On Tuesday, April 6, the Nye County Commission, after several hours of public comment and debate on fully reopening the county and “recommending” rather than mandating masks, voted 5-0 to approve fully reopening Nye County and its businesses. They also agreed to largely doing away with the mask mandate.
The agenda item came at the request of Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo, who said he was not satisfied with the plans laid out by the Nevada governor’s office for a transition to local control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Blundo asked Nye county officials to prepare an agenda item that would allow residents to make their own decision as to whether or not they will wear a mask.
As approved, the agenda item was to:
- Fully reopen Nye County to 100% occupancy;
- Based on CDC guidelines, recommend, not mandate mask wearing in Nye County. Nye County will not violate a citizen’s constitutional right if wearing a mask is against their religion or they are exempt per the governor’s directives; and
- Direct the county manager to fully reopen all county, town offices under our control and purview, and leave any localities not under our control or purview to their respectful board’s discretion.
While the state is claiming they have sole authority over the mask mandate, even after May 1st, when they are expected to give control back to the counties, Nye County Officials said they will not enforce the mandate, saying they will not violate a person’s constitutional rights.
The Nye County Commission also approved a resolution requesting that the Nevada Legislature use its powers to terminate the declaration of emergency that was issued by the governor more than a year ago.
