Carencro City Councilwoman Refuses to Wear Mask at Meetings, Confronted By Fellow Councilman [Video]
Things got a bit heated at Monday night's Carencro City Council.
Councilmember Kim Guidry has apparently repeatedly refused to wear a mask at city council meetings, in spite of a state mandate requiring them. Carencro's city hall rules also require mask-wearing.
At Monday's meeting, Carencro city manager Don Chauvin confronted Guidry about her refusal to wear a mask. He told her, "I think that it's disrespectful, and a little dangerous that you don't feel the need to wear a mask. Ten days after the last time, when you sat there, you coughed repeatedly, and nine to ten days later, the mayor has COVID."
Mayor Glenn Brasseaux, who sits next to Guidry at council meetings, has been in the hospital after being diagnosed with COVID-19. He was initially admitted to the ICU but has since improved, though he remains hospitalized.
Guidry rebutted to Chauvin by asking, "Are you accusing me of having COVID, and that I transferred it to Glenn?"
The banter went back and forth a bit, but you can watch the complete exchange via the following video posted to Twitter by CBS National Correspondent David Begnaud. (Note: There is profanity towards the end of the video, so viewer discretion is advised.)
It is unclear where things stood at the end of the meeting and if anyone in city government will require Councilmember Guidry to wear a mask in future meetings.
As we all know, the mask mandate can be tough for the average citizen to understand what is enforceable by law and what is not.
We looked up the current mask mandate requirements as decreed by the Governor's Office and the section pertaining to governmental offices reads as follows:
All businesses or organizations, including all offices of the State of Louisiana, its political subdivisions, and all other governmental offices, shall require all persons who enter the premises to wear a face-covering unless the individual is not required to wear a face-covering pursuant to Subsection 3(B) of this order.
Later on, there is a bit of an explanation regarding penalties for those who refuse to comply:
If a business or organization does not allow entry to a worker, customer, or patron because that person refuses to wear a face covering, and if that worker, customer, or patron enters the premises or refuses to leave the premises, law enforcement personnel may enforce the trespassing laws and any other laws that the worker, customer, or patron may violate.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, as of December 23, the number of total coronavirus cases in the state increased by 2,976 and the number of deaths by 68. In Lafayette Parish, where Carencro is located, the case total is up 137 with five new deaths.
***If you'd like to watch the Carencro City Council Meeting for Monday, December 21, click here.***