Board of Health: December 29, 2021

Transcript machine-generated with Whisper speech recognition (the source video has no caption track). No speaker labels; proper names and dollar figures occasionally misheard. Click any timecode to jump to that moment in the source video.

0:01 Welcome to the meeting of December 29th. As many of you know, we met two nights ago to enact a mask mandate in towns. The Marblehead Board of Health has never seen such a disrespectful and aggressive display while conducting a meeting. It’s okay to disagree, and respectful disagreement can lead to productive outcomes, but the lack of manners and decorum seen two nights ago is not what Marblehead citizens deserve. We are better than this. For clarity, meetings can be conducted in multiple ways. It is within the purview of the chair of any board in Marblehead to allow or not allow public comment. Monday night’s meeting was an emergency meeting which was called to protect the public from the surging Omicron variant. Our board has the ability and the obligation to do what we feel is best and necessary to protect our population. We do not take this responsibility lightly. We meet on a regular basis and can always rescind this mandate if improvement of our case numbers occurs. We are holding this meeting tonight as required by the open meeting law as a follow-up to our emergency meeting. Our objective will be to vote to reaffirm our vote taken two nights ago. We are going to have public comment tonight, and I want to lay out some parameters before we begin. Most importantly, I expect courtesy, respect, and decorum. The public comment period will end after 30 minutes. Each speaker must raise a hand, and you will be recognized in the order that your hand is raised. Each speaker will have two minutes, but I reserve the right to cut you off early if necessary.

1:32 When I recognize you, state your name and address for the record. I also request that you turn your camera on. Please refrain from repeating what has already been said. Once the public comment is over, we will continue our meeting. This public comment period will be an opportunity for you to speak, but the Board of Health will not answer any questions. We will not be engaging in a dialogue with the public. Thank you for your cooperation. And I can see that hands are raised already. The very first one is just iPhone, so we will need you to state who you are. I’m going to unmute you and start the timer. So, welcome to our meeting. Hello. Is this me? Yep, it’s you. Todd, I just wanted to say that I wasn’t at the meeting the other day, so I’m sorry now. Can you give your name and address, please? Yeah, it’s Tom McMahon at 1 Gregory Street. I dread some of what was said. And when you said that it’s a minor inconvenience, you are speaking for yourself on that. And for some people, it is a major inconvenience. You also said in your, you know, and you’re thinking of your world and maybe there’s two other of you, but that’s a very small amount of people. You also said there’s no requirement for the public to speak. That is more authoritarian than I think most people would want to hear. Now, one thing I’m wondering is, in the past, we have had, you know, ballot initiatives for things that, you know, one thing I’ll throw out is, you know, the Boston Olympics. That was something that came up right away. You’re going to have wild opposition to this. Why don’t you see what the town actually thinks? I mean, you are getting opposition to this.

3:05 This is a small town. It’s easy enough to do something like that. And, you know, I think it’s the right thing to do. This is a major decision that affects a lot of people financially. You know, the small businesses around here, it’s not fair to them. And you’re making a three-person decision. None of you are medical doctors or scientists. Let’s be clear about that, right? Correct? So you’re making a personal decision and it’s affecting everyone and you don’t seem to want to listen to what they say. Then that’s it for me. Next on the list is James Revkin. Hi, I’m Dr. James Revkin, a physician for 40 years, faculty member at the School of Medicine at Yale University. I work for Pfizer, Inc. in Cambridge. I completely support the Board of Health Physicians. I’m sorry, 10 Warwick Terrace. 10 Warwick Terrace. Thank you. This is a matter of public health. It’s a matter of public safety. And boards of public health and safety have requirements all the time for businesses in every state. Be they restaurants, be they gas stations where you can’t smoke cigarettes. This is a matter of public health, public safety. There’s plenty of data to support the use of masks. I’d be happy to send that to anyone who would like it. Dozens of articles. So I’m fully in support of the board’s position on this. Again, it’s a matter of public health and public safety. Period. Thank you.

