The COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon many changes to daily living. One of those includes wearing facemasks when going out in public, but masking up is something that the Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce doesn’t agree with.
In speaking with KSRM, Pierce says masks shouldn’t be forced on kids, “I think it’s time, and again, I see the school district specifically weighing in our children and having to mask up playing sports and I really question the necessity of all of that. I think it’s time that O’Brien and the board look at the actual numbers, allow folks to come back into meeting rooms and meet with them, and let’s get back to as normal living experience as we can on the Peninsula. That’s the motivation behind my message is that, think about it. Think about where we were a year ago and think about the numbers and where we are today and I just ask folks to be responsible.”
When asked about what Superintendent John O’Brien would say, Pierce said, “I’m hopeful that he will consider the whole process that we’ve experienced and, from day one, the science said we were going to have large, large numbers and we were going to be heavily impacted by it. Some got it. There were some cases, some severe cases. I think most folks recovered from it. There was some deaths from it, but there’s deaths from the flu, too and we kind of have not talked at all about the flu. We’ve had no flu diagnoses, have we? We haven’t had any flu this year. Where’d the flu go? What happened to the flu?”
Mayor Pierce spoke on the potential for the fourth wave of coronavirus and variants popping up in the state by saying that he’s a skeptic saying he wonders if it’s really real or not. “You know, the healthcare providers will argue that it is mask up and create as many mandates as they can to control and to minimize your movement and your liberties and your freedoms. What I’ve said as mayor from day one is that we’re all essential, and we are. We’re all essential. Our businesses are important and our families are important to us.”
Pierce states on his Facebook page that he hopes he can find common ground with the incoming new Superintendent and says that masks shouldn’t be forced on kids.