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Seward lets mask requirement expire

City of Seward YouTube

Seward is no longer requiring masks in public buildings. Its city council voted to let its mask mandate expire Monday night.

The city has been the only one on the Kenai Peninsula to adopt a mask mandate during the pandemic. The mandate didn’t have teeth and there was no penalty for those who didn’t comply.

Mayor Christy Terry was one of five “no” votes on reinstating the mandate.

“Not because I don’t believe in masks, but I think that people’s behaviors have changed enough where it’s no longer currently necessary," she said.

Over the last 14 days, Seward has seen 10 COVID-19 cases. It’s cumulative total since the start of the pandemic has been 241 cases, contrasted with Soldotna’s 1,240 cases or Homer’s 460.

Terry said if case rates spike again, Seward can adopt another mandate. 

“But I also think we told the public, and they trusted us, that when we were in the red, we asked everyone and we mandated a mask," she said. "We’re no longer in that situation and I want to keep the public’s trust.”

She said the city received pushback on the mandate when it was introduced last summer but people seemed to get used to it with time. The council renewed the mandate twice, in November and December.

Lori Landstrom, a physician's assistant at the Seward Community Health Center, said Seward’s numbers are low in part because of mitigation measures like wearing masks. 

“I am worried that without strong encouragement and a mandate, Seward will see another spike in cases,” she wrote to the council.

Landstrom said she’s especially concerned now there are cases of the more contagious COVID-19 variant in Alaska and advocates renewing the order.

Masks are still required in some places by federal jurisdiction. A recent order mandates masks on all forms of public transportation, including taxis and cruise ships. Mask-wearing on commercial boats will be enforced by the Coast Guard. Small charter operators said they are still trying to determine whether that applies to them, too.

Several cities across Alaska have mask mandates in place, including Juneau, Kotzebue and Dillingham.

The expired mask mandate is separate from Seward’s emergency order, which makes it so the city can collect federal CARES funding during the pandemic. The order is still in place.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the Seward City Council voted to bring the finalists for Seward city manager position to the city. The council has been scouting a new city manager since it fired Scott Meszaros last October.

There are two finalists in the running: Scott McClure of Oregon and Janette Bower of Minnesota.

The city council interviewed those candidates Feb. 11. You can watch the interviews on the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sp25t68bPk">City of Seward YouTube page.

Robert VanVolkenburgh of Florida was also a finalist, but withdrew his application Tuesday. He told Ballou he felt it would be best for him to save the city the travel funds, since he did not feel he was in the top two for the position.

Sabine Poux is a producer and reporter for the Brave Little State podcast of Vermont Public. She was formerly news director and evening news host at KDLL in Kenai.

Originally from New York, Sabine has lived and reported in Argentina and Vermont and Kenai.
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