Mayor Hardie Davis refused to answer questions on whether he has plans for a new mask mandate for Augusta-Richmond County.
Davis’ previous 2020 executive order, which mandated masks be worn in Richmond County, was not enforced.
The 2020 order required masks to be worn in all public areas in addition to government buildings. Enforcement of the order was delegated to the sheriff’s office. Penalties for not wearing a mask included a fine structure that increased with multiple violations.
A request under the state open records act indicated the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office had zero reports or documents related to mask violations and issued no citations or fines related to executive orders enforcement.
The order signed on March 11, 2020, states, “Any individual who fails to comply with this Executive Order shall be guilty of a civil offense that may be punishable by a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25.00) on the first offense, not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) on the second offense, and not more than ($100.00) on the third offense and any subsequent offenses.”
The executive order was set to expire on April 27, 2021.
Mayor Davis did respond to questions Friday about the mask mandate and its lack of enforcement, saying, “Regarding citations issued by the sheriff’s office, it was not about handing out citations but keeping people safe and saving lives — which we did. One would hope that individuals wouldn’t need a citation to protect themselves and their families.”
Despite the fact that the mayor’s executive order was not enforced, he and three other Georgia mayors penned an open letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, also on Friday, criticizing the governor over his executive order signed the day before, an order that was aimed at prohibiting local governments from imposing mask, vaccine or building-capacity mandates.
The day before Kemp signed the order, he said, “The one thing that can make tough times even harder when you’re running your own business is more government. Just as our economy is returning to normal, small businesses from Savannah to Atlanta cannot survive another round of shutdowns.”
While Davis would not answer about any plans for future mask mandates, he did issue the following statement about the need for masks:
“Based on current data and the rise in virus cases in Richmond County, it is important for individuals to get vaccinated. The delta variant of the virus is highly contagious and more transmissible. The CDC has given recent guidance that unvaccinated individuals should wear masks 100-percent of the time and that fully vaccinated individuals should wear masks in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission. The CDC and Dr. (Anthony) Fauci have said that masks are incredibly effective in mitigating the spread of the virus.”
