City Council Votes To Fine Non Mask Wearers in Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — City Council voted 4-1 last night to direct City Manager Bruce Moe to enact an emergency order today to fine individuals $100 if they are not wearing a facial covering. The order will specify that a face covering covers one's nose and mask. Mayor Pro Tem Suzanne Hadley was the lone dissenting vote, saying she felt $100 was too high of a fine but that she was OK with fining people about half that amount for non compliance. As of this afternoon, city staff was at work on the emergency order, said George Gabriel, senior management analyst for the City of Manhattan Beach.

As Council wrapped up their mask discussion and moved closer to taking a vote, Hadley summarized her take: "I agree enforcement is the last tool. I am prepared for vigorous and robust pushback of enforcement. I do think the count and state have given us a Rube Goldberg machine mashup Frankenstein bunch of orders and that makes it virtually impossible for cities to make sense of how to carry these things out. It's an unfunded mandate. There are no extra boots on the ground; no extra help with these strokes of the pen overnight. So, I would beg the indulgence of the community that we are doing the best that we can given that we've been given no tools by the county and the state to carry these things out literally overnight. I do think as City Manager Bruce Moe said earlier, the rub is in literally in how the orders were written. And we didn't write them. The rub is in the ambiguity about when you expect to not be around other people. So that's the way they've written it and we're stuck carrying it out. I do feel for the people that would like it to be enforced."

In contrast to Manhattan Beach, the cities of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood have already been fining people who do not wear a face covering. Violators in Beverly Hills face a first-offense fine of $100 to $500 for the third and subsequent offenses. Santa Monica is fining violators $100 for a first violation, $250 for a second violation and $500 for a third. For businesses in Santa Monica, the fines start at $500, increasing to $750 for a second violation and $1,000 for a third. Said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt. Edward Ramirez, whose department provides policing in West Hollywood, in a statement, "The citation, which is administrative and not criminal, is $250 plus a fee of $50 for a total of $300 for the first offense. Our very least option is to conduct enforcement by issuing a citation, but the risk to community health is too great."

This is a developing story so please stay tuned for more details.