Kenai Mayor Charlie Pierce is introducing a resolution that would declares the Kenai Peninsula an “Inclusive Community where Citizens are Treated Equally and Empowered with Free Choice.”
The mayor wants citizens and visitors on the Kenai to be able to choose if they want to wear a mask, get a vaccine, and to ensure them they won’t be discriminated against or disparaged in any way if they refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Assembly members Jessie Bjorkman, Richard Derkevorkian, and Bill Elam are cosponsoring the ordinance, which will be presented Tuesday at the regular Assembly meeting.
The mayor and the three sponsors said in a memo to the Assembly that the resolution “emphasizes that the assembly and administration are opposed to government mandates that would require proof of vaccination status for access to local businesses, places of worship or community events.”
Further, “This resolution also emphasizes the idea that empowering free choice includes not disparaging fellow citizens for their personal choice to get a COVID-l9 vaccination or their choice to wear face coverings.”
“While encouraging citizens to follow CDC guidelines and best practices, the assembly has not supported government-imposed vaccine inoculation or mask wearing mandates. This resolution supports citizens‘ free choice and opposes government mandated restrictions that may segregate and divide our community based on vaccine status,” the four said in their statement.
