Residents again lobby commissioners to reject pandemic measures

A mixed group of civil libertarians, anti-vaxxers and pandemic deniers again pushed county commissioners last week to dissolve the health board, dismiss the public health officer and publicly defy statewide COVID-19 restrictions.

They got little more than moral support from the local lawmakers, but entertaining the group’s message frustrated local doctors, who have described the move as irresponsible.

The group, which a week prior emphasized fears that a possible COVID-19 vaccine would alter Americans’ DNA, changed tack Oct. 28, arguing before commissioners that state and local pandemic measures were unconstitutional.

“We, the people of Lincoln County, are brave Americans, who are not sheep,” said Catherine Kahle of Trego to resounding acclaim from the maskless residents packing the small county commissioner’s meeting room in Libby.

“We will not comply with Nazis and communists,” she said. “We want, and hope, you have the same spirit and attitude.”

The group has gathered nearly 700 signatures, with more coming the past week, Kahle said. They previously submitted statements and affidavits of harm to county commissioners.

County commissioners Mark Peck (D-1) and Josh Letcher (D-3) expressed support for some of the group’s views, especially concerning the governor’s mask mandate and the wide ranging authority given to local health officers during a crisis under Montana law.

But the pair reiterated that until those laws were challenged in court, they remained on the books. County Commissioner Jerry Bennett (D-2), who was in attendance for last week’s presentation, was absent.

“I can think it’s unconstitutional and you can think its unconstitutional, but the judicial system and attorney general determine if something is constitutional or not,” Peck said. “No one has taken it to that level.”

Letcher said the overload of information regarding COVID-19 has made it hard to discern truth from fiction. For every argument against masks members of the group made, members of the local medical community had provided counterevidence, he said.

“Right now, I don’t agree with the governor’s order, but it is his order and there are statutes that give him authority to do that,” Letcher said. “For us here, we can’t override him. We can push back; we can try and discern facts.”

Some members of the group dismissed that, telling commissioners that from their reading of the law, the county could ignore the governor’s directive.

“You folks didn’t take an oath to the [Montana Code Annotated], but the Constitution,” said Ed Kahle. “You may assume you have no authority. Lincoln County is a sovereign state.”

They demanded commissioners forswear any effort to penalize businesses for failing to comply — or openly flout — with the mask directives. Local officials have referred two area businesses to the county attorney’s office after exhausting the health department’s multistep enforcement process.

Pressed for his stance, Sheriff Darren Short reiterated his office’s neutrality. Local authorities have said since the directives were first unveiled that they would educate residents on the rules, but left enforcement to business owners. They could trespass individuals who failed to comply — at the request of a proprietor, though.

“We’re not the coronavirus police; we’re not the mask police,” Short told the group.

The group also lobbied vociferously for the removal of Dr. Brad Black, the county’s public health officer. When commissioners noted that such a move fell under the purview of the board of health, members lobbied the lawmakers to remove most members of the health board and pack it with new volunteers who would support Black’s ouster.

“Break them up, disband the whole thing and start again,” said resident DC Orr, a former Libby City Councilor who has long been a critic of the health board. “It’s not that difficult to do.”

Not for the first time, Orr accused Black of profiteering off of the pandemic. The former politician previously has dismissed the coronavirus as a hoax and accused local doctors of using the crisis to push left wing politics.

When Peck pointed out that removing Black would not lift the statewide mask directive, he was greeted with more calls to ignore — if not publicly denounce — the governor’s mandate.

Underpinning opposition to pandemic restrictions at the meeting was a widely expressed belief that the coronavirus was overblown, a hoax or cover for a coup, despite the reported deaths of more than 225,000 Americans to the disease.

“We’re not seeing a pandemic and we’re acting like we’re losing our heads,” Catherine Kahle said. “This is a communist takeover.”

Heather Handy, a north Lincoln County business owner and vocal opponent of pandemic measures, questioned the seriousness of the situation in New York City earlier in the year, telling commissioners if COVID-19 was that bad, authorities would have been burning bodies in the street instead of burying them in mass graves.

Peck pushed back on attempts to dismiss the virus, telling those gathered that medical professionals he knew from his military service had impressed upon him the seriousness of COVID-19.

“I’ve had the honor to work with some real patriot physicians and infectious disease experts and I’m in contact with them a lot,” Peck said. “I’ll agree with you the numbers, we can go back and forth on that, but for the people that this affects, this thing is real.”

Peck described the county health department as understaffed, a situation he said commissioners planned to address.

“The enemy here is the virus,” Peck said.

He also confirmed for the group that commissioners had the power to reform the health board, and indicated the lawmakers would pass along resident concerns about their actions.

After the meeting, Peck said the commissioners were not planning on disbanding or reshuffling the health board. Members serve as volunteers and are generally called upon to handle issues like a restaurant not being in compliance with health or environmental codes, he said. Today, they face a global health crisis.

“I wish everybody would just take a deep breath and step back and tone it down and get back to the basics of what we are doing here,” Peck said.

He also dismissed accusations that Black was profiting off of the pandemic. While the two may not agree on every policy, he described Black as a dedicated and compassionate professional.

But Peck said he recognized that Black serving as chief executive officer of the Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic, which took over county COVID-19 testing efforts during the summer after receiving a $30,000 grant, could seem a conflict of interest. That might need to be addressed, as much for Black as for the county, Peck said.

“Dr. Black and I have disagreed and argued on a lot of things, but I will not question his passion and belief that what he’s doing is correct,” Peck said. “We’ve had some very passionate discussions, and I’ve got deep respect for him.”

Commissioners did not take any action following the discussion, which saw the small meeting room in the courthouse packed with maskless individuals, a few carrying placards. Officials allowed the group to come back before the board of commissioners two weeks in a row because they had used up the time allotted on Oct. 21 delivering prepared remarks.