Local mayor questions Mecklenburg’s mask mandate, but that won’t stop the county

The mayor of Huntersville says Mecklenburg County’s pending mask mandate is not justified now, even as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations soar in the Charlotte area.

Republican Mayor John Aneralla, in a letter sent Thursday to county commissioners’ Chairman George Dunlap, took issue with what he said was a lack of data presented by county officials last week as they successfully pushed for a reinstated mask mandate.

The public health rule is slated to take effect countywide on Aug. 31 for all Mecklenburg residents, regardless of their vaccination status.

But a week after county commissioners voted 6-2 on the mask rule, Aneralla — long opposed to the prospect of tighter local coronavirus restrictions — formally voiced his opposition to Dunlap.

The letter will not interfere with the mask rule ultimately taking effect, Mecklenburg officials indicated to the Observer Thursday afternoon.

Mecklenburg’s health rule does not “include any comparative data from other North Carolina communities sufficient to support a finding that a more stringent health rule is necessary within Mecklenburg,” Aneralla wrote in the letter, which he shared with the Observer. “Lacking such justification, proposed rules are not legally permissible and are preempted by the state regulations.”

He also criticized commissioners for not citing the source of their data regarding rising cases. Aneralla told the Observer Thursday that county health department later provided him with specific vaccination data for Huntersville.

Aneralla said his letter is not about being for or against the mask mandate. He’s expecting compliance in Huntersville.

Public health authority

In an unprecedented maneuver last Wednesday, county commissioners functioned as what’s known as a consolidated human services agency, according to the special meeting notice.

This gave commissioners the authority to issue the mask mandate, without seeking consent of town officials.

County commissioners, in their role as a board of health, enacted a rule that “covers all of Mecklenburg County, including the City of Charlotte and the six towns, ” Dunlap said in his statement to the Observer. He did not list list any exceptions to this rule.

Earlier in the pandemic, more stringent county measures — which allowed Mecklenburg to exceed what Gov. Roy Cooper had imposed at the state level — relied on unanimous support from Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles Dunlap, as well as the mayors of Mecklenburg’s six towns.

The unified front buckled last summer, as some towns defected from Mecklenburg’s strict late-night alcohol curfew, instead favoring a looser provision from the governor that permitted seating at bar counters.

But since Mecklenburg didn’t seek a public health rule in these earlier pandemic situations, Aneralla wants clarity on why commissioners are wielding this option now.

“The question is anytime one ruling body takes the authority away from another, I think you should have a clear understanding why,” Aneralla, invoking case law, told the Observer.

Dunlap, emphasizing the commissioners’ authority, said people who violate a local board of health rule could be charged with a misdemeanor.

Mask mandates

The latest wave of coronavirus restrictions comes amid the highly contagious delta variant and a concerning uptick in breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated individuals.

In late July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance urging people in high-transmission areas to resume wearing masks in indoor public settings. That criteria now applies to all North Carolinians, regardless of their vaccination status, according to the CDC’s COVID data tracker.

Cooper stopped short of issuing a statewide mask mandate in response, though he empowered local governments to take stricter actions if necessary.

Meanwhile, in Cabarrus County, officials on Thursday issued a public health advisory urging people to resume wearing masks indoors and in outdoor public settings.