GLENDALE — The Mayor of Glendale posted on his Facebook Thursday saying he does not support a face mask mandate but does urge everyone in the community to wear one.
Mayor Bryan Kennedy gave two reasons for not supporting a face mask mandate. The first was because of the politics in the state court.
He mentioned that some communities have tried passing this mandate, and they've been challenged. That lead him to acknowledge a lack of support for local government.
"I hate to sound cynical, but this court is so incredibly political in its judicial activism that one can accurately predict the vote. I do not think it is a prudent strategy to issue a mandate that will be overturned by the courts, but not until AFTER the city of Glendale exhausts a lot of money in outside legal fees to defend a mandate," wrote Kennedy.
The second reason he gave was practicality, saying, "Unless the entire county does it, individual municipalities will have a difficult time enforcing mandates. Our borders are porous. People cross into other communities to shop, dine, go to medical appointments, etc. all the time. A patchwork of policies just confuses the public."
The post from Kennedy comes as the Glendale Common Council plans to hold a meeting Monday to discuss a possible mandate. While Kennedy doesn't support a mandate, he did make it known that he encourages everyone in the community to wear a mask.
"I drafted a statement supporting mask-wearing. The statement adopts all of the guidelines issued by the North Shore Health Department, encourages everyone to wear a mask when in public places, and supports our local businesses that have made the decision to require masks in their stores or business establishments," wrote Kennedy.
