The mayor of Nashua, James Donchess, recently tested positive for Covid-19. This is the same mayor who implemented Nashua’s mandatory mask ordinance and has taken other extreme measures in the City.
Related: Nashua Alderman Vote Tomorrow to Force Businesses to Be the Mask Police
Closing down city hall for several months, approving the city’s public schools’ closure, and taking other measures to prevent the public from conveniently conducting legal business.
Earlier mandates in City Hall required individuals to be masked in common areas, to wear masks when entering and leaving the building, and to maintain “social distancing” in all city offices.
One assumes that, as the city’s mayor, Mr. Donchess would have obeyed all city ordinances in full. That he would set the example. That he would be the individual, we could look up to as a paragon of conduct. That all of the rules and protective measures would “prevent the spread” of the virus.
But he contracted Covid-19 anyway.
There are only two possible conclusions here:
- The Mayor did not fully obey his own orders regarding the wearing of masks, social distancing, and avoiding contact with those who are ill; or
- The Mayor obeyed all of those orders and proved that, even when executed properly, masks and social distancing efforts do not prevent infection by Covid-19.
So now the questions fall directly on the Board of Aldermen. It is up to the Board to prove that their mask ordinance, punishable by up to a $1,000 fine, is proper and effective in keeping Nashuans safe.
Recently, the Board adjusted the ordinance to force businesses to refuse service to any customer without a mask. Businesses are now responsible for enforcing the law – at the cost of remaining profitable. The term “conscription” comes immediately to mind.
The individual members of the Board should explain how they intend to punish a business that conducts business with someone not wearing a mask. Will the Board suspend their business license? Will they order continuous monitoring of the business by the Board of Health? Will they levy fines on the business, up to $1,000 per occurrence, to “teach the business owner a lesson”?
The board’s response might be that they rewrote the ordinance to allow masks to be removed when an activity requires or cannot be conducted while wearing a mask (eating, cosmetic application, etc.). Does the Board thus assume that someone will not sneeze or cough for those short periods of time or that the virus will not spread through human contact?
The Nashua Board of Aldermen has overreached by imposing a coercive ordinance with no end date and no end test, and with no obvious mitigating effect on the spread of Covid-19. Mayor Donchess is proof. He either obeyed all of the ordinances or violated them – and contracted Covid-19 anyway.
The sole purpose of this ordinance – with the number of “exceptions” for those in close proximity inside a business – appears to be “virtue signaling.”
It is time to end this charade. Only the Board of Aldermen or the Board of Health have the power to suspend or terminate this ridiculous ordinance, and they should do so immediately.
