Civic powers and citizen rights clashing amid the pandemic

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A small coastal city in Georgia that thrives on tourism closed its beach, fearing that carefree crowds of teenagers and college students posed too great a risk for spreading the novel coronavirus. Two weeks later, the state’s governor has reversed that decision, saying people weathering the outbreak need fresh air and exercise.

The clash has thrust tiny Tybee Island, east of Savannah, into a thorny debate that keeps cropping up during the coronavirus pandemic: How much can officials curtail freedoms during the crisis? And should those calls be made at the federal, state or local level?

Tybee Island Mayor Shirley Sessions, sworn in barely three months ago, has taken on Gov. Brian Kemp after state officials on Friday reopened the beach in this community of 3,100 people. The beach typically operates with city-funded lifeguards, police patrols and trash cleanup.

The change resulted from the Republican governor’s order that people statewide should “shelter in place” — that is, they should stay home unless working jobs deemed essential, seeking medical care, shopping for groceries or other exceptions, including exercising outdoors. It also invalidated any restrictions already imposed by local governments if they went beyond the governor’s limits.

That meant a unanimous decision by Tybee Island’s City Council to close its beach was suddenly overridden, and Ms. Sessions said the governor’s office declined to reconsider when asked. Her blunt, public rebuttal to what she called the governor’s “reckless mandate” drew attention far beyond her small coastal home.

“As the Pentagon ordered 100,000 body bags to store the corpses of Americans killed by the coronavirus, Governor Brian Kemp dictated that Georgia beaches must reopen,” Ms. Sessions said in a statement posted Saturday on the city’s website that was quickly spread on social media and quoted in news stories. Tybee Island mayors are elected in nonpartisan races, and Ms. Sessions doesn’t identify as Democrat

or Republican.

Mr. Kemp noted Sunday on Twitter that state law enforcement officers were monitoring beaches at Tybee Island and elsewhere to ensure crowds weren’t gathering, and that beach traffic appeared sparse. He said “beach gear and parties are prohibited.”

The back-and-forth reflects the broader debate in the U.S. about whether severe limitations on people’s movement are necessary, causing unacceptable disruption or even constitutional violation. Some faith leaders have argued that bans on gatherings that applied to services violated religious freedom protections. The American Civil Liberties Union is asking a court to block part of Puerto Rico’s strict curfew, expressing concern about overreach. The Los Angeles County sheriff reversed his decision to shut down firearms dealers after he was sued by gun-rights groups.

On Sunday, there were no lifeguards were on duty on Tybee’s beaches, and local officials left in place plywood signs blocking boardwalks and wooden barricades to keep cars out of beachfront parking lots.