Name: Knox Commission moves closer to stripping board of health of rulemaking powers
Brand: knoxnews.com
SKU: knoxnews-com-4
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Knox Commission moves closer to stripping board of health of rulemaking powers

preview

Knoxville News Sentinel The Knox County Commission moved closer to stripping the board of health of its power to&nbsp;enact pandemic regulations, though plenty of questions remain about whether the commission has the legal authority to do so.The commission crafted, but did not yet recommend, a resolution that would require Knox County to instead follow the state's Tennessee Pledge, a far less restrictive set of recommendations that do not require masks or&nbsp;restrict business hours, including for restaurants and bars. They will vote on the resolution next Monday.The resolution also seeks to&nbsp;prevent arrests or citations of people or businesses for not complying with the board of health's orders, although&nbsp;that provision is superfluous if the rest of the resolution passes legal muster.If enacted as written, the measure would reverse the board of health's countywide mask mandate and end its rules requiring all restaurants, bars and bring-your-own spaces to temporarily close at 11 p.m. The board of health put those measures into place after the numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths skyrocketed in late summer.The measures the board is trying to roll back have been targeted by&nbsp;County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, the only board of health member to vote against the mask mandate and closing time restrictions.Recognizing the legal hurdles, the commission put a stop to discussions on the resolution, planning to vote on it at its next meeting Sept. 28.“I think it’s very important to say this out loud — this resolution, if it passes, we are saying we don’t want to tell our law enforcement to enforce the law ... we don’t want them to follow the law, we don’t want them to do that?” Chairman Larsen Jay asked Law Director David Buuck at one point.“We don’t want them out arresting and prosecuting our citizens if they don’t wear a mask. That’s basically what this (is doing),” Buuck said.Knox County is one of six predominately urban counties that have the authority to set its own health rules, either to do less or go beyond Gov. Bill Lee’s Tennessee Pledge. One of the big questions is whether the state would even allow the county to give up its authority.At two different times during the discussion, Buuck made references to&nbsp;arresting&nbsp;“little old ladies" who don't wear&nbsp;masks.The commission began its discussions after hearing from more than a dozen residents among a group who gathered at the City-County Building without masks to protest the board of health's policies. Commissioners debated the resolution&nbsp;for nearly an hour before ending discussion.The language for the resolution was crafted by Buuck from input from Jacobs and Commissioners Justin Biggs and Kyle Ward.Buuck said his main concern&nbsp;is protecting the county from lawsuits. The resolution, he said, would protect the county because it would be following the state’s lead and the state would be responsible for any lawsuit.“Regardless of what the board of health wants to do based on what the statute says, if it’s an unconstitutional action we’ve got a lawsuit and that’s my main concern,” he said.Buuck repeatedly said the decision wouldn’t take away the board’s powers but would request&nbsp;the sheriff's office not enforce board of health rules. Jay compared that to the commission asking the health department to not enforce child safety seat recommendations.Before Monday's meeting, Buuck declined to comment about the legality of the proposal by Biggs and Ward other than to say&nbsp;the commission has the authority to pass laws and resolutions as it sees fit and the courts ultimately have the power to decide their legality.There were contentious moments throughout the discussion, including when Knox County Health Director Martha Buchanan refuted Buuck's contention that she holds the same power to act as the board of health with the only difference being that she reports directly to Jacobs.Not true, she said.“I’m going to disagree with our law director based on the advice (the law director’s office) gave me previously," Buchanan said. "... According to the law office I don’t have the ability to set policy. The board can set policy and I can only set policies through the board."In the end though, Jay called for a no recommendation vote, saying there were more questions than answers at the moment.Some of those questions: If Knoxville enforces the board of health rules, can the county be sued? If the county wants to give up board of health authority, would the state board of health take over? Is the state board of health even allowed to take over?The most pressing question of all, though, is this: Is there enough commission support to approve the resolution as written? There appears to be support, but there's work to do on how the resolution is worded.&nbsp;&nbsp;In a related vote, after months of clamoring from segments of the county – including Jacobs (who has no vote on county commission) – the commission approved a resolution that will, if approved next week, allow the commission to appoint a member of the public to the board of health.The commission is expected to approve the motion Sept. 28. The commission agreed to accept nominations and resumes for the four-year position without nominating someone Monday night. The commission office will take applications&nbsp;through Friday.Applicants can submit their own nominations by postal service,&nbsp;email or by delivering it to the commission office in the City County Building. The commission will appoint a member from the pool of nominees, which could include names added by the commission itself, at Monday’s meeting.The new member cannot be a health provider and cannot have a spouse who is a health provider. The person must also be a registered Knox County voter.Beginning Friday, all restaurants and bars in Knox County were required&nbsp;to close at 11 p.m. each night. Board of health members approved the restriction Wednesday night&nbsp;in an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19, especially among young adults who continued to congregate and party without masks.The board's decision followed&nbsp;a&nbsp;visit by Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator. She said when cases are rising — as they have been in Knox County — community leaders must&nbsp;rethink pandemic strategies, including cutting off alcohol consumption, not just sales, at 10 or 11 p.m.As of Monday,&nbsp;there were&nbsp;1,834&nbsp;active cases in Knox County with another&nbsp;380&nbsp;probable cases. Thirty-one Knox County residents are currently hospitalized and 73 have died over the course of the pandemic. Sixty-eight of those deaths have occurred since June 30.Clarification:&nbsp;It was originally reported that the public member of the board of health cannot be in the medical field or have a family member in the medical field. It should have specified that the person cannot have a spouse&nbsp;in the medical field.&nbsp;Email Tyler Whetstone&nbsp;at tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com&nbsp;and follow him on Twitter @tyler_whetstone. If you enjoy Tyler's coverage, .

Knoxville News Sentinel The Knox County Commission moved closer to stripping the board of health of its power to&nbsp;enact pandemic regulations, though plenty of questions remain about whether the commission has the legal authority to do so.The commission crafted, but did not yet recommend, a resolution that would require Knox County to instead follow the state's Tennessee Pledge, a far less restrictive set of recommendations that do not require masks or&nbsp;restrict business hours, including for restaurants and bars. They will vote on the resolution next Monday.The resolution also seeks...

Knox Commission moves closer to stripping board of health of rulemaking powers

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS