Six Eaton County commissioners say they oppose mask mandate, want health officer to resign

Six Eaton County commissioners have publicly opposed the county health department's new school mask mandate and isolation protocols and have demanded the county health officer resign. 

Commissioners Brian Droscha, Dairus Reynnet, Brian Lautzenheiser, Jim Mott and Barbara Rogers all signed a letter that demanded Barry-Eaton District Health Department Health Officer Colette Scrimger rescind the two emergency public health orders she issued last week regarding COVID-19 in schools. The orders mandated masks in schools, regardless of vaccination status, and detailed quarantine and isolation procedures. They also called for Scrimger's resignation.

The letter claimed Scrimger included "false statements and misleading direction" in the orders. 

Reynnet said he decided to sign the letter after hearing from his constituents, both over email and at public meetings. He said Scrimger is abusing her authority and did not give enough scientific evidence to show why a mask mandate is necessary, and instead "parrot[ed] what the state health department" has said. 

"The people in my district are overwhelmingly supportive of the issue of not having to wear a mask," Reynnet said. "As the elected official in their district, I serve at their pleasure and have to respect their wishes. ... I think it's clear people are very upset about [the mask mandate]."

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Reynnet said he is not vaccinated and does not wear a mask in public when he is out. 

"People have had enough. These parents, I really feel for them," he said. "I'm very proud of students who spoke about being forced to wear a mask." 

Rogers said she signed the letter because she thought Scrimger’s Sept. 17 decision was ill-timed and should have been put up for a vote at the scheduled health board meeting on the fourth Thursday of every month. 

"I know her,” Rogers said of Scrimger. “I've worked with her a long time. She made an imprompt decision. Why not wait until after the board meeting? It wasn’t a matter of life and death."

Rogers said she is not vaccinated and does not wear a mask in public unless required to. 

“I’ve raised a large family,” she said. "I have a lot of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and I see little children with those things on their face all day and, no. It’s not healthy to me."

Scrimger, Droscha, Lautzenheiser, and Mott did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Commissioner Tim Barnes posted on Facebook that he did not have a chance to sign the letter but stands with the five who did. Barnes did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. 

"I am 100% in favor of having the parent decide if their child should wear a mask or not in school," Barnes wrote in a Facebook post. "I have always felt this way. If it comes to a vote that I am a part of in Eaton County I will vote NO to the mask mandate."

Commissioner Brandon Haskell said the letter was aggressive and misguided, especially given news this week that Kent County Health Department director Adam London was almost run off the road hours after issuing a school mask mandate. 

"We're living in a world right now where political tensions are extremely high," Haskell said. "To turn around and use words like 'tyrannical' for a power that is within Michigan civil code is dangerous and inflammatory."

The Michigan Parent Alliance for Safe Schools praised Scrimger's orders in a press release sent Friday. They said more than 255 Eaton County parents signed an open letter supporting the health department and mask requirements for schools. 

Hundreds of parents and students have been protesting the orders all week at school board meetings, outside the health department buildings and schools and at a Barry County Board of Commissioners meeting. 

Ben Geiger, chair of the Barry-Eaton District Board of Health, said in a statement that he and Scrimger had "spirited discussions" about the necessity of a mask mandate. 

"We live in contentious times, and there’s few things more contentious today than a mask mandate for our schools," Geiger wrote. "The Board of Health respects [Scrimger's] decision and refuses to engage in divisive political theater that changes no minds and overturns no orders. For the sake of our children, our families and our public health staff, let’s move forward with respect, empathy and civility."

Scrimger's order aligns with the guidelines given by the Centers for Disease Control and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Ingham County has a similar mask mandate. Clinton County has not mandated masks in schools. 

Nearly 200 students in Eaton and Barry counties tested positive for COVID-19 between Sept. 8 and Sept. 21, according to the Barry-Eaton Health Department.

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.