Two Lafayette city council members decide not to pursue local face mask mandate, saying statewide mandate is enough

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — Two Lafayette City Council members will not pursue a local face mask mandate for COVID-19, according to a press release sent out this afternoon.

Dist. 4 Council Member Nannette Cook and Dist. 5 Council Member Glenn Lazard both signed off on the press release, which explained their decision not to pursue the ordinance. The two brought up the issue at the July 7 council meeting.

The entire text of the press release is below.

This is to inform you that we have decided not to pursue a local face mask ordinance at this time. Recent developments, primarily the issuance of a state mandate by the governor’s office, reassurance by the office of the mayor- president that the mandate will be enforced, and making face masks readily available to the general public have helped to alleviate our primary concerns.  Our primary concerns are to encourage the use of face masks in public, thereby reducing the growing number of positive COVID-19 cases in our community and strain on our health care system.

We fully support the efforts of the Governor’s office, medical professionals, and concerned citizens throughout our community to do everything within our power and utilize every tool at our disposal to combat this deadly virus.  

Additionally, we do not want to do anything to add to the confusion created by the opinion letter recently released by the Attorney General, along with comments made and actions taken by some elected officials that are clearly counterproductive and distract from what should be our primary objective. The last thing we want to do is create additional divisiveness within our community. All of our time, energy, and resources need to be focused on curtailing the spread of the virus. Our fellow brothers and sisters that are most vulnerable, first responders, frontline workers, and healthcare professionals deserve no less.   

Our requests at the July 7 council meeting and subsequent consideration of a local face mask ordinance were never politically motivated or some sort of “rally cry.” It was simply a response to a growing health crisis, in addition to numerous pleas from concerned citizens and organizations throughout the community, that required our immediate attention. We will continue to monitor the situation and act accordingly.

Dist. 5 Council Member Glenn Lazard and Dist. 4 Council Member Nanette Cook