From vaccines to mask mandates, here's how Milwaukee's mayoral candidates would approach COVID-19
Milwaukee will be on the verge of electing a new mayor this spring when it reaches the second anniversary of the coronavirus' arrival in the city.
On March 13, 2020, the city announced its first COVID-19 case and city and county officials declared public health emergencies.
Soon, streets emptied, the chatter in bars and restaurants ceased under public health orders and residents braced for life in a global emergency.
In the 22 months since, more than 1,000 people in the city have died from the virus and elected and public health officials, residents and businesses have weathered the surges and lulls of the pandemic.
Among the highest-profile responses was the mask mandate the city implemented in July 2020 that gained unanimous Common Council approval and put the onus on businesses to enforce masking in their public spaces or face penalties.
Violations of the mask ordinance or public health orders could land businesses with fines, a tally that came to more than $250,000.
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That mask mandate was in effect for the duration of the city's COVID-19 public health order, which lifted June 1, 2021.
Now, with the city anything but immune to the omicron variant that drove record hospitalizations, a city mask mandate is back through March 1.
However, it's not the same mask mandate that residents and businesses had grown accustomed to earlier in the pandemic. It comes with a likely end date and is essentially a strong recommendation without enforcement so city workers can focus on testing and vaccination efforts.
About 300,000 residents have received a full vaccine series, not including a booster, though the city's vaccination rate among those at least 16 years old has remained stubbornly around 60%.
(Those seeking testing and vaccinations can search on HealthyMKE.com.)
As with everything in the pandemic, it's difficult to predict what circumstances will greet the next mayor when he or she takes office after the April 5 election. The primary is Feb. 15, which will narrow the field to two candidates.
Here's how the seven candidates say they'll approach the ongoing pandemic based on what has happened so far. It's one of the biggest challenges the next mayor is likely to face in office.
They are running to fill the remaining two years on the term of Mayor Tom Barrett, who resigned late last month to become ambassador to Luxembourg.
More: Milwaukee mayoral candidates vie for rare open seat. Here's what you should know.
Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson
Johnson has held a leadership position for all but about a month of the pandemic, first as Common Council president and now as acting mayor since Barrett's departure.
In an interview, he charted the evolution of the city's response, saying the city had been trying everything possible to respond to the pandemic.
That includes encouraging mask-wearing and the initial 2020 mask mandate to stop the spread when little was known about the virus and there was no vaccine.
"That was a very difficult period, especially for our economy, but we did the right thing I think in that respect — following the science, listening to the experts," he said.
Johnson co-sponsored the Common Council resolution that instituted the mask ordinance in July 2020, and late that year he joined all of his council colleagues in supporting legislation that raised the fine for businesses that violated health orders issued by the city Health Department.
Now, with vaccinations readily available, Johnson on Jan. 20 signed the new mask mandate. He described the legislation as essentially putting into ordinance the mask advisory the city has long had in place and in a statement cited the "significant consequences from the pandemic" that businesses had endured.
He said of the shift in approach that the pandemic has been a learning process and the city throughout has used the tools at its disposal to curb transmission of the virus.
And while he stood by the previous fines for businesses under the circumstances at that time, he said today the most important effort is to get people vaccinated.
Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson has also said her department does not have the staff capacity to enforce the mask requirement as it focuses on COVID-19 testing and vaccination.
He also highlighted the Health Department's distribution of more than 1 million N95 masks to members of the public and hundreds of thousands more to schools in recent weeks.
"If we're ever really going to address the issues that folks have in terms of school closures or the economic consequences to businesses, we need folks to get vaccinated," Johnson said.
He called the city's vaccination rate "stubbornly low" and said that needs to change.
He said he was not sure if Milwaukee would at this point consider additional measures such as a requirement that customers provide proof of vaccination to enter private venues, such as bars, restaurants and entertainment sites. Other cities such as Chicago and the Twin Cities have recently implemented such requirements.
Such additional steps would require research into the pros and cons, he said.
Johnson was vaccinated on camera last spring along with County Executive David Crowley and County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson. Johnson also received a booster dose. When he announced early this year that he contracted COVID-19, he said his illness could have been much worse if he had not been vaccinated and boosted.
