A candidate for the Wyoming House of Representatives recently penned an open letter to the Laramie City Council, telling its members their proposed mask resolution was unconstitutional.
Ocean Andrew, who is running to represent House District 46, posted the letter to Facebook on Tuesday, the same day the council was set to discuss a potential face mask resolution.
“I oppose all efforts to bring this dystopia to Wyoming,” Andrew said in the letter. “We have been able to maintain our color and flavor of life and I propose we keep it that way. What good is it to eliminate risk if it comes at the cost of happiness and quality of life? Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are all unalienable rights and I believe the proposal to require masks threatens all three.”
Andrew also owns the On the Hook Fish and Chips food truck, which currently employs around 60 employees and has trucks in Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. His campaign website explains that Andrew moved to Wyoming seven years ago to “seek a certain freedom I believe can only be found in this state.”
“We are social beings, and we need to see each other’s faces otherwise we lack some of the most important elements of communication,” Andrew continued in his letter. “Is communication not what allows a free society to practice understanding and tolerance of our differences? What will happen when we lose that?”
He encouraged the council to punt the resolution and letting city and county residents make the choice to wear a mask.
The council ultimately voted the resolution down, 5-4.
