City Council Votes on Mask Mandate

St. Joseph City Council votes on extending mask mandate.

On a 5-3 vote tonight, council members voted to make a city ordinance out of what had previously been a mayoral order to wear masks in retail businesses of more than 10,000 feet.

Mayor bill mcmurray's order was to have expired on friday -- the ordinance passed tonight will go on indefinitely.

However, a move to discuss further expanding the mandate to all businesses that can not socially distance failed on a 4 to 4 vote.

Most in the audience at tonight's meeting was against any kind of mandate.

Mayor mcmurray says the council is caught in the middle of a difficult debate.

(sot: "a lot of people feel we need a broader mask mandate.

Then there are people, like the majority of people here tonight, who said we do not want a broader mask mandate.

What i'm trying to do is to balance the competing interests."

) council members against the mask mandate ordinance were p.j.

Kovac, marty novak and gary roach.

They were joined by spanky o'dell on the vote to move forward with extending the mandate to other businesses.

Council member madison davis was not at tonight's meeting.