Thread by @DavidBegnaud

THREAD: Tonight my hometown Louisiana parish govt, Lafayette, considered a mask mandate.
It failed.
Lafayette is the largest city in LA. to reject a mandate.
@LouisianaGov instituted a statewide mandate, but the parish president @JoshGuilloryUSA won’t allow police to enforce it.

More than 238 people have died in Lafayette.
Earlier tonight, this video, honoring victims, was posted to the Facebook page or Basin Arts which is owned by Clare Cooke. Her mom, @cooknanette, is one of the parish council members who tonight voted to reject a mask mandate.

The post on the Basin Arts Facebook page encourages people to wear a mask.

Dr. Britni Hebert, a front line doctor in Lafayette, who was educated at Yale, pleaded with the city parish council.
“I’m telling you that a local mask ordinance will save lives and if you are strong enough to vote for it you will save lives.” (1/2)

Dr. Britni Hebert, a front line doctor in Lafayette, who was educated at Yale, pleaded with the city parish council.
“I’m telling you that a local mask ordinance will save lives and if you are strong enough to vote for it you will save lives.” (1/2)

This rejection of a mask mandate comes on the eve of Mardi Gras festivities getting into high gear on Friday. New Orleans & Lafayette are 2 of the most authentic & biggest Mardi Gras celebrations in the state. The 2 cities couldn’t not be more different in their COVID response.

New Orleans:
bars closed
to-go drinks banned
no foot or vehicle traffic allowed in the French Quarter's iconic Bourbon, Frenchmen, & Decatur streets from 7p thru 3a

Lafayette:
Everything open
Everything allowed
(Subject to the Governor’s opening guidelines)

Why does Lafayette Parish need a mask mandate if Louisiana has one? Councilman Glenn Lazard asked parish president @JoshGuilloryUSA if it was still his position to NOT use city resources (police & fire) to enforce the statewide mandate. “That is correct,” Guillory said.

Correction: @calmlabar pointed out to me: “tonight it was the City Council voting on a citywide mandate. (The city-parish council was split into two by the voters in 2018 - taking effect in 2020.)”

“The 3-2 vote fell along political party lines. The three Republicans on the City Council -- Chairperson Liz Hebert, Nanette Cook and Andy Naquin -- rejected the mandate. They didn't even discuss the proposal Tuesday,” @ClaireTaylorACA reports. theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/…

Notably, councilwoman @cooknanette was co sponsoring the mask mandate ordinance but suddenly backed out after she said she spoke with “several medical professionals — some of whom doubt the efficacy of such public mask ordinances”. She didn’t name anyone.
theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/…

The council chairwoman @LizWebbHebert “said the mayor & fire & police departments should be adhering to the state mandate. The police and fire chiefs report to the mayor, not the council”
The mayor has told police & fire NOT to enforce the state mandate.
theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/…

The last speaker was 19 year old Eli Odinet, whose father is the coroner, & whose mother is a local judge.
He started by saying that “social life in Lafayette has been on a tremendous decline since the beginning of COVID.” He opposes a mask mandate (1/4)

He then spoke about “the cold”
COVID19 is not the cold.
It’s is a novel coronavirus for which there is no herd immunity.
Experts have repeatedly said COVID isn’t a cold or anything like the common flu in terms of how contagious and how deadly COVID19 is compared to the flu.
(2/4)

“Why should healthy people be punished for staying in shape and having a highly tolerant immune system,” he said.
He then cited social - emotional agnosia,the inability to perceive facial expressions, body language, and voice intonation”. He said masks are causing this.
(3/4)

Finally, he asked, “why should we trust politicians who’ve been telling us to wear a mask...?”
INFECTIOUS DISEASE DOCTORS are saying it.
I haven’t met 1 politician who’s saying it because they want to just impose on people. It’s b/c masks reduce the spread of COVID. Period.
(4/4)

Lastly, no one is saying stop living.
Just mask up & social distance. If not for your own safety health, do it for people around you.
People didn’t like when smoking was banned in restaurants?
It’s b/c no one want to inhale your smoke. No one wants to inhale your COVID, either

Last night was the 2nd push for a mask mandate in Lafayette. Previously, councilwoman @cooknanette was for it because the mayor @JoshGuilloryUSA refuses to allow police & fire to enforce the state mandate. Cook said:
“We got derailed last time because we thecurrentla.com/2021/lafayette…

... were told [the state order] was being enforced...The administration said it was being enforced. Maybe that was so for a time, but it’s gotten out of hand.” She said that back in January.
Last night, she was the vote that killed the mandate. thecurrentla.com/2021/lafayette…

Mayor @JoshGuilloryUSA has said, and his spokesman has reiterated, that the mayor believes people should wear a mask. The problem is, a lot of people in Lafayette are not. I’m hearing from business owners who are furious that the city won’t enforce a mandate.

On top of that, there are videos of local bars filled with people who are shoulder to shoulder, without a mask, in defiance of the governors executive order and the local police department isn’t doing anything because the mayor has told them not to enforce the state mandate.

The last speaker at last nights council meeting, Eli Odinet, who opposed a mask mandate, is the son of Lafayette City Court Judge Michelle Odinet. A lawyer who regularly appears before Odinet says the judge instructs attorneys & their clients to remove masks when addressing her.

The attorney, who asked not to be named, refuses to remove the mask & tells her clients not to remove their mask either. The attorney says when she first heard the judge, who’s protected by plastic barriers erected around her on the bench, say remove your mask she was “Shocked.”

The attorney is a fierce mask supporter, “There’s not a lot someone like me can do someone w/ AIDS or Cancer, but for Covid I can do something; wear a f*cking mask.” The attorney’s daughter was friends David Lemaire, 19, who died due to COVID last year theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/…

Judge Odinet was recently elected and started serving as a judge in January. Prior to that, I’m told that the city court was running, with regards to COVID protocols, “Magnificently...Masking, distancing sanitizing. Judges wore masks & told
the community it was important to do so

That changed with Judge Odinet.
I’m told by a source that her colleague, chief judge Doug Saloom, has been highly frustrated with the newly elected judge’s behavior regarding mask compliance in court.

NEW reporting from ‘The Current’: “In late-hour revision, Lafayette (Louisiana) docs abandon direct support for local mask mandate”
The question is: why? What and who influenced their decision to not support a local mask mandate?
thecurrentla.com/2021/in-late-h…

Lafayette city councilwoman @LizWebbHebert responded to one of her constituents who pleaded with Hebert to vote yes on a mask mandate. Hebert voted no. Hebert, who’s council chairwoman said: “We already have a state mandate that is not being enforced in our city or parish...(1/4)

“...Issuing a local mask mandate would have been pointless bureaucracy, as it would not have been enforced either. I will not vote for any ordinance that will not be enforced or be effective for the citizens of Lafayette...”(2/4)

“... As for myself, I will continue to diligently wear a mask and encourage everyone to do so, as well as practice good hygiene, social distancing and get vaccinated, when available...” (3/3)

“...I’m sorry if we don’t agree on this issue, but knowing all sides of what would happen if it were to be passed, I feel I voted correctly. Please be safe & as always, I welcome any feedback or questions regarding any issue in my role as a representative on our council.” (4/4)