4:37 Next is Amy Horahan. Can you give your address, please? Yes, my name is Amy Horahan. I live at 8 Fort Sewell Lane. I’m a nurse practitioner, a former nurse epidemiologist, a former contact tracer for Partners in Health when the pandemic initially began. I have strong feelings about our civic responsibility to one another. And I think masks are one way that we can try to protect the most vulnerable people in our society. You know, my parents in World War II did a lot of sacrificing for the greater good during World War II. And I think it’s a shame that selfish motivations are driving a lot of inflammatory conduct and words in inappropriate ways, both online and at meetings. And I just want to say how much I appreciate the Board of Health taking what might appear to be an unpopular stand. But I believe most intelligent voters really believe it’s an important thing to do during this big wave that we’re having. And hopefully we’ll be able to take it back and restore a little more freedom when we’re out in public. But people’s lives are at risk, and I really appreciate taking a hard stand. Stick with it. Thank you. Ryan, can you give your full name, please? And address. Hi, my name is Ryan Harris, and I’m from Lunenberg, Massachusetts,

6:07 and I’m a frequent tourist of your area, Marblehead, North Shore. And I would just say that I oppose any mask mandates. That’s all I have to say. Thank you. Kelly Lorenz. Hi. I am at 26 Cedar Street in Marblehead, and I own a gym, Form 01945, in town. And we have now, we’re going on two years of these kinds of mandates, and I understand the importance of being safe, and I understand the importance of, you know, thinking about our community. But I also understand the freedom of choice for each business. We are going on, again, the now second round of mask mandates, and it’s nearly impossible to do the kind of exercise that we do in our heated space to wear a mask. These things were not told to us, and I read it in the patch the night before that, or Monday night while I was in Ohio visiting family. We weren’t set up for this. We weren’t prepared for it. And it’s just excruciating, because I’ve already received emails from clients asking to quit our gym, because they can’t exercise in a mask. We’re a very small community, and I wish that we had the opportunity to have alternatives, or at least the choice, to do this, because I can’t survive another mask exodus of the gym. It’s just, there’s no support for us. And I don’t, I don’t, I appreciate the efforts to keep us safe,

7:41 but there also has to be some give and take care, and I don’t know what that would look like. Thank you. Michael Reyes. Hi, my name is Michael Reyes. I live at one West Shore Drive. I also own a business in town at 118 Washington Street. So it seems that everybody wants to talk about the qualifications. I’m an exercise physiologist with a degree, with an MBA. More importantly, though, I spent six years in the military in 2001, and one of my biggest problems that were occurring here is that people want to jump out and say, well, for the greater good. I spent six years fighting a war for the greater good. And one of my problems is that I own a business in town, much like Kelly, and you guys are not, your statement when you opened this forum was that you don’t have to ask the people’s permission, but I’ve lived here for six years. I voted you in. I think that we do need to have a conversation collectively about what occurs here. We’re a town of 20,000 people. You have to see us during the day. You have to watch us. You have to see us. So if my business fails, you have to see what happens to myself, my family, Kelly’s family, and all the other families that are affected here. So I think that we need to stop taking this authoritative rule

9:16 and collectively work as a town. This isn’t a giant city. And I think that’s a major issue for me. That’s the take from the three boarded people on it. So thank you. Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for allowing us to speak. My name is Luba Granadiria. I live at 27 Wirlane and Marblehead. I was actually present at the meeting on Tuesday. I’m sorry to say I felt, actually the same way, I felt there was a lot of this courtesy towards the citizens who were actually present because you kept muting us. We were trying to speak and that’s why it seemed like it was turning into something that was unpleasant, which I agree all we’re trying to do is just to speak up and if you didn’t keep muting us and finally walking out of the meeting, this would not turn that way. So I appreciate you thinking this through and creating a system here. And I just want to say I do oppose the mandates. I’m very much for health freedom. I’m not against vaccines or any kind of health precautions. I am for freedom of choice for all of us to choose for our own bodies, our own health, our families, we all have different circumstances. I myself came from Russia many years ago. My parents were dissidents, Jewish dissidents there and they were fighting

10:49 for freedom to leave that country, to come to America. And I find myself in complete twilight zone when I’m faced with these mandates. It’s actually terrifying to face a similar possibility of these circumstances where people have complete lack of freedom, not only of action, but choice and speech. And so I feel as community members, we all care about each other deeply and we would not hurt each other or spreading the disease and germs. I think it sounds like we’re all highly educated people. And a lot of us have had COVID. I have had COVID. I’ve done a lot of research and reading, educated myself on what happens when people have such diseases and there is enough points to support that a lot of us carry a natural immunity and so forth. So I think it’s just not enough to say we have to wear masks or do certain things. We all have to participate in this debate. Again, we’ll have different reasons and I’m completely against it and for freedom of speech and decision making. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Sarge. My name is Sarge Gichild and I am actually a resident of Beverly who does a lot of business and has a lot of ties to Marblehead over the course of my entire life.

