EDITORIAL: Turning words into actions

Aug. 3—Dr. John Wedlake was fired up during last night's City Council meeting.

Good for him.

The Stillwater City Council unanimously passed a resolution that "strongly encourages" masks and vaccines. It was not a mandate. There was no emergency declaration. No ordinances were created or passed concerning rising COVID-19 in Oklahoma and the effect it is having on our medical staff.

Like Extreme's Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt before him, Wedlake wanted more than words.

He wanted action.

Mayor Will Joyce wondered if a mask mandate now would do any good.

The CDC's latest recommendations are for people to be masked up, even those fully vaccinated, when they are sharing space, especially indoors. New state law prevents school boards, of even higher education, from creating mask mandates or COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

Joyce said he wasn't quite sure what good it would do when "half the population" in two weeks will spend most of their time in school where these mandates are not permitted.

Maybe it wouldn't make a huge dent, but shouldn't every bit count? Everyone pulling on the same rope? Why not have an every-tool-in-the-tool belt approach right now?

When we tried "strong recommendations" last year, businesses wouldn't put the signs up until a mandate was made. The companies said they wanted the teeth of an ordinance to fall back on.

Anecdotally, we know that before the mandate, few people wore masks inside places of business, after, when those signs went up, the masks went on.

It just worked that way.

And, you know, there are more places other than in schools and other state-operated areas that vulnerable people would like to go and feel safe. Masks are a mere inconvenience for most of us, but going into an unmasked area can make that place off limits for others.

We also realize what we really need is for Gov. Kevin Stitt to declare a state of emergency and free up control for hospitals and school districts.

He hasn't stated what his thresholds are. His latest message, after returning stateside from abroad, was that he met with Health Commissioner Lance Frye for a briefing on rising COVID cases, and that they "will continue to make the right decisions at the right time based on the data from our state."

Did the wait-and-see approach work for Louisiana or Arkansas?

Unless somehow things totally reverse in the next few days, we expect Council to have something more actionable on its next agenda.

Sometimes, it takes more than words.