Regarding the Petition to Recall the Mayor

Most of you probably know that there is a small group of citizens who are gathering signatures on a petition to recall our mayor, Brian Steele. They feel that he was wrong to institute a mask mandate after city council had voted it down, and then to extend that mandate. Referring to the people who came to a city council meeting and spoke against a mandate, they feel that he did not listen to them, and did the opposite of what they wanted. If they are able to get enough signatures (the amount needed is actually very small), it will trigger a special election for the citizens to vote on whether the mayor should be recalled.

I would imagine that Nixans will be wanting to know where the city council candidates stand on this matter. I have already commented here and there saying that I am in favor of masking, but I wanted to issue a more formal statement on this matter.

I am not in favor of this action to recall the mayor, for a few reasons. Firstly, it is my understanding that rather than going to that council meeting to speak on the topic, many residents instead contacted the mayor privately in favor of a mandate. These residents may not have wanted to attend a large indoor gathering, or may not have wanted to speak publicly for fear of ridicule. The bottom line is that the people who did speak at the meeting were not representative of the whole of Nixa.

Secondly, in matters of epidemiology, no city exists in a bubble. Microbes don't care where one city ends and another begins. Furthermore, a majority of Nixa's workforce works in Springfield. Mayor Steele listened to local medical experts and did what made sense for the greater good.

Thirdly, it doesn't make sense to me that this petition hasn't happened until now, some 5 months after the mayor's mandate. I would imagine that our mask mandate will soon come to an end, given the current state of affairs regarding Covid. I have no inside knowledge on this, but am just guessing that it will end soon.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I do not support this recall because I feel that it's fiscally irresponsible. If enough petitions are gathered to trigger a special election, that election will cost the city some $15,000-$20,000. And in the unlikely event that the public votes to recall the mayor, there would then need to be an additional special election to elect a new mayor, thereby doubling that figure.

I agree with masking and with mask mandates. It would be ideal if mandates weren't needed - if everyone would just wear masks to have the best chance of protecting ourselves and our neighbors. However, that is not the case. I realize that a mask mandate is largely unenforceable, and that many people have continued to go maskless in spite of our mandate. I do not believe that it would be a good use of our resources to have our police force proactively enforcing this mandate, and as far as I know, this has not occurred. So, the people who don't want to wear masks have largely continued not to do so, which is just one more reason that I question the validity of this recall petition. Despite non-compliance, though, I still feel that the mandate was needed, because if it saved even one life, then it was the right thing for Mayor Steele to do. As with most things in life, there is a lot of grey area in the masking debate, and believe it or not, I do understand some of the reasons why people are against masking. Personally, I still feel that it is the right thing to do.

I'm sure the comment section on this post will be quite lively. I will not be engaging in debate in the comments, because I've said everything I wanted to say in the post. I am also not going to debate the efficacy of masking here.

I felt it was important to make this statement, as this topic is very relevant to the city council campaign, and this is something that is happening right now in our city. I recognize that the petitioners are acting within their rights; however, I am not in favor of this petition.

If you live in Nixa's first district and agree with me on this, I hope that you will consider voting for me on April 6. If you live in Nixa's first district and don't agree with me on this, you may not want to vote for me. However, please understand that if I'm elected, I will listen to and consider EVERYONE'S views on city matters, whether we agree or not. In most cases, there are valid points on both sides of an issue, and I will strive to understand ALL of them. That is my promise to you, and I keep my promises. Thank you for reading this.