12:21 I would like to point out a couple of things. One is that there is a very well-published journal in Emerging Infectious Disease and they did a meta-analysis of mask studies and what they showed conclusively through that meta-analysis was that masks really do not have any efficacy when trying to spread a flu-like, when trying to stop the spread of a flu-like virus. I’m happy to provide that journal to any board of health members that would like to see it or really to anyone who is a member of this group tonight. I would also like to point out that masking perfectly healthy citizens does not achieve any goal that we’re looking for in terms of stopping the spread of a virus. And beyond that, the citizens of Marblehead are not trained in how to properly handle masks and that really does prevent the ability to stop the spread of an infectious disease using masking. The doctor who spoke from Yale earlier tonight has a tremendous amount of experience learning how to don and doff a mask and not only that, but in what mask he must wear it depending on the situation that he’s in. We’re talking about personal protective equipment when we talk

13:51 about masking and there are very specific codes around which mask you should wear in which situation. And really, the masking that’s being done and will be done in this scenario, especially in light of the emerging infectious disease journals, what it had to say, is really ineffective. And it has the ability to harm a tremendous amount of business owners. And you folks are really going to need to answer for that if this mandate goes into place. Any business that fails because of that is going to be directly on your shoulders. Thank you. Excuse me, Todd, can I ask a question? Possibly citizens from outside of our community that aren’t directly affected to this, could we maybe ask them if they would want to let Marblehead people speak? Unfortunately, I can choose where speakers are from. Okay. Anybody who wants to speak will just be recognizing the order that they raise their hand. All right. Thank you. Andy Cohen? Andy Cohen, I live on Clifton Avenue in Marblehead. A couple facts. I’m sure as our August colleague from Yale University

15:24 knows, at a population level, no mask mandate has ever made a difference in the spread of COVID. Look at Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York City, the homes of the most stringent mask requirements basically in the world and the country for sure, skyrocketing cases. Notice before mask mandates come in in certain territories and after, it makes no difference. So I agree. We need to watch out for our fellow citizens. But this is all downside. There’s no upside. It’s only bad. So, you know, that’s basically what I have to say. The other thing I’ll add is I’m sure people recognize this is an aerosolized virus, right? It hangs in the air. It’s escaping masks no matter what, unless you, like, are living in a vacuum chamber over your head. They don’t do any good. Again, at a population level, they’ve never been shown to do good. So there’s no point to it. All it’s doing is crushing our businesses who’ve dealt with this for two years and masking three-year-old kids, you know, the harms that occur to them with all this masking, I don’t even want to start thinking about it. But everyone can imagine those for themselves. So, again, you know, I appreciate the board wants to improve health in the city and I applaud that. But this isn’t doing it. It’s only impairing health in the city. Thanks. Steven Kurzrock. My name is Steven Kurzrock.

16:59 I’m a cardiologist in a physician at Salem Health Hospital for 40 years. I’m fully in support of the board’s recommendations. I agree with Dr. Reviken. You know, it’s very difficult as a healthcare professional. Excuse me, if you just need your address, please before we move on. For Orchard Street in Marblehead. Thank you. It’s very difficult to listen to some of the things that are being said here. I don’t really mind an intellectual discussion, but mistruths are really not helpful. Masks work, immunization works. We don’t have a lot of tools in medicine these days with a fairly aggressive virus. And we really need to do those things that we have to do in the community to protect all of us. I think that I’m not insensitive to the stresses that this is placed on the business community. Nobody asked this virus to come here. It’s here, and we have to deal with it. We need to use the tools that we have. The board has wisely decided to implement one of the tools that it has at its disposal. And again, I fully am in support and encourage

18:32 them to continue to protect the citizens of Marblehead. Thank you. Elizabeth Hoffman. Hello, can you hear me? Hello, can you hear me? Hello, can you hear me? Hello, can you hear me? Oh, yeah, how about now? Sorry, we’re in the car. That’s better. So I understand the year. And just please behind this and this concern for the public. If you could just give your address, please. Oh, yes. Twelve assets. Thanks. So but here is a rational and should never be used to come up with guidelines. Certainly not to mandate. I don’t understand why you can’t strongly urge that people wear their masks. But the minute you start mandating, it’s a whole different ballgame. I would hate to see a repeat of last winter. There was just belligerent behavior at some points. The governor himself had an exemption, a medical exemption in the mandate for the state, which I had never seen respected in all of my experience. Elderly with emphysema, two-year-olds, five-year-old autistic children have been thrown, you know, with their parents thrown out of stores. People just don’t understand in general that there should be exemptions for some individuals.

