EDITOR: Mayor Coffman, “I will support a mask mandate.”
Let’s hope the Tri-County Health Department moves towards a mandate for wearing either masks or other forms of face coverings.
My first response to Coffman’s “I will support a mask mandate,” statement is, you are a bit late to the ‘party’, but, “better late than never.”
Even though I do question the mayor’s motives due to the timing of his ‘policy’ change, if he is able to implement a mandatory mask/face covering policy for the City of Aurora, then I am in favor of it.
In an news article, which I read about Mayor Coffman’s changing position, also mentioned those who hold the opinion that ‘freedom’ and ‘liberties,’ as a way to argue against a policy making masks/face coverings compulsory.
The one thing that is often left out by those who take on the, “It’s my right to choose to wear a mask or not,” is any mention of ‘responsibilities.’ The fact that they never mention to any responsibilities connected to our rights and freedoms might just be because they do not think there are any responsibilities they should be accountable for. It is almost as if they are saying the Constitution endows me with rights and freedoms in a vacuum and the only my actions impact is only myself, and maybe my family.
If we are to bring back civility to social and political discourse then we need to connect responsibilities to our freedoms/rights. If we fail to do this, we will end up in a free-for-all society where the slogan will be, “I only care for what is mine and damn the rest.”
So, maybe, if we had a stronger sense of solidarity and community, and far less tribal politics, we can do better in protecting the health and welfare of those around us.
— Andrew Jarrett, via letters@sentinelcolorado.com