Two weeks ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis sent letters to the leaders of all of Florida’s 67 counties and their municipalities, asking them to provide him with detailed information on any emergency orders, local restrictions and civil penalties they’ve imposed on residents in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
He didn’t say why he wanted it, only that he wanted it by Sept. 15.
When contacted last week, both County Administrator Jason Brown and Vero Beach City Manager Monte Falls said they were puzzled by DeSantis’ request, so much that neither would even venture a guess as to the governor’s motivations, saying only that their staffs were preparing the requested paperwork, which they didn’t expect to be extensive.
“We really haven’t done a whole lot,” Brown said.
Truth be told, our local governments have done next to nothing in terms of emergency orders, opting instead to merely encourage us to behave responsibly – wash our hands regularly, socially distance when possible and voluntarily wear masks in indoor public places to slow the spread of the virus.
Unlike some other Florida cities and counties, we don’t have a mandatory mask order, which explains why no one in our community has been cited for violating one.
So why should anyone here care about DeSantis’ directive, which he also posted on Twitter?
For the past six months – despite responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with emergency orders that have impacted businesses, schools and travel – DeSantis has allowed local governments to decide for themselves whether to require face coverings, saying Florida’s cities and counties were too diverse for him to issue any statewide mandate.
The result has been a mosaic of local orders and ordinances with restrictions and penalties that vary from one jurisdiction to another, oblivious to the reality that many people in more-populated areas commute from mask-mandated communities to those governed by mask deniers.
Has DeSantis changed his mind?
Even if he has, there’s no real chance he’d go all-in on masks now, given Florida’s downward trend in the rate of new COVID cases and his infections-be-damned push to reopen the state.
Perhaps you’ve seen news clips of DeSantis traveling the state recently, spreading a sunshine-and-beaches message and promoting tourism, hospitality and professional sports as if COVID-19 were nothing more than a bad memory.
He allowed bars to reopen at 50-percent capacity this week, and he said last week restaurants will be back to full capacity “very soon.”
You might’ve noticed, too, that he was not wearing a mask during several of these events.
Then there’s this: According to the Tampa Bay Times, DeSantis’ letter to counties and cities was sent one day after St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman “called out the governor on Twitter for not wearing a mask when at a roundtable” in the city on Sept. 3.
It’s no wonder, then, that statewide speculation was rampant as last week came to a close with DeSantis’ office not responding to phone calls and emails from the news media.
Specifically: Is the governor planning to use his emergency authority to override local governments, shut down all mask orders and ordinances around the state, and forgive the civil penalties issued by counties and cities?
Don’t be surprised if he does.
True, it would be a 180-degree pivot from his previous position on statewide orders regarding masks. It also would be a blatant infringement on home rule, which has long been a point of contention between Tallahassee and local governments.
DeSantis, though, has said repeatedly that the orders and restrictions put in place to combat the pandemic shouldn’t be permanent, citing their negative impacts on the state and local economies, as well as on the mental and financial health of residents.
And he has made it obvious from the moment the pandemic arrived in Florida that he would not take drastic measures – including many that were implemented by governors in other states – and is determined to return to normalcy as soon as possible, even if doing so puts the public’s health at risk.
Clearly, DeSantis is up to something – why else request from the counties and cities the text of all coronavirus-related orders, any clarification of those orders provided to businesses, enforcement guidance given to police, the penalties imposed for violations, citations issues and fines collected, and the dates when the orders expire or must be renewed?
Why force already-challenged local governments to divert manpower and money to produce such comprehensive reports in the middle of a pandemic?
Why now?
All we can do is hope the speculation about reversing local mask orders is wrong and that DeSantis sees how much wearing masks in public has contributed to the reduction in new virus infections in our state, especially in larger cities and counties.
But I don’t think it is.
I don’t think he does.
And while we don’t have a mask mandate here, we’ll feel the effects of his actions if he does reverse course – because people from all over the state, particularly South Florida, continue to find their way to Vero Beach.
If they are sick when they come here, people here will get sick, too.
