Written by William Hale
If you were to walk around a college campus or local San Diego grocery store, you might be surprised to learn that California ended its state-wide mask mandate this past Tuesday. Despite some Californians adopting mask-wearing indefinitely, others simply want public health policy to be generated locally — not from the Newsome administration in Sacramento.
Escondido mayoral candidate Dane White is at the forefront of the fight to bring COVID related policy control back to local representatives and communities. White and other local advocates have formed a coalition of 21 board members from 12 counties, many from the North and East regions of San Diego County. White currently serves on the Escondido Union High School Board
“We need to grow this coalition, if you’re a school board trustee city, if you’re a city councilman, join us,” said White in an interview with KUSI.
While the mask mandate is over (for vaccinated individuals) in most indoor spaces, schools will maintain their mask requirement until the end of February. However, considering that parents and anti-mandate activists are especially concerned with masking policy for low-risk children, it is unclear why Newsome extended his mandate specially for schools .
Nonetheless, the growing coalition is asking Gov. Newsome to end the emergency order, which would leave the implementation of COVID related policy up to local officials like White.
“The decisions are made best on local conditions, and we’re the ones who understand our constituents, not the Governor,” said White.
Photo Cred: Dane White for Escondido Mayor