Former Ald. Bob Donovan
Donovan was critical of the city's response to the pandemic, which he said from the initial lockdown just before St. Patrick's Day 2020 to today has hurt small businesses and employment.
Donovan did not run for reelection in the spring of 2020, holding office only briefly during the pandemic.
He disapproved of the city's reinstatement of a mask ordinance in recent weeks, saying he did not believe the ubiquitous cloth masks were effective at stopping the pandemic. He also said he was hearing confusion from business owners about what was required of them and raised concerns about putting the onus on businesses to enforce masking.
Guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that loosely woven cloth masks provide the least protection and that protection can be increased by layering finely woven masks, wearing well-fitting surgical masks and KN95s, and, at the most protective, wearing a well-fitting respirator such as an N95 that is approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health.
Donovan slammed the new mask mandate in a Facebook post, calling it "too little too late" in response to the omicron variant and "nothing more than an overreach of local government and another 'do something just for appearances' strategy."
"If you wish to wear a mask, wear one—it's your choice and right, just as it is your choice and right to decide whether or not you receive the vaccines," he wrote.
In an interview, Donovan said he saw a role for government in making the vaccines available and that he had been vaccinated and boosted.
However, he said the decision about whether to get vaccinated is best left to individuals and their doctors.
"I’m not certainly in any way anti-vaccine, but I am pro-freedom," he said.
Donovan also said he wanted the city to emulate measures from other communities, citing Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' policies as a starting point.
He also did not support the city's vaccine mandate for employees or the masking requirement in city buildings.
He said he generally doesn't wear a mask but will put one on if he goes into a store that requires them.
Donovan was first elected to the council in 2000. He represented the city's 8th Aldermanic District on the south side.
Michael Sampson
Sampson, owner of Swarmm Events, said the city's original mask mandate was what brought him into city politics.
He said he jumped into the race after advocating against the city's restrictions and fines on businesses for violations of masking and health orders.
Sampson said he felt the enforcement was "uncalled for" after businesses lost money due to the pandemic, surging food costs and staffing challenges. No one was looking out for the bars and restaurants, he said.
"With the mask mandate, bars and restaurants were kind of getting victimized," he said, adding that many of his family and friends work in the industry.
Sampson said the city cannot afford another shutdown of businesses.
He called for more resources, including to ensure access to COVID-19 testing as the lines stretched for blocks over the holidays. That rush has since declined.
And he said the city needed a "vaccination push" that rethinks strategies to get people vaccinated.
He said he did not think monetary incentives work and instead argued for public engagement in areas of the city where vaccination rates lag.
The city's incentive program that provided $100 gift cards to 1,000 people getting their first COVID-19 vaccine dose ran from Sept. 23 until all the gift cards were distributed five days later, according to the Health Department.
Sampson also argued for looking for strategies that are working in communities outside of Milwaukee, though said he would have to do more research in order to point to specific models he'd like to see the city emulate.
He said he would be in favor of a vaccine mandate for private venues like Chicago has done — but only if all other municipalities in the county took the same approach.
He saw it as a disadvantage that Milwaukee County does not have a health department, unlike Dane County, because it has resulted in a patchwork of responses to the pandemic.
Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas
Lucas said his plan to respond to the pandemic calls for a partnership with the Common Council, the health commissioner, businesses and employers to find the best solutions for Milwaukee.
"We definitely are going to approach it using a common-sense approach that’s based in science, where we’re going to put the safety and wellbeing of ... the people of Milwaukee first," he said. "But also one that would take into consideration businesses and employers here in the city of Milwaukee so that we can, again, have a comprehensive, balanced approach to addressing COVID."
He said he would take into account factors including case numbers and hospitalizations.
And Lucas said he would encourage Milwaukee residents to get vaccinated and would want to talk to medical experts and look at other communities' approaches to find ways to boost the city's vaccination rate.
He thought the city's Health Department could increase its communication to targeted neighborhoods or specific groups to inform city residents about the need to get vaccinated.
Lucas said he was not sure the new mask mandate issued by the city was the best policy, saying it left some confused, created disparities between requirements in the city versus surrounding communities and created fear among some business owners about losing their businesses when they come up for license renewal.
