Top 10 of 2021: #4 – National COVID Politics Still Reflected in City Hall

As COVID-19 continued into 2021, New Britain again saw the odd, partisan politics surrounding it manifest in our city, as it did in the nation.

In 2020, while Democrats pressed for social distancing, remote work for some city workers, broader pandemic tax relief and remote public meetings, Republican Mayor Erin Stewart and her Republican City Council majority held back on these measures or moved in the opposite direction. The string of stories made the New Britain Progressive‘s Top Ten Stories of 2020.

But, like the pandemic, itself, the oddity of partisan politics surrounding the public health response continued into 2021, such as when Council Republicans voted down a proposal by Council Democrats to require masks in city buildings to protect against the COVID-19 infection spreading.

As in every year, there was so much news that the New Britain Progressive covered 2021 that choosing our traditional Top Ten stories of the year is difficult. But the fact that New Britain is not, in fact exempt from the political currents sweeping the nation right now, including those concerning basic public health, made this story #4 of the New Britain Progressive‘s Top Ten Stories of 2021.

New Britain Council Republicans Vote Down Mask Mandate

September 8, 2021

City Council Republicans voted down a proposal by Council Democrats to require masks in city buildings to protect against COVID-19 infection.

The six Democratic members of the Council proposed the resolution that said, “in response to the civil preparedness and public health emergency now facing the City of New Britain, effective on Friday, September 10, 2021, at 12:01 AM, the wearing of masks or cloth face coverings that are compliant with CDC guidelines is required, regardless of vaccination status, for all indoor City of New Britain municipal buildings.”

The resolution was proposed at the September 8, 2021 Council meeting.

The resolution said the local mandate would have been based on an Executive Order by Gov. Ned Lamont, “which grants municipal governments the ability to require the use of masks in indoor public places within their control, regardless of vaccination status.”

The resolution noted that, “only 52.28% of New Britain residents have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccination as of August 25, 2021, leaving almost half of our residents vulnerable to COVID-19 and the Delta variant.”

The resolution went on to say that, “based on latest data, the CDC’s tracking system has classified Hartford County as experiencing a ‘substantial’ rate of transmission due to an increase in the number of infections over time.”

But Republican Council members proposed and approved an amendment to the resolution that removed the proposed mask mandate in city buildings and substituted an “advisory” that recommended the wearing of masks, instead. That amendment was approved on a party-line vote.

The resolution as proposed would have also, “strongly encourage private businesses and organizations to also mandate mask wearing when indoors,” and encouraged, “all residents to get vaccinated to protect the public health and prosperity of all of New Britain.”