Peck: 'The enemy is the virus'

Mark Peck wants to hit the reset button on the debate surrounding measures meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

During a lengthy interview last week, the Libby representative to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners hammered on a point he made while meeting with pandemic restriction opponents in late October: “The enemy is the virus.”

To stop the virus from spreading out of control here, Peck urged residents to set aside politics, drop the invectives and quit trying to rile one another up. The focus ought to be on helping each other, Peck said. He described taking basic precautions, like wearing a mask in stores, washing your hands and social distancing, as being good neighborly, whether or not it is state mandated.

“We need to ratchet [the divisiveness] down, and we need to change the focus to taking care of each other,” Peck said.

That message was critical as winter approaches, he said. Facing cold and flu season amid a pandemic worries him.

But that does not mean Peck is a fan of Gov. Steve Bullock’s handling of the pandemic. He has repeatedly criticized the state mask directive, which he has described as ill-thought-out and poorly implemented. Like residents who oppose the governor’s directives from a civil liberties perspective, Peck is wary of Helena’s penchant for overreach.

But wearing a mask, for example, and criticizing the mandate are not mutually exclusive, he said.

“My point is, this thing has become so politicized that we’re so zeroed in on whether somebody is wearing a mask or not and if it’s constitutional or unconstitutional that we have completely forgotten that this virus is here,” Peck said. “It is real. It is killing people and it is debilitating people.”

The county commissioner spoke out a little more than a week after the body hosted, for the second time, a diverse group of pandemic measure opponents. Including civil libertarians, pandemic deniers and anti-vaxxers, the group called on the commissioners to denounce the governor’s directives and dismiss most members of the county health board. A new health board packed with like-minded individuals could then oust Lincoln County Health Officer Dr. Brad Black, they argued.

At least one local doctor called the decision to meet with the group irresponsible, lending legitimacy to its goals. Other medical professionals in Lincoln County had already expressed disappointment in the commissioners’ perceived lack of support for pandemic measures.

Peck said the second meeting was scheduled because he was absent for their first appearance before the board. Listening to constituents is not the same as agreeing with them, he said.

“I get the civil liberties thing,” Peck said. “I appreciate the sentiment of the folks that came in to see us. I’m not going to vote to get rid of the health board. ... I appreciate their sentiment, I’ve listened to it, I’ve read their information and I just disagree.”

As for Black, Peck reiterated his support for the longtime physician. For the second time in as many weeks, he dismissed unfounded accusations the health officer was profiteering during the pandemic.

“We don’t agree on everything, but he is completely dedicated to this community,” Peck said, describing Black, who has drawn the focus of angry residents’ ire, as a selfless physician who has spent countless hours helping the community through the pandemic.

“I’m blown away that I even need to sit here and say these things,” Peck said.

He similarly praised the health department--and health board--as being made up of hard-working and dedicated individuals facing a crisis. They are used to handling environmental issues, health code compliance and restaurant kitchen inspections, going from the routine and mundane to “the World Series of public health crises,” Peck said.

He acknowledged that there was room for improvement, particularly concerning communication with the public, but noted that the health board and department staff were tasked with handling their routine work on top of spearheading the county’s pandemic response. Like everyone else, they have had to make adjustments, like learning how to hold public meetings on Zoom, Peck said.

“Everybody is trying to do the right thing here,” he said. “They’re good folks, they’re trying to get better at it and nobody is trying to hide information. … We’ve got this small, little pool of public health people to not only manage this but do all the other things to keep this county running. And I commend them.”

Peck’s show of support comes after a summer when public health officials across the state and country have come under fire, from local health officers to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the nation’s coronavirus response effort.

And he spoke just days after the four-member health department for Pondera County resigned en masse. They cited lack of support from the county commissioners as well as exhaustion and poor pay as their reasons for departing.

“I tell you the health department, they’re the ones they’re in the meat grinder here,” Peck said. “We’ve got some really talented people over there, working their rear ends off and everybody is trying to learn through this thing.”

While he rejected the notion that commissioners have fallen short of supporting the community’s public and private medical professionals, Peck said the three-member board must look at the bigger picture. He cited an uptick of suicides this year in the county, economic hardship brought on by the coronavirus and mental health concerns, among others.

And he expressed qualms about the way masks have been pushed by medical officials. Peck said he understands how they work, minimizing the spread of droplets, but worries that too many people consider them as a cure-all when they are best used in conjunction with basic hygiene and social distancing.

But it is time to move beyond seeing a face mask as a political statement, he said. Similarly, he dismissed repeated bizarre online accusations that the county’s small medical community is composed of--or been infiltrated by--communist sympathizers.

“To me, I think Facebook is to blame for a vast majority of this kind of stuff, but, you know, people are entitled to have those opinions,” Peck said. “I disagree with them. I don’t think they’re Marxists; they’re physicians, that’s what they do. I don’t think there’s any collusion among the physicians in Libby or Lincoln County to turn us to socialism.”

He pointed out, though, that the “grenades” are lobbed by both sides, further inflaming the situation. And that distracts from what he hopes residents will focus on in the days and weeks ahead: helping one another come through the pandemic unscathed.

“I want to encourage this not for compliance but for commonsense and common decency. Let’s get back to respecting each other,” Peck said. “The more we fight [each other] the worse it’s going to be. Denigrating people in public meetings and denigrating people in Op Eds isn’t going to get it done.”