A resolution calling for a public health order requiring the use of face masks in public settings in Park County to be rescinded has been ratified by the county party’s central committee.
Party members, during a meeting Thursday, unanimously ratified the resolution calling the order unconstitutional, according to a news release issued by Vincent Vanata, the party’s secretary.
Dr. Aaron Billin, the county’s health officer, was one of more than a dozen health officers in November to seek orders from the state Department of Health requiring the use of face masks in their counties.
The step was seen as a way to stem the rapid rise in coronavirus cases seen in October and November.
An unofficial copy of the resolution, signed by the party’s executive committee, was delivered to county commissioners in late November. At the time, party Chairman Martin Kimmet said the resolution would not become official until it could be reviewed and voted on by the central committee.
The resolution said county commissioners were not given a chance to review or approve the resolution and asked Billin to rescind the order. If Billin does not rescind the order, then Park County Commissioners should do so, the resolution said.
The resolution criticized Billin for seeking state approval for the order without first approaching elected officials.
“Obviously, this was an end run around our elected officials at the state level, our county commissioners, our mayors and city/town councils,” it said.
As a result, the order is unconstitutional and unacceptable, the resolution said.
“We believe this mandate is unacceptable, outrageous and most importantly unconstitutional in a Constitutional Representative Republic,” it said.
