BRADENTON BEACH – The Bradenton Beach City Commission has directed City Attorney Ricinda Perry to draft an emergency face-covering sign ordinance that would allow the city to opt out of the Manatee County face-covering resolution now being challenged in court.
The commission issued this directive during this morning’s weekly emergency special city commission meeting. The emergency ordinance will be presented for commission approval during the commission’s regular meeting on Thursday, Aug. 6, which starts at 6 p.m.
Soon after the emergency meeting concluded, Perry emailed the mayor and commissioners copies of the emergency ordinance to be voted on Thursday.
Using the same language as the Bradenton ordinance, the Bradenton Beach ordinance says, “Each business establishment shall post a sign visible at each public point of entry, which sign shall either advise persons entering that face coverings are required or requested to be worn within the business establishment; or notify persons entering that the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the wearing of face coverings in public, particularly where social distancing cannot be maintained.”
Perry inserted additional language that says, “Notice shall also be provided that states that individuals with a religious, physical or mental limitation preventing them from wearing a face covering are exempt.”
Using the same language as the Bradenton ordinance, the Bradenton Beach ordinance also says, “The legislative intent of this ordinance is to educate and encourage members of the public to wear face coverings within enclosed business establishments. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to mandate the wearing of face coverings nor require the owner or operator of any business establishment to mandate or otherwise enforce the wearing of face coverings.
According to Perry, the city ordinance would take effect Friday if adopted.
Under the county resolution – which states, “An individual in a business establishment must wear a face covering,” – Bradenton Beach business owners, employees and patrons are required to wear masks in businesses because the city has no official policy on the matter and the city lies within the county. However, if the city ordinance is adopted Thursday evening, the county resolution will not apply and masks will become optional within the Bradenton Beach city limits.
The county resolution provides exceptions for those who can maintain 6 feet or more of social distancing inside a business, for children under 6 years old and for those with breathing issues or pre-existing medical conditions.
A first offense of the county resolution warrants a written warning. The second offense could result in a $50 fine, with a $125 fine for a third offense and a $250 fine for subsequent offenses.
Commission discussion
Mayor John Chappie initiated Tuesday morning’s discussion about adopting an ordinance based on the Bradenton ordinance. He noted the county resolution is being challenged in court and he said he spoke with Perry on Monday about possibly opting out of the county requirements.
“Since we had no resolution on the record, we are automatically part of the umbrella resolution the county has adopted. I know a lot of people are really happy with the resolution the city of Bradenton has done, which has basically accomplished the same thing,” Chappie said.
He then asked Perry to share her thoughts.
“As far as the county resolution goes, I already had a number of legal concerns,” Perry said.
Perry said Chief Assistant County Attorney Bill Clague solicited insight from the city attorneys within Manatee County on Friday afternoon before the resolution was presented to county commissioners on Monday, July 27. The divided county commission then adopted the resolution by a 4-3 vote.
“I stated that I had objections with the fact that the county was usurping the authority of the city and acting as a charter county. We are not a charter county. The cities should not have been part of that process and it concerned me for future precedent,” Perry said.
“I also had concerns with due process in that particular resolution. The resolution itself did not provide for any appeal. The issue of due process is still outstanding in my mind. You need to be able to appeal a penalty that is filed against you and there’s just no mechanism to do that. That is a violation of your procedural due process in my opinion,” Perry said.
Perry said she reached out to Bradenton City Attorney Scott Rudacille and he provided her with a copy of Bradenton Emergency Ordinance 3067.
“As the mayor articulated, it gets you to the same place the county is, but it’s a document that’s not being challenged in court. If that challenge is successful, that resolution goes away and there is absolutely nothing on the books,” Perry said.
Bradenton Beach Police Lt. John Cosby mentioned a previous discussion he and Chappie had about the Bradenton ordinance.
“The discussion you and I had was that if we ever did choose to adopt an ordinance that would be the one to go with, because it does achieve every goal they’re trying to get to, but it does it in a more educational way and a friendlier way than what we’re currently doing,” Cosby said.
Commissioner Jake Spooner asked Perry to provide a quick summary of the differences between the county resolution and the Bradenton ordinance.
“The city of Bradenton’s mechanism for encouraging enforcement is much friendlier and it encourages compliance. It’s not a mandate to the citizenry to put masks on their face. It’s a mandate to the business community that any business must post a sign at their business location encouraging the use of masks. If you fail to post a sign you can be penalized, and that’s where it stops. It encourages compliance, with businesses being a partner in educating the public, as opposed to using police officers to go around and confront individuals in the public and fining them,” Perry said.
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