20:03 And that’s largely one of my reasons for thinking it should not be mandated. Whoever is concerned can wear their mask. To mandate businesses to follow draconian measures that the doctors may disagree, although I tend to believe Sarge’s research, which has been very well-documented. Go ahead and wear your mask if it makes you feel more comfortable. But the doctor from Orchard Street talks about the severity of this virus. The Omicron is proving to be way less severe, less hospitalizations. Anybody with a common sense, I’m not a doctor, would likely see that this is the pandemic on its way out. It does have to end at some point. Don’t we all agree on that? But to come up with more draconian measures at this late date, I just proved that there was a terribly wrong approach to handling this pandemic, and this is throwing salt on the wound at this point. Again, why can’t you urge that people, and not to mention, I have never seen, especially in this town, no offense, and more so at a national level, I’ve not seen tools, some unmentioned tools, being recommended to the public to fortify their immune systems. I mean, you can go out to Walmart and buy a nasal saline solution. You can take vitamin D. I don’t mean to prescribe anything to anybody,

21:33 but there are things you can do to protect yourself. Thank you. You’ve gone over time, so thank you. I’m so sorry. I speak slowly. Don’t be sorry. Thanks. Michelle. Hi. As in Michelle Dottley. As in you. Thank you. I am pleased to be here, and I just wanted to thank the Board of Health, my former colleagues for… Helene. I’m sorry. Sorry, Helene. 37 Or Road, Marblehead, Massachusetts. And I wanted to applaud the board for their efforts in proposing the indoor mask mandate, and I wanted to support you as a former colleague in proposing this and just… She’s not even old. Excuse me? For that. Okay. Please mute if you are not speaking. I wanted to, you know, just comment on the folks who were saying, you know, that there’s all this science that supports that masks don’t work. There is a lot of peer-reviewed science out there that does support masking, and we still know that much of our community, because of their age, is not able to get vaccinated. We know that the current variant is extremely transmissible and is currently transmissible even in the face

23:08 of folks who are both vaccinated and even boosted. So I think we’re in a situation now where extra prudence is warranted, and I thank the board for doing everything they can to keep our community safe. And I think what we’re looking at right now is hopefully a short-lived situation where we are coming together as a community to keep each other safe. And I think what we’re trying to do is avoid situations where our, you know, local community and our local business people are still able to come to work and don’t have to shut their doors because there are too many staff people out because they can’t work, or so many people in the community are sick that, you know, they can’t shop in their stores. So let’s keep our eye on the kind of big picture here that we want a thriving community. And yeah, so I support what you’re doing and keep up the good work. Thank you. Kevin? Kevin McKernan from 24 Foster Street. I’d like to reiterate the information others have provided. The only randomized controlled trial on MAS is the DAN MAS study which showed they do not work. All the other journals being referenced here

24:38 are low-tier journals that are not randomized or controlled properly. Second study is the Bangladesh study. Also shows MAS do not work. These are the only RCTs we have. I do not understand why you’re putting through this witchcraft upon our children. Second to this, someone mentioned before as well, Omicron right now is 80 percent less hospitalizations, 75 percent less ICUs. Okay, this is 50 times more transmissible. The MAS that didn’t stop Delta are never going to stop Omicron. So you’re doing damage that you don’t understand. Second, my experience is on the Human Genome Project. I built DNA sequencers. These MAS nebulize large droplets into small ones, making them into aerosols. That makes them more dangerous. You’re actually creating the problem you’re hoping to get rid of because you are aerosolizing large droplets into small ones which are more effective and stay in the air longer. This is simple physics. If you’re not familiar with this physics, do not be ruling on this physics because you are out of your element and you do not know what you’re referring to. The other gentleman saying these things work works for Pfizer. Complexive interests like that should be declared. That’s all I have to say. Thank you. Susan, are you there? Susan Dobsha? Okay, so we’ll pass by her. Emily D. Hi, everyone. Thank you very much for taking public comment.

