County Council approves restructuring of Board of Health

Apr. 19—The Frederick County Council on Tuesday voted to expand the Frederick County Board of Health by adding liaisons from several health fields and one business group to advise the board on its decisions.

There are currently nine members of the board. The new board will have 15 members, starting in 60 days.

The nine current board members can vote. The six new members will not vote.

The council's two Republicans tried to amend the bill so that the six new members would all be Frederick County residents. That prompted a debate on whether county boards and commissions should only be open to Frederick County voters and residents.

Early the pandemic, the Board of Health instituted and revoked public health measures such as mask mandates.

Its other duties include considering the health and sanitary interests of the county and other factors that affect public health.

The board has been comprised of the seven County Council members, the county executive and one health professional — the Frederick County health officer, who leads the board.

Under the approved legislation introduced by Councilman Jerry Donald, D, the board will soon include an epidemiologist, a nurse, a mental health professional, a veterinarian, one other person with a science-related background and a member of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce.

The liaison appointments will require approval from the Board of Health.

Donald pushed for the same measure in 2022, along with then-Councilman Kai Hagen, D.

This year, Donald's version of the bill included no voting power for the new liaisons, as a compromise.

Under the 2022 proposal, the Board of Health would have included seven public health experts and one County Council representative. That version also required the County Council to approve regulations, such as a mask mandate, before they could take effect.

Donald said the liaisons' advisory capacity will still be valuable in guiding decisions on public health.

He reflected on the measure's past journey before it passed.

"My first proposal to establish a separate Board of Health was met with quite a deal of resistance," Donald said. "Because many people in the public thought that you should hold the public officials accountable for the actions decided by the Board of Health."

A last-minute amendment proposed on Tuesday by Councilman Mason Carter, R, added one more hurdle for Donald's bill to clear before passage.

Carter and Councilman Steve McKay, R, both argued that liaisons to the Board of Health should be residents and registered voters of Frederick County.

McKay said county residency and voter registration are standard requirements for all other county boards and commissions, and he thought the new liaisons would have that requirement.

Carter said residency requirements make sense.

"Because I think it's absolutely wrong to allow a very, very powerful body ... to be advised by people who do not have a stake in the decisions they make," Carter said.

Donald said he'd vote for the bill regardless, but various public health officials at local institutions like Fort Detrick have an excellent background in science and want to serve their community, even if they don't live in the county.

"They're science-based folks. They may be from other countries, and they want to serve if they wish to serve," Donald said.

"We have a growing immigrant population ... whose voices matter," Council Vice President Kavonté Duckett, D, said, "and they should be invited to sit at these tables and be a part of these conversations ...."

In response, McKay returned to his larger point that all boards and commissions that advise the County Council and county executive have this requirement. He urged council members to evaluate that requirement for other bodies, too, if it wasn't imposed for the Board of Health.

"So each one of those members has this same requirement: to be residents of the county and registered voters," McKay said. "If ... my colleagues wish to call into question that requirement, that's a larger discussion. Let's have it."

Duckett accepted the invitation.

"I will be bringing something before ... my colleagues very soon, so that we can continue that conversation," Duckett said.

The amendment failed along party lines, 5-2.

Duckett, Donald, Council President Brad Young, and Councilwomen M.C. Keegan-Ayer and Renee Knapp voted against.

Carter and McKay voted in favor.

In a final vote on the bill, coalitions shifted. Duckett said he would vote against the bill because it stripped new members of voting powers.

"I really think that we will be doing the public a disservice. If the liaisons did have a vote on the Board of Health, then I would have supported this bill," Duckett said.

Carter reiterated his past opposition to the bill.

"I think that the liaisons can go back and advise us through public comment," Carter said. "I don't see a need to go ahead and establish a Board of Health that varies with what we operated with prior."

Knapp opposed the bill because she believed the Board of Health should be separate from the County Council — similar to the version Donald outlined in his past proposal — and have voting powers.

"You know, we need to have a separation ...," Knapp said, "There's an independence that sort of grows and they can sort of set their agenda, use their expertise to look at problems ...."

Keegan-Ayer voiced her support, with caveats, before the vote.

She recollected a flurry of phone calls, text messages and emails that council members received early in the pandemic, when the council and Board of Health deliberated on mask mandates.

"We got some doozies. That's all I'm gonna say," Keegan-Ayer said. "[Donald's bill] might not be perfect, but I think this is better than what we had during COVID. We do have the ability to have a board of experts advising us."

Keegan-Ayer said she appreciated the repeated efforts Donald made to incorporate input from other council members.

The bill passed 4-3.

Donald, McKay, Keegan-Ayer and Young voted in favor.

Duckett, Carter and Knapp voted against.

The public will have 60 days to petition the bill to referendum. After that, it will go into effect.

Donald said in an interview on Wednesday that after the 60 days, a county staff member would recruit applicants, with potential interviews beginning next fall.

The Board of Health meets next on May 18.

In an email statement through county Health Department spokesperson Rissah Watkins, Dr. Barbara Brookmyer, the county's health officer, acknowledged the value in adding more people to the Board of Health.

"Public health works best when a variety of voices can be included," Brookmyer wrote. "Diversity of backgrounds, lived experiences, education, and perspectives among people on the Board of Health can help us to better reflect our county's community and ultimately better serve Frederick County."