BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns is calling for a consistent county-wide masking policy, be it with or without the face coverings.
Last week, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz created a policy which requires masks at all county-owned buildings, even for those who are fully vaccinated from the COVID-19 virus. The policy does not affect private businesses.
However, Kearns said he runs the area's auto bureaus like a business and one that had more than 4,000 transactions last week. But he said they were not given notice of the order, which took effect on Saturday and impacted those looking to renew licenses and other auto bureau-related matters.
"Let me be clear, I am not averse to facial coverings where the science-based evidence indicates it's an effective strategy at reducing the spread of COVID-19 and its variants," Kearns said. "However, I am opposed to the half-measures which do not fully address the data."
Kearns said the mask mandate in Erie County falls short of protecting the public from COVID-19 but stopped short of saying masks should be required at all businesses.
The county executive's office declined to comment and referred WBEN to its order last week.
"The county will reconsider a mask requirement for all indoor non-county owned public facilities if caseloads and hospitalizations should increase significantly as time progresses," Poloncarz said in a statement last week.
Kearns said he wants to see the data that shows there is spread in the county buildings.
"I can go to Wegmans or Tops and not wear a mask," Kearns said. "We're all outside here and congregating here today. If you go into a county clerk facility, you're going to need a mask. As a matter of fact, you're going to need a mask under the penalty of arrest. A criminal class B misdemeanor. That's a significant threat to our customers."