26:14 I’d like to, I wear many hats, but I’d like to… What’s your name? Oh, sorry. Emily D. Witt, 154 Atlantic Avenue, Marblehead. I’d like to just speak as a business owner. And I just want to walk everyone through what it’s been like in the past 48 hours as a small business owner in Marblehead. We were not consulted about this coming to a vote. We were not asked about how it would affect our business. We were not included in the discussion on Monday night. I have written letters. I have sent messages. I have talked to other small business owners. None of us since Monday night have been answered, have been talked to, have been asked for input. The last time a mandate like this happened, the government provided PPE. They provided funding for last business. That’s not going to happen this round. We had zero notice. We don’t have the funds to make it to March 8th if certain things go south regarding this mandate. And I would just like a very clear understanding of why we have moved from strongly recommended to four people now dictating what our town is okay or not okay to do,

27:45 especially our business owners. There’s a lot of pain out here in our community collectively for many reasons. I’m not going to debate masks or aerosols or anything, but I think this has been a total slap in the face to our small businesses. And I’d like to see more respect shown as to the heart of our community, the ones who contribute to all of our schools who employ our town, who keep the wheels running in town here. And I’d like to see more respect shown to us, at least a reply to our letters. Thank you. Thanks. Andrew Famer. Hi, can you hear me? Yep. Great. I’d like to state I greatly appreciate everybody who serves. Yes, please Andrew. Oh, Helene. Why don’t you give my address? I’m in the Have you marbled at Massachusetts. Thank you. All right. I’ll cut to the chase. I certainly appreciate your service. It’s on a volunteer basis and that should be noted. I also appreciate the tireless efforts of Andrew Petty and his team at the Board of Health. They’re very dedicated. They’re sincere about what they do, and our town has benefited accordingly. But I’m really disappointed in the unilateral actions that you’re undertaking. The reason why we’re here tonight wasn’t because of

29:16 discourteous behavior, it was because you violated open meeting laws. So let’s be very clear about what happened on Monday night. And I wasn’t a part of it, didn’t take part in it, didn’t say anything, and I don’t intend to be disrespectful this evening. That being said, trying to follow what others do, when others make poor decisions, and you’re going to follow poor decisions, then shame on you. You can look at what the other people have said about towns and cities that have implemented mass mandates and cases have gone up. Why is that? Have you asked that question? It’s clear that you didn’t speak to a single business owner. You did not speak to the Chamber of Commerce. You did not think for one iota about the impact this is going to have on our business community. Shame on you for doing that. You didn’t ask critical questions. Your mandate to have a mass mandate in municipal buildings was shot down in October by the Board of Selectmen. Why was that? Because you didn’t have any evidence, you didn’t do any work to push that mandate forward, and it was rejected. You haven’t provided… No, I’m a taxpayer. Please allow me to finish. You have ten more seconds. You have not asked critical questions. You haven’t asked how many individuals of active cases were fully vaccinated. How many of them are in the hospital? How many can be traced back to our businesses or back to our municipal buildings? You didn’t exhibit one iota of courtesy to our business community.

30:50 Thank you. Heather F. Yeah, I’m not going to say that. I can’t be courteous right now, after what? You’re just muting him, sorry. Go to the next person. Well, we have a time limit. No, I’m all set. Thank you. It’s disgusting behavior by the… Janet.

31:28 Hello. This is Sharon Barbano, Janet’s wife on Summer Street. And I just want to say I am so in support of what you are doing with the Mass mandate. I think it’s very courageous of you to do that. Our numbers keep going up in this town. And if we as a society in this town or anywhere had been responsible from the beginning as individuals to be vaccinated, to wear masks, to look out for the rest of our community, we wouldn’t be having to have this discussion. I, for one, would not be interested in going into a business during this short time that this mandate is in order, unless there was a mandate, because I cannot trust anyone who is in that store, gym, wherever, whether they’re vaccinated or not, unless everyone’s in masks and being very careful and looking out for each other. I don’t understand what is so difficult about putting a mask on to walk into a store, walk into a restaurant, sit down, take your mask off to eat and drink and enjoy yourself. In a gym, I’m an athlete. I work out with the mask. So what is so difficult for a few weeks a month to be able to do that? I just want to say thank you, totally courageous of you guys as a board, and thank you for looking out for us.

