As we warned back in March, the COVID-19 crisis will result in events that would undermine democratic norms and our liberty.
Now we have two examples of leaders attempting to impose their will on the population in defiance of the democratic process and becoming petty dictators of their own tiny fiefdoms.
Last week, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, coping with high infection rates and facing heavy political fallout from both sides of the aisle for his indecisive action that would torpedo a potential run for U.S. Senate in 2022, decided that a mask mandate “might” be a good idea.
Rather than take the political risk and order mask wearing, or call the legislature back into session to pass a law, Ducey relegated that authority back to local governments — avoiding any responsibility himself.
Yavapai County will not impose masks. Coconino County will. Camp Verde Mayor Charlie German highly recommended masks but astutely wrote, “I am not a fan of enacting something that is not enforceable. The reality is, there is not enough manpower and deputies to enforce such an order.”
Sedona City Council discussed the matter Tuesday, June 23, a few hours after we went to press, so we don’t know the result, if there is one, while writing this. A city poll on its Facebook page currently shows 56% against, 44% in favor. Presumably council didn’t ignore its own poll.
Cottonwood City Council held a meeting Friday, June 19. After listening to public comment, the council debated.
One of the chief concerns was how such an order would be enforced and whether council members wanted to pay police to enforce a citywide dress code when there were other crimes police should concern themselves with. After an hour and 40 minutes of debate and discussion, council members, for various well-thought-out reasons, voted 4-3 against forcing Cottonwood residents and visitors to wear masks.
At the end of the vote, and to the shock of everyone on council, Mayor Tim Elinski announced that contrary to the vote and in defiance of the elected representatives of the people who just voted, he would unilaterally impose masks citywide, shocking the rest of council, who claimed rightly that they had just wasted an hour-and-a-half listening to the public when Elinski, 1st Baron of Cottonwood, would just mandate them anyway.
The state statutes and city code that Elinski cited in his order do not actually grant him the authority to mandate masks in city limits. Additionally, the order was not signed by any other city representative, city clerk, city attorney nor council member, making its legality dubious.
It may not matter. Unlike the council’s ordinance that would have imposed a penalty of $250 for non-compliance, Elinski’s proclamation has no penalty. It does not discuss police enforcement.
Essentially, masks are “required,” but not really. The order says if you don’t wear a mask, then, well, um, pretty, pretty please?
Either Elinski screwed up, which is scary considering he now thinks of himself as a petty dictator bossing people around like a toddler on the playground, or he thinks his constituents are just stupid.
At least Elinski went through the motions of democracy before dictating his will. Down the road in Clarkdale, Mayor Doug Von Gausig, 1st Baron of Clarkdale, simply issued an order unilaterally.
Over the weekend, we asked Von Gausig to explain which laws and statutes gave him the authority he claimed. He could not, refused to list anything, instead claiming the state of emergency back in March allows him to rule without the law. After 16 years as mayor, Von Gausig is a poster child for term limits.
We asked him why he did not discuss the matter with his council. He claimed council gave him sweeping power in March so he didn’t need to. Now he thinks he is il Duce of Clarkdale.
Baron Von Gausig doesn’t care what residents think, cowardly avoiding a public meeting where he might lose face and an actual vote.
Instead, his meandering order imposes penalties and a possible $2,500 fine and six months in jail, without any public discussion. We’re not surprised that his mandate orders mask-wearing everywhere but arbitrarily excludes kayaking. Odd, right? Except he runs for-profit kayaking tours on the Verde River, so it makes perfect sense: “Rules for thee, but not for me.” So not only has Von Gausig usurped democracy, excluding the people, excluding the people’s representatives on council, but it looks as though he might also benefit financially.
The state statutes Ducey cited in his order do grant powers, but explicitly only to councils, not to mayors, nor government administrators, nor county board chairmen. Thus, these imperial dictates may not have the force of law even if these two mayors-turned-barons pretend they do.
It would appear that both are attempting to rule by fear and shame rather than by law by laying down fake orders to scare residents. Governing by fear is the hallmark of autocracy, not democracy.
Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