As for the city's earlier mask mandate and the fines on businesses, Lucas was not immediately familiar with the details but said he would have to believe city leaders acted in residents' best interests in those circumstances as the pandemic was in its early stages in 2020.
Leaders today face a different challenge, he said.
If he were elected mayor, he said he would look at the situation when he came into office before deciding whether mandates related to vaccination or masking are appropriate.
He said he had been vaccinated and boosted.
Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic
Dimitrijevic, who chairs the council's Public Safety and Health Committee, has been the most vocal of the council members on pandemic response.
She was the lead sponsor of the resolution that instituted the mask ordinance in July 2020 and the sole sponsor of subsequent legislation that raised the fine for businesses that violated health orders issued by the city Health Department.
Along with Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, Dimitrijevic also co-sponsored the legislation creating the city's new mask ordinance. The move came after months of Dimitrijevic unsuccessfully pushing Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson to reinstate a health order, thereby triggering a return to the last mask mandate.
Dimitrijevic told her colleagues the purpose of the legislation was to decrease indoor transmission.
"I hope that helps as we move forward, and I guarantee you if we can reduce transmission, we can get back to something that feels a little bit healthier and back to normal," she said. "We have to do all we can, and I see this as an endorsement of the work."
She said her primary focus as mayor would be to "get out of this pandemic" that is harming the economy and schools and exacerbating racial and economic injustice.
Dimitrijevic said the mayor's powers are "quite significant" when combined with the legislative branch. She said she would work with the council to make policy for the city.
In an interview before the new mask mandate was even discussed in committee, she questioned why the health commissioner would not use "every tool possible" given the city's transmission rate, the move to virtual schooling for many early in the year and the strain on hospitals.
"I have not heard a response that says that the metrics don't dictate bringing back a mask order," she said.
The health commissioner's reasons for not reinstating the mask mandate through a public health order included challenges with enforcement and her fears that a public health order could prompt state legislators to remove powers from public health officers like her.
Even with the health commissioner serving as a member of the mayor's cabinet, Dimitrijevic said she would express her desire for such an order over telling the commissioner to issue one.
"It's her decision, she's an independent member, but I would certainly express my desire for that to happen" if the circumstances warrant it, she said.
As for a proof-of-vaccination mandate for private venues, Dimitrijevic said it's under consideration but pointed to local businesses that have taken that step independently. Key to a citywide mandate, she said, would be to increase vaccination rates among the city's Black and Latino communities.
She is vaccinated and has received a booster shot.
State Sen. Lena Taylor
Taylor listed COVID response as one of her top priorities for the nearly $200 million the city will receive in the second tranche of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
She said there needed to be more testing, tracing and support for businesses that have been challenged during the pandemic.
And she called for a heightened education campaign to prevent the spread of the virus, saying community health workers should serve as credible messengers to provide information to move people to action. That includes engaging faith organizations to serve as those messengers over the long term, she said.
"I can’t make people get vaccinated," she said. "I can’t make them. I can’t make them take this seriously. I can’t make them wear a mask — even with mandates — so we have to begin to, yet again, meet people where they are."
She said she was not opposed to issuing a mask mandate where necessary.
As for the city's recent mandate, Taylor said she did not think it was fair to require business owners who have already been hurt in the pandemic to enforce it.
A vaccine mandate for private venues would have to be a conversation with the business community, she said, noting the businesses that are taking that step independently.
Taylor said she had been vaccinated and boosted.
Ieshuh Griffin
Griffin, an activist, said she did not think the city was doing enough to respond to the pandemic while also using it as an excuse to not make services as accessible as before the pandemic and to deny people's rights.
She said she had not seen the American Rescue Plan Act funds the city allocated accomplishing what it was supposed to in terms of combating the pandemic and offering residents support.
Griffin also called the new mask mandate ineffective because the city does not have the necessary masks to provide to residents.
"It's a waste of ink," she said.
She said the city should be doing more to provide residents with information that can help them understand the virus and providing masks to people who want to wear them.
She would not mandate masks or vaccinations as mayor.
She said she is not vaccinated.
Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here's how Milwaukee's mayoral candidates would approach COVID
