The Williamsville Village Board decided Monday night to pay the $300 fine imposed by Erie County Department of Health for violating the county’s mask mandate.
The measure passed 3-2, with Trustees Eileen Torre and Christine L. Hunt and Deputy Mayor David F. Sherman giving approval. Mayor Deb Rogers, who has been outspoken in her opposition to mask regulations, was joined by newly-appointed Trustee Matt Carson in voting no.
Sherman, in a brief interview with The Buffalo News after the board’s regular meeting Monday night, said he voted for it reluctantly.
“A week ago, I would have told you I would not vote yes,” he said, “but I really took to heart the emails, the in-person conversations from residents, some of whom I know and some I don’t know.”
The deputy mayor, in a special meeting of the Village Board that was held remotely last Thursday, had voted with Rogers and Carson to hire an outside attorney to defend the Village Board against the county. On Monday, he said it would have been hypocritical to vote no on the resolution to pay the fine after hearing from his constituents.
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Earlier, Rogers and the Village Board had gotten support in fighting the fine imposed on the village after she and members of the public did not wear masks at a meeting earlier this month.
"We're going to join them in fighting the fine," Marilla Supervisor Earl "Skip" Gingerich said. "Why are they picking on the Village of Williamsville?"
County Executive Mark Poloncarz confirmed Tuesday that the village is the only local government to be formally sanctioned and fined $300 by the Erie County Health Department for actively and repeatedly flouting the mask-wearing rules.
Gingerich said the Marilla Town Board planned to approve a resolution Tuesday officially supporting the legal fight against the fine.
The Erie County Health Department sanctioned Williamsville and fined the village $300 for actively and repeatedly flouting the Covid-19 mask-wearing rules, County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz announced last week.
Dozens of people attended the Village Board's Jan. 10 meeting, with most of them not wearing face coverings. They criticized the mask mandate as infringing on their rights, and the board voted 3-2 to approve a resolution criticizing the mask mandate and asking Erie County state health department employees not to enter the village to enforce the mandates.
The debate over facts and freedom and rights and restrictions that has roiled the nation since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has come to a one-square-mile community where complaining about traffic and parking used to rate as the biggest issue.
During a special meeting last week, the Village Board hired an outside attorney to challenge the fine.
That prompted Rus Thompson, a local conservative activist, to start a GoFundMe page to raise money to help the village pay for legal challenge.
"We anticipate fees to reach $5,000," Thompson said on the GoFundMe page.
Gingerich said Marilla was the first municipality to officially oppose the mask mandate in December, after announcing its stance Nov. 25. Leaders in other towns, including Grand Island, West Seneca and Eden, also have criticized the mandate as government overreach, while the supervisors of Amherst and Tonawanda have urged residents to follow the requirements.
"We’ve been openly visible, not requiring it, not making anybody mask or any businesses, making it their choice," Gingerich said.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz confirmed Tuesday that the village is the only local government to be formally sanctioned and fined $300 by the Erie County Health Department for actively and repeatedly flouting the mask-wearing rules.
He said at most of the board's meetings, most of the people are not wearing masks.
"We've had as many as 50 people at our meetings," he said.
He said he is surprised the town has not heard from Erie County. He said he sent the county a copy of the board's resolution.
"As far as we know, not a single person in the health department has set foot in the town of Marilla," he said, but he added that there is speculation the town will become a target now.
Gingerich also questioned whether Williamsville was targeted because its mayor is a woman.
The Erie County Health Department fined the village $300 for repeatedly flouting the county and state mask-wearing requirement in public spaces, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Tuesday.
A spokesman for Poloncarz said the county health department received a complaint about the Williamsville Village Board flouting the mask policy at an earlier meeting.
"The department then followed up with a letter to the board and sent an inspector to a subsequent Village Board meeting," the spokesman, Peter Anderson, said in an email.
Anderson said that is the general practice when receiving complaints, and the same procedure would be followed whenever a complaint is received.
The sanction was issued to the Village of Williamsville after a public health sanitarian saw "willful violation" of state and county rules at the Village Board meeting, Anderson said.
Gingerich said he does not believe the mandates are constitutional because they were not issued by a legislative body, and if the Erie County Legislature or the State Legislature enacted laws requiring the masks, he would follow the requirements.
