Fort Worth area is state’s most populated to not require masks. Here’s what leaders say
Editor’s Note: After this story published, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley Thursday morning announced a mask mandate for businesses that will expire Aug. 3.
Tarrant County is the most populated urban area in Texas to not require masks, but some Fort Worth council members appear willing to support a mandate.
Instead of a government edict, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley have pushed for personal responsibility and education about the importance of wearing a mask to slow the spread of the coronavirus. During a discussion Tuesday, council members were split on the need for a mandate but two city health officials said as cases continue to climb action would be needed sooner rather than later.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 9,846 people in Tarrant County had tested positive for coronavirus. Tarrant County Public Health’s website warned of “substantial” viral spread.
“I don’t think this is a tornado that sneaking up on us. I think it’s a hurricane, it’s in the Gulf and it’s strengthening and it’s coming to shore,” said Fire Chief Jim Davis, a registered nurse who has helped lead the city’s COVID-19 response. “So, whatever we’re thinking about doing, I think we need to keep our eye on the fact that ... two weeks out is going to be potentially bad.”
As of Friday, Bexar, Travis, Hidalgo, Cameron, El Paso, Harris and Dallas counties have issued orders mandating businesses require face masks or risk fines up to $1,000, the Texas Tribune reported. An order in Hays County does not impose a fine.
Tarrant County was also one of the last major urban areas to enact a stay-at-home order when the pandemic struck Texas as leaders hoped residents would take it upon themselves to limit travel.
More than 61% of North Texans in a survey from Texas 2036 said they believed masks should be required until a vaccine is developed. The survey polled residents in 13 North Texas counties in early June. Texas 2036 is nonprofit focused long term planning for the state as it reaches its bicentennial.
A study released this week from an epidemiologist at HSC Fort Worth looked at nearly 150 counties across the country and found the virus is “significantly” less likely to be spread where officials have demanded people wear masks. Where no mask mandates existed, coronavirus spread at an increasing rate, but in counties that required masks, transmission slowed to a rate that suggested the virus would eventually stop spreading, according to Rajesh Nandy’s research.
Price said the city should lead the effort on masks, but said that shouldn’t be in the form of decree.
Since last week, when Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff tested the waters on mask rules, Price has routinely downplayed the need for regulation in Tarrant County, arguing that a mandate would not be enforceable or effective.
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and Fort Worth Now, Price’s coronavirus recovery task force, plan donation drives to collect masks and other protection equipment. They will also hand out signs that businesses can display regarding masks.
“This is about personal responsibility,” she said.. “We can mandate it all day long, but you’re not going to get compliance until you make people believe that it can happen to them.”
Councilwoman Gyna Bivens kicked off the conversation Tuesday by asking what might be the worse case scenario, legally, that the city could face for mandating masks. City Attorney Sarah Fullenwider’s answer: not at lot.
People may choose not to follow the order, and city employees would have to figure out how to enforce it, but Fullenwider said it was clear the city could issue a mandate at any time.
“I’m just very saddened when I look around and see people, I used to see, and they’re no longer here. And it’s because they’ve died,” Bivens said, adding that she recently went to a grocery store where few people in their 70s and 80s were wearing a mask.
Bivens urged city staff to have “an aggressive in your face” meeting with the grocery store industry about mask requirements for customers.
Councilman Carlos Flores backed her concern about grocery and big box stores. Across the city he has seen a wide range of mask wearing in stores and argued that customers would be less willing to wear them if they see employees without face coverings.
Some stores in Fort Worth, such as Costco, require customers to wear masks.
Both Councilwomen Ann Zadeh and Kelly Allen Gray said they heard from business owners who were looking for more guidance from the city about mask requirements. Zadeh said store owners told her they felt like they didn’t have the authority to require a mask without a mandate, and Gray said she was concerned city employees were not wearing masks often enough to set the example.
Businesses are looking for someone with higher authority to take the political brunt of requiring masks, Councilman Dennis Shingleton said.
“If the city said it or the governor said it, then it’s etched in stone and you’ve got to do it,” Shingleton said, knocking his hand on the desk and emphasizing “governor.”
Davis and Brandon Bennett, the city’s health officer, said they would continue to track coronavirus cases and keep the council updated over the July recess. The council is not scheduled to meet again until Aug. 4.
Bennett compared mask wearing to smoking bans, which came in phases. First cities leaned on education about the danger of smoking and then slowly ramped up to regulation. Davis said educational campaigns would have to be creative.
“We have to make masks cool and we have to figure out what that looks like,” Davis said.
The City Council broadly supported more education and no one called for a vote on a mandate. Fort Worth is often in lockstep with Tarrant County and Arlington. Mayor Jeff Williams has not changed his position on a local mandate, a spokesman said Wednesday in an email.
Whitley said he wasn’t sure if taking a heavy hand on masks was wise, but admitted he is worried about the growing case rate.
Callers to his office support mask regulation nine out of 10 times, he said, but he said he believed several organizations were encouraging people to call in. Whitley said talks are ongoing about masks, but he wouldn’t commit a mandate just yet.
“Truly, a lot of my reasoning has been that I think a lot of our people are just stubborn and independent enough that it’s ‘if you tell me to wear one, I’m not going to. But if you ask me to I will,’” Whitley said. “We might be getting closer to a time where we say, ‘We tried asking.’”
This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