33:01 Thank you. Paul Malone. Could I ask for time, please? We have five more minutes. Thank you. Hi, I’m Dr. Paul Malone for Winslow Square Lane. Just a note, I’m disappointed the chat is not open, and also this Zoom is capped at 300. There’s many people that want to get on that can’t get on, but I have some questions. What scientific criteria did the board base their mandatory mask decision on? What qualifications do the board members possess to make such a great decision? What studies did the board review regarding masks preventing disease? As the board reviewed the 56 studies on record that masks do not work, as the board reviewed the 34 studies that conclude mask wearing causes harm, is the board aware of the physiological dangers of mask wearing? Is the board aware of the psychological dangers of mask wearing, especially in children? In the event of a class action lawsuit, who is liable for this decision? Does the board weigh in the socioeconomic factors in their decision? Are there any safety studies for long-term mask use? Does the board know that the PCR test is inaccurate? Does the board know that masks did nothing to help the 1918 flu epidemic?

34:36 What if covering one’s face is, in the presence of another human being, contrary to one’s spiritual beliefs? Is the board making their decisions on facts and science or on propaganda and politics? Does the board know that the fatality rate for C19 in the U.S. is 0.4%? Why are there those in the medical and scientific community speaking out against mask wearing and C19 injections being cancelled or silenced? Does the board realize that C19 injections do not decrease virus transmission? Does the board know that C19 injections are experimental? Does the board realize that C19 injections are not antiviral? Has the board reviewed VAERS vaccine adverse event reporting system? Does the board know that it’s estimated that 1% of vaccine adverse reactions are… Your time’s up, thank you. Okay, we only have time for a couple more people. Our half hour is just about up, but I’ll recognize… It looks like there’s too many people to recognize, so I’ll recognize after our half hour’s up two or three more people, maybe three more people after this next speaker. So, Jenna, we can’t hear you. We can’t hear you.

36:15 Jenna, the sound’s not working. I’m going to go to the next person. You can try to fix the sound, and we’ll do it again, okay? Jason. Hi, I didn’t expect to be invited. I didn’t think I’d hear. I’m Jason Grazado, 115 Elm Street. I’m the owner of the Marblehead Sports Shop. I can appreciate the tough position you guys are in and appreciate the perspective of some of the small business owners on here, a lot of whom I really care for. To me, it’s not about masks. It’s about prevalence, and prevalence is high right now, and if masks are going to do anything to keep prevalence low, and that’s going to keep our kids in school, I would rather see that happen, because they’re a big part of my business. We’ve had masks on and off in our shop for the last 18 months or so, based on prevalence, and it’s really not a big deal. I don’t feel our customers feel it’s a big deal. Yes, there are some. Not super worried about them. I’d just rather us all get through this whole thing, and if masks are not as effective as everyone thinks, and they’re not as harmful as everyone thinks, they do more good than harm, we should just be using them and move on. Not a big deal.

37:48 Thank you. I’m going to go back to Jenna, see if your sound is working. No, it’s not. Okay. So, Marcella, and then we’ll do three more people, and then our time will be up. So, Marcella is the next person. Nobody there? Okay. Fernando Ramirez. Yes, I’m a meter. You’re there. Fernando Ramirez from 17th Street, and this is Steven Janini. We’re partners. We’ll get together with her. She wanted to talk to you. I have a question about the masks. It’s every box that I’ve bought that I’ve looked on the back. It says they do nothing to prevent disease. So, why are we making people wear them? I have a picture showing that, but I cannot share the screen, but it says right there that… It says right here, the mask does not eliminate the risk of contracting any disease or infection. And this is coming from CVS. That’s where we get our masks. Everybody’s wearing these. So, why? So, something doesn’t quite…

39:20 It does. And what is the emergency? I’m confused. I mean, I survived the 1969 Hong Kong flu. We killed 100,000 people. Nobody wore masks. Woodstock went on. Nobody had masks. And because somebody’s getting a cold, you want everybody to wear a mask? It doesn’t make sense at all. At all. So, I want someone to explain to me why a mask helps. When the box says it doesn’t, where’s the doctor from Yale? Show me… Here’s the box. I think that you have an issue in my head, right? Once you have it, last Monday, I started to do a lot more internet shopping than going to stores. And I feel the hurt from the business. Because I don’t go to our business anymore. It just doesn’t make sense. So, I see the outside on the problem. When the business says, we’re losing customers, they really do. They lose me. Plus, Stephen Provence. I still don’t know what the emergency is. What’s the emergency? Quite good. No, but I want to know what it is. No, don’t tell me what’s… Time’s up. Thank you. Thank you. So, we got Joseph and then Peter, and then we’ll be done with public participation. Can you guys hear me? Yes. Cool. So, I’m Joe Bryan. I’m on Jersey Street. I was just going to make a quick little comment. But this lady, Janet, a couple of speakers ago,

