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Gothenburg, NE – The Gothenburg City Council met Tuesday evening for their regular scheduled meeting and heard from many community members, as a proposed mask mandate was on the agenda.
Nearly 10 Gothenburg community members spoke to the council on why they support or are against a mask mandate.
Proposing the council with the mandate was Gothenburg Health’s Family Physician Dr. Anna Dalrymple and said, “The ask to wear a mask should be polite and well meaning. All we have to do is say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’ at the front door.”
Others who opposed, majority opinion was they wanted it to be an individuals decision to wear a mask.
Jeff Cottingham, Pastor for the Trinity Lutheran Church in Gothenburg says, “if I am at risk, and I am at high risk medically, then it’s my job to protect myself. It is not others job to protect me and I don’t ask them to. I certainly don’t try to force them to. I ask you to place your trust in citizens and businesses to make their own best choices for themselves.”
Business owners were also concerned about a mask mandate putting even more hardships on their business, concerns it would drive customers away.
The council thanked the community’s passion and respect shown during the meeting. A motion was then made to draft a resolution to strongly encourage Gothenburg citizens to wear a mask while in public and to follow the CDC guidelines in place.
The motion was passed and the date to vote on the resolution is set for Thursday December 17, at 8:30am in the city council chambers.
