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Greenwich RTM member Carl Higbie said he did not get his petition to the Town Clerk in time for the mask ordinance he has written to be heard for Monday’s meeting but he will be ready for the next meeting in December.
lessPhoto: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut MediaGreenwich RTM member Carl Higbie said he did not get his petition to the Town Clerk in time for the mask ordinance he has written to be heard for Monday’s meeting but he will be ready for the next meeting in
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Greenwich RTM member Carl Higbie said he did not get his petition to the Town Clerk in time for the mask ordinance he has written to be heard for Monday’s meeting but he will be ready for the next meeting in December.
lessGreenwich RTM member Carl Higbie said he did not get his petition to the Town Clerk in time for the mask ordinance he has written to be heard for Monday’s meeting but he will be ready for the next meeting in
... moreGREENWICH — The Representative Town Meeting will not hear a proposed ordinance Monday night that would end mask mandates in Greenwich because it was not submitted in time to make the agenda.
Instead, its author, RTM member Carl Higbie, said he would work to get it on the call for the December meeting.
Under Higbie’s proposal, the town would not have the power to enforce rules requiring face masks, it could not compel businesses to make customers wear them and it could not cite a person for not wearing one. Higbie has said he believes the town should not have the power to force businesses to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Former chief of external affairs for the Corporation for National and Community Service in the Trump administration, Higbie says he is not anti-mask but said the decision to wear a face covering should be a personal choice, not a government mandate.
Higbie said he would go forward with his proposal despite the increased spread of COVID-19 in Connecticut and across the nation, with President Donald Trump and his wife diagnosed with it.
“To defend your right to provide for your family, it’s never the wrong time,” Higbie said. “I hope this virus goes away. I think people should be smart and respectful and intelligent in how they deal with it in public places. But to impose on people massive restrictions isn’t wrong. Trump said it in the debate, you can’t keep things shut down. You have to open up.”
Greenwich does not have an ordinance requiring masks, but it is covered under an executive order by Gov. Ned Lamont that residents must practice social distancing and wear masks. First Selectman Fred Camillo has strongly urged residents to follow that order for the sake of public health.
Higbie’s proposal was brought up as a non-agenda item at the RTM’s September meeting. Because it was not on the call, it needed two-thirds support to be discussed, which it failed to do.
To get the item on the RTM call, Higbie needed to submit a petition with 20 signatures from town residents by Oct. 2.
On Friday, Higbie said that he has more than 20 signatures, but he didn’t know the deadline. He said he will submit the petition in plenty of time for December.
“One thing I’ve talked to a lot of business owners about is the worry that they can just come and shut you down,” Higbie said. “Our ordinance says that the local government can’t shut you down.”
Neither Lamont nor Camillo have given any indication they will order businesses to close again because of COVID-19.
Town Attorney Vincent Marino said in September that he did not believe the ordinance, as written then, was in legal order because the RTM does not have the power to defy an executive order from the governor.
There is no RTM meeting scheduled for November. If Higbie wants to get on the call for the Dec. 14 meeting, he must submit his petition to the Town Clerk by Nov. 20.
kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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