40:54 made a point where she was like, you know, if we had all just did what we were supposed to do at the beginning, you know, we wouldn’t be in this spot. But this town is highly vaccinated. You guys, we just moved here from the South. You guys were in mask mandates and lockdowns that we weren’t in in the South when we moved here. So, you guys did what you were supposed to do, and now there’s more. So, that was just a little quick comment to Janet there. I mean, everybody did what they were supposed to do. But then, my other concern when the meeting started was your comment that, you know, we’re going to have this 30-minute discussion and then we’re going to vote to reaffirm. Like, so, are we having this discussion for any real purpose or were your minds made up before the meeting started? And that’s all I have to say. Thank you. Okay. Finally, Peter, but I know you’re not Peter. Mary McCarriston, and I want to thank you guys for everything. Your address, please. Oh, I’m sorry, 46 Pine Cliff Drive. And I want to thank all of you for your hard work, and I want to thank you for placing this mask mandate. For the gentleman that says that the COVID is just a cold, it’s not. I had it at the beginning of the COVID, and I was sick for six months in physical therapy, so it isn’t just a cold. In the last eight weeks, I lost two family members that were fully vaccinated, but people in their lives would not get vaccinated.

42:28 And one person actually lied about it. So I commend you for what you’re doing. And I have also a nine-year-old daughter, and in her class, she had somebody in front of her, beside her, that got COVID, and a young man that sits behind her without a mask. And luckily, she was vaccinated, and she didn’t get it. So I believe in the mask. And you know what? If it’s to protect us, that’s all that matters. Thank you guys. I really appreciate your hard work. Thank you. Okay, so public participation is over. We went over our 30 minutes, which is fine, but we don’t unfortunately have time to see the rest of the people, let the rest of the people speak with their hands raised. Our next order of business, as required by the open meeting law, we have to reaffirm our vote, if that’s what we choose to do from Monday night. Helena, do you want to hear there? Excuse me. I’m here. Okay. And Joanne? Yes. There you are. Okay. Excuse me. I think I might be on another screen. I can see both of you. Okay. So if there’s any discussion, you’re welcome to speak your mind. Otherwise, we need a motion. I’m grateful. My comment is I’m grateful to have heard from the community, and thank you for your comments. I appreciate them. And I am ready to make a motion to reaffirm our vote.

44:04 Okay. Helene, do you have anything to add before we do that? I just feel that I lived here for a very long time, for over 40 years in Marblehead. And I’m really very pleased that people have the interest of the community to come out tonight and to speak to us. I have taken some notes, and I certainly will read them over. And I’d just like to make one statement that I made the other night, because I want to think people that were not, that do not approve of what we’re doing this evening, I’ll make two statements. One, that each one of us are trained in public health. So we are, we may not be physicians or scientists, but we have our own training. And I think that I would like to answer that, that we are not just some people that were pulled off the street. The other thing is that I stated the other evening that I was satisfied, but strongly recommend that the board made on December 14th. But as I went around town and saw that nobody was listening to the strongly recommend that I very, and my board will support this at the very last minute, I decided that the mandate was the only way to go. It just wasn’t working. If our community were obliging to what we were doing,

45:37 I would have been perfectly happy to stick with the strongly recommend that we made on the 14th of this month, this current month of December. So I feel that I am ready for the vote. And I just want to say that we’ve heard a lot of people speaking tonight with all kinds of different perspectives and opinions. And I just thank you all for being civil and courteous. And this is a very measured meeting, which is very nice. So on that note, do we have a motion? Do we have a motion from Joanne to reaffirm the vote? I need a second. I second it. Okay. Miss Miller. In favor. Miss Hazley. In favor. Dr. Belford. In favor. So the language of the motion is available on our website. It’s available all over the place. And we’ll move forward from there and we will readdress this. We have the March 8th ending date, but if things look better, we can reconvene and change the timing. So we do have meetings in between anyhow. Yes, we do. So on that note, is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Seconded. Miss Hazley.

47:09 In favor. Miss Miller. In favor. Dr. Belficher. In favor. Thank you, everyone.