In March 2020, Governor Kate Brown declared a Covid-19 State of Emergency under the title “Stay Home, Stay Safe.” Several months later this declaration was extended to December 2021.
As of now, there is no indication from Salem when the State of Emergency will be lifted. On September 27, 2017, according to Yamhill County Chair Mary Starrett, Governor Brown told Oregon County Chairs that “The only pathway out of the pandemic is vaccination…to avoid more draconian measures.”
For almost two years now, Oregonians have faced various degrees of businesses shutting down, schools shutting down, high unemployment, and our personal freedom of movement hampered. Each time the state declares an upsurge in COVID outbreak, the leash is tightened on our rights.
Some other “politically blue” states this year have allowed breaches in rights to privacy that were unthinkable pre-pandemic. To wit: in Colorado UCHealth has removed an unvaxed kidney transplant patient from its waiting list. In New Jersey the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers has developed a program to demand the vaccine status of students and their parents. Clearly an individual’s right to privacy and ability to receive lifesaving medical treatment is erased.
The US Attorney General issued a memo categorizing parents expressing anger at school officials over vaccine requirements and masks as terrorists. The FBI will be dispatched to local law enforcement to enforce the policy. This is a concern as the FDA advisory panel has approved COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5-11. Children have around a 2 in 1,000,000 chance of dying from COVID. There are parents that will defy the school boards that demand compliance in order to protect their children.
One could say, well this isn’t happening in Oregon. However, those states are as blue politically as Oregon. And only last year the Governor wanted us to snitch on our neighbors if we saw a large amount of cars at a home celebrating Thanksgiving.
With more pressure to appear doing something productive by getting everyone vaccinated as the answer, the County could be facing more mandates to enforce. But so far, amid a number of citizens coming forward to speak out for freedom, the Commission has found ways to avoid standing up as a buffer of protection against the overreach of the State government.
On September 23, 2021 Board of Clackamas County Commissioners Chair Tootie Smith introduced a Resolution to address the impact the mandate of forced employment vaccinations has on the ability to deliver health, safety and emergency services if County employees quit. The resolution addressed that the ongoing pandemic has “exhausted many providers of core public services including first responders, health care providers, public safety, educators, and related staff.” It went on to say the mandate of COVID -19 vaccines could additionally result in the loss of employment and income for Clackamas County families causing further hardships. The Resolution therefore called for the extension of the deadline to be fully vaccinated, regular COVID testing, recognition of natural immunity among its options.
At the following business meeting two days later the Resolution couldn’t even get a Commission vote.
Commissioner Paul Savas made a motion to table it. He felt that the opposition expressed by two other Commissioners would result in a weak message to Salem by a split vote approval. Martha Schrader and Sonya Fischer would not vote for any resolution that would appear to be in opposition to the Governor. It was tabled by a vote of 3-2. Aside from being a rebuke to the Chair, it left County employees without flexibility in meeting State mandates. Residents could be facing lack of workforce to deliver needed services and continued strained hospital capacity.
On June 1, 2021 Policy Session Commissioner Mark Shull introduced a draft for the County to adopt a “vaccine passport ban.” The points that were included were no government or business entity should compel disclosure of protected health information by mandating a “vaccine passport for taking part in everyday life—such as for employment, attending school or sporting event, patronizing a restaurant, or going to a movie theater—would create two classes of citizens based on vaccination. The draft relied heavily upon “the right to bodily integrity and self-ownership of one’s body is globally recognized as inalienable and protected human rights.”
It was immediately slapped down by Chair Smith, with all other Commissioners joining, in the rebuke of the draft. The sticking point was in containing the words “Jim Crow laws,” embellished by the Commissioners to subjectively define those words as racist language. All discussion at that point was centered on a perceived tone of the draft rather than the broader issue of Constitutional rights and the recognition by the County of them. The draft did not advance.
Although a resolution may not carry weight in court, it does send a message to Salem that concerns about freedom and privacy should not be taken lightly.
What will it take for the Commission to declare its commitment to protecting Clackamas County residents from any repressive mandates from the Governor?
Link:
Resolution on workforce September 23,2021
https://dochub.clackamas.us/documents/drupal/98fe7c7d-342f-40b1-b30b-3ccdbf65cfce
Link:
Vaccine passport ban draft June 1, 2021
https://dochub.clackamas.us/documents/drupal/e9ad5208-6405-4a9d-82b7-8d15478dc9d6
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