SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (WHBL) – Sheboygan County Administrator Adam Payne says he was met with between 150-200 demonstrators concerned about the health ordinance that’s now headed for a committee when he arrived at the County Courthouse Tuesday night for the Board’s monthly meeting. Demonstrators expressed concern over the wording of the ordinance, and the state statutes it refers to, saying the biggest concerns were forced vaccinations, jail time, large fines, and the shutdown of businesses the state statute allows for.
Payne says this proposed ordinance, which is now under review, would do the opposite of that – limiting the power that the Health Department has, and allows a set of checks and balances with other departments to keep the community safe from COVID-19. Payne says he agrees that some of the language in the state statute is rather draconian, and scary, and understands how that can contribute to the angst and stress he was met with Tuesday night.
Payne assured demonstrators at the Courthouse, and listeners, that this ordinance will go through the same process other ordinances must follow, going through a period of review and refinement, before coming back to the board for a vote – a process that takes 2 months to complete. He also says the county is far from needing to consider implementing an emergency ordinance like the one proposed. The Health Department has been working closely with local hospitals, and says the criteria that would trigger a measure like this is the hospitals being at 50% capacity with COVID-19 positive patients.
Payne also addressed the language in the ordinance that mentions “communicable diseases” and not just COVID-19. He says that if something else rears it’s ugly head, the county may have to do something at that point too, but the issue at hand right now is dealing with COVID-19. Payne stressed multiple times throughout an interview on WHBL Wednesday morning that even if an order was issued, there will not be any forced vaccinations, no $500 fines, no jail time, and the business community is already doing a great job of following the recommendations put forth by the health department, but if there was a business that was knowingly contributing to the spread of COVID-19, and wasn’t taking steps to prevent that, they could be contacted by the Health Department to make necessary changes.
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