Mask mandate approved by Sapulpa City Council
The Sapulpa City Council approved a mask mandate by a 6-4 vote Monday evening.
Sapulpa, a suburb of about 21,000 residents, becomes the third city in Tulsa County to implement a mask mandate, joining Tulsa and Jenks.
The ordinance takes effect at midnight Wednesday night and will apply to anyone 10 years of age or older.
Monday’s vote came nearly four months after Sapulpa city councilors voted 7-3 to reject a mask mandate, but the COVID-19 pandemic has gotten worse since then.
Mayor Craig Henderson placed the proposed ordinance on Monday’s agenda.
“Personally, I just felt like it was time for us as a city to step up and make a statement again, even if it doesn’t pass,” Henderson said before the meeting. “I felt it was important as a city to speak again to the citizens who feel we need to do it.”
Henderson said individuals who refuse to abide by the ordinance could be cited for trespassing if a business owner asks the Police Department to respond.
“I didn’t know how it was going to go,” he said after Monday’s vote. “But I felt like enough citizens of Sapulpa spoke out and spoke to me that I feel that our city is safer tonight.”
Henderson said he understands those who oppose having the government mandate wearing a mask, but he said keeping the community safe is his primary concern.
“I hate masks. I don’t want to wear a mask,” he said. “But I would tell them that if it just saved one family from losing a family member, if it would save one person from getting really, really sick and winding up in the hospital, it was worth that effort.”
In Sand Springs on Monday night, the City Council voted to hold a special meeting to consider possible responses to the pandemic, including but not limited to a mask mandate. The meeting is scheduled for next Monday at 6 p.m.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum has been urging officials in neighboring communities to pass mask mandates, saying Tulsa cannot slow the spread of COVID-19 alone. Last week more than 60% of the COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Tulsa were from outside the Tulsa city limits, Bynum said.