nyhan which was rejected was a provision to allow businesses to optout of the face covering requirement.

Zandra Rice Hawkins, a councilor from Ward 10, offered an amendment to lower the age of a mask requirement from 10 and older to 5 and older. After some back and forth, with at least one, Fred Keach, an at-large councilor, suggesting he was not a doctor or medical professional and should not be making decisions on the age of the mask requirement, the amendment was approved by an 8-7 vote.

The ordinance proposes police would be in charge of issuing warnings and fines. But there was also some discussion about whether or not other divisions of the city would enforce the mandate — with suggestions made that code enforcement or the health department, which inspects restaurants, be involved in the process. Another suggestion was to have parking enforcement meter maids issue warnings and tickets to people not wearing masks.

Watch the full meeting on YouTube.com.

Read Patch's full story posted Sunday here.

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