Commentary: If there was a point to last week’s County Commission meeting, it has escaped me.
The commission violated the state’s social distancing guidelines in order to pass a resolution in support of the state’s social distancing guidelines.
Sort of. It’s complicated. Or, as Commission Chairman Lynn Ellens put it, “whether or not we pass this is relatively irrelevant.”
The meeting started with a political argument during the invocation, which was given by Pastor Doug Cowan of the Cornerstone Baptist Church.
“Lord, there are some that are suffering, in many cases almost needlessly, because in some cases they can’t get some medical treatments because of things being shut down across the country,” Cowan argued in a debate disguised as a prayer.
People need hope and encouragement, Cowan insisted.
“Lord, I pray that today would be a day that decisions are made that would help encourage people and help get things moving in the right direction,” he said in concluding his opening argument.
Health officials and scientists were not given the opportunity to debate the opposing side.
The resolution started as a protest against the governor’s social distancing orders by Commissioner Isabella Solis, whose recent change in party affiliation makes her the lone Republican on the board. It demanded that the state allow small businesses that have been deemed non-essential to immediately open back up.
Ellens offered an amendment that said the state should not allow those businesses to reopen until we have adequate testing, the capacity to do contact tracing, and can ensure that we have reached our peak and the rate of new infections is declining.
Solis voted in favor of the amendment, neutering her own resolution.
The commission meeting room had fewer chairs than before the pandemic, but most were filled. During the public comment period, one person after another came to the podium and placed their hands in the exact same spot as the speakers before them.
After the final vote was taken on the resolution, the county moved on to the next order of business - a proclamation honoring those in the community who have done tremendous work to help others during the pandemic.
And, as is the custom, once the proclamation was read and passed, those being honored squeezed in shoulder to shoulder to pose with commissioners for the traditional group photo. There are eight people in the photo. Only two were wearing masks.
The next day, the governor’s office informed county officials that the meeting was in violation of rules that limit mass gatherings to five people. The board and county staff are allowed to meet, but the public can not be in the meeting room, state officials said.
During normal times, it is not unusual for elected governing boards to spend time on symbolic resolutions that they have no authority to enforce.
Before the legislative session, the county passed a resolution on gun laws and the city passed one on marijuana legalization. Both resolutions were ignored by state lawmakers, who did the opposite of what our leaders had requested.
But, these aren’t normal times. And, when the only point of the resolution is to send a message, it’s important that the message is clear.
I fear that this resolution will only confuse people who don’t read past the headline.
Texas has begun to re-open. New Mexico loosened its rules last week, and will do so again on May 15. But the virus gets a say, and the number of new cases aren’t going down yet.
Walt Rubel can be reached at waltrubel@gmail.com