Facing COVID surge, mayors ask DeSantis for mask mandate and more local control
As the holidays approach — and threaten to worsen a nationwide coronavirus surge — the mayors of five Florida cities and municipalities met Wednesday to request that Gov. Ron DeSantis impose a statewide mask mandate, ramp up the state’s testing effort and reinstate the authority of local governments to impose coronavirus restrictions as needed.
The bipartisan coalition of mayors, who largely represent cities in hard-hit South Florida, implored DeSantis to follow the lead of other U.S. governors who have recently imposed new COVID restrictions as cases continue to rise around the country and in Florida.
“Positive cases are rising steeply and it is spreading everywhere,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. “We can’t continue the way we’re going.”
The mayors, who emphasized the need to tamp down what they called an “enormous surge” in coronavirus cases, were all from Miami-Dade and Broward counties with the exception of the mayor of St. Petersburg, who joined the virtual meeting from Florida’s west coast. They did not explicitly call for business closures but outlined four demands for the governor: mandating a statewide mask requirement, allowing local governments to impose COVID restrictions, improving contact tracing and increasing the state’s funding of COVID testing.
Gelber, whose office organized the meeting, sent DeSantis a letter Wednesday formally requesting the safety measures. He accused DeSantis of pursuing a herd-immunity policy, but remained hopeful that he would change his mind and listen to local leaders.
“We won’t need to return to lock-downs if we are allowed to manage the virus through implementation of these best practices,” the Democratic mayor wrote. “Mask usage is obviously essential. The data proves that after we implemented it, our community saw a substantial reduction in virus spread. I believe if you were to implement a statewide mask mandate it would save thousands of lives.”
Gelber previously asked DeSantis to impose a mask mandate in a Sept. 15 letter.
From Alabama to New York — and regardless of political leanings — several governors have reimposed safety protocols to counter the uptick. In some states, local governments have considered their own restrictions. In California, for example, more than two dozen counties have moved to limit dine-in service at restaurants and restrict capacity at other businesses.
On Sept. 25, DeSantis signed a “right to work” executive order, ending state and some local COVID restrictions. That led Miami-Dade County to stop collecting face-mask fines and to reopen its bars and nightclubs. The county successfully fought to keep its midnight curfew in effect, despite an initial circuit court opinion that sided with the strip club Tootsies in its argument that the county curfew violated the state executive order.
“The governor didn’t just open things up. He flung the door open and said there are no rules anymore,” Gelber said.
After leveling off through much of the fall, the number of coronavirus patients admitted to Miami-Dade hospitals began to shoot up in the end of October. During the two-week period from Nov. 2 through Monday, COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased 34%. Over the same two-week period, the state’s rate of positive tests went from 6.5% to about 9%.
In addition to Gelber, the mayors at the Wednesday afternoon press conference included Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, Miami Shores Village Mayor Crystal Wagar, Sunrise Mayor Michael Ryan and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.
All serve in nonpartisan positions. Hernandez, who is a registered Republican, said DeSantis is not following the science in his response to the pandemic and that it would be “disrespectful” for the governor to ignore their call.
“The governor is gambling on this going away or something,” he said. “At the end of the day, time is going to prove him wrong or right.”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a registered Republican who did not attend the event, is also considered a part of the coalition.
On Monday, on a call with a small group of mayors and public health experts, Suarez presented data that suggested the governor’s move to restrict local governments from enforcing mask mandates may have contributed to the latest COVID-19 surge.
Suarez was joined on the call by Gelber; Daniella Levine Cava, newly elected as Miami-Dade’s mayor; and Pinecrest Mayor Joseph Corradino, who was representing the county’s League of Cities.
The group agreed that Suarez would try to set up a meeting with DeSantis to present the data and urge him to act.
“I don’t think anybody thinks we need to tinker with the curfew or close schools or anything like that,” said Corradino. “Really, what we need to do is just wear the masks.”
Levine Cava, who has criticized outgoing County Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s approach to the pandemic, has said she plans to “come out swinging” this week in addressing the ongoing crisis. On Tuesday, in an address after taking the oath of office, she announced the appointment of Dr. Peter Paige, a senior executive at Jackson, the county-owned hospital system, to be her administration’s chief medical officer.
Levine Cava said she has been trying to get a meeting with DeSantis to pitch a COVID plan that she and other mayors have crafted. “We want the governor to listen to us,” she said Sunday.
Suarez told reporters on Wednesday that he planned to ask DeSantis for more ability to enforce regulations local leaders believe will curb the spread of COVID-19, namely a mask mandate. City officials previously had the ability to fine people who were not
wearing masks in public.
He pointed to data analysis from local public health officials, as well as advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when he suggested that an enforceable mask order works.
“We’ve seen that in our own numbers,” he said. “We don’t need more proof than what we’ve already observed.”
Suarez said if the governor will meet with him, he’ll show DeSantis a statistical analysis that shows how COVID cases increased after DeSantis voided Miami’s mask order. He said he has not yet gotten word if he will get a meeting, but Suarez said he wants to persuade DeSantis to loosen the state’s grip on how municipalities can use local laws to combat the virus.
Gelber and Ryan, the Sunrise mayor, said they believe state-funded COVID testing sites in MiamiDade and Broward have begun to ramp down. At the Miami Beach Convention Center testing site, the county has filled the gap left by the state, Gelber said.
“The state’s decision to roll back availability of testing centers has not simply inconvenienced many Floridians but, more importantly, made it difficult for many to get tested when they most need to,” Gelber wrote in the letter.
“In many communities, the waits are increasing every day as more people are concerned that they may be infected.”
Gelber also said state workers in Miami-Dade who are employed to do contact tracing — a way of reducing the spread of the disease — have not been able to effectively get in touch with newly infected residents. During the twoweek period ending Nov.
13, he said in his letter, county contact tracers interviewed less than half of infected residents to find their close contacts.
He proposed that DeSantis authorize the use of a contact-tracing app developed by Google and Apple to help curb the spread of the virus.
Kriseman, of St. Petersburg, said he and his fellow mayors hope DeSantis will listen. They did not give the governor a deadline by which to respond to their request.
“Our hope is that he pays attention to the mayors,” Kriseman said. “We are the closest to the people. We have to deal with what is happening on the ground each and every day in our communities.”