SMC Mask Scofflaws Face Fines Up To $500 Under New Ordinance

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County’s Board of Supervisors enacted an emergency ordinance Tuesday calling for stiff fines for mask scofflaws.

Those who don’t wear facial coverings in public where social distancing isn’t possible face fines of up to $500 and businesses could be fined up to $3,000, the county announced Tuesday.

San Mateo County is among seven Northern California counties which have enacted similar measures. Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, Napa and Yolo counties are the others.

Supervisors David Canepa and Warren Slocum jointly introduced the ordinance.

Both said they prefer education as a first step before imposing fines but that the public needs to understand that wearing a face covering must be non-negotiable.

“If you don’t wear your face mask, then you should be fined. This ordinance decriminalizes violations of the health order essentially but at the same time gives us an added tool to enforce compliance of the state’s face covering and social distancing mandates,” Canepa said in a statement.

“If we want to return to normal and save lives then we must wear face masks, it’s that simple. But since many continue to thumb their noses at or do not understand these mandates, we must step up our outreach and enforcement efforts and let people know if you violate the law there will be consequences.”

The adopted penalty structure draws distinctions between individuals and non-commercial entities, and commercial entities where violations jeopardize the health of both employees and customers.

Individuals can receive a $100 fine for the first violation, $200 for the second and $500 for additional violations with the same year.

Commercial entities risk a minimum fine of $250 and a maximum of $3,000 per violation depending on the gravity of the health risk, prior warnings and any good faith efforts to comply.

Enforcement officers must personally observe an individual’s violation but can also receive a credible report for a business.

Last month, the Board adopted a resolution urging residents to comply with the state and county health orders requiring a face covering and the county ramped up its outreach efforts, particularly in hard to reach and low-income communities.

At the time, Board members expressed their views that the misdemeanor punishment of fines and jail times associated with violating a health order could be too punitive and encouraged education instead.

But in the weeks since, the county has seen an uptick in cases that could be linked to social gatherings and individuals not wearing facial coverings.

“Just this weekend, San Mateo County had to close additional businesses due to being on the state’s COVID-19 Monitoring List more than three days. Our case counts continue to rise, our Latino and low-income communities are bearing the brunt and a vaccine is still not in reach,” Slocum said in a statement.

“We can’t know when this virus will be defeated but what we do know is a key step to stemming its spread — wearing a face covering,”

Enforcement officers can issue the citations, unlike misdemeanors, which can only be enforced by law enforcement. Any cited individual or entity can dispute the violation and fine.

Medical experts are virtually monolithic in their view that until a medical breakthrough that could take years or may never happen, universal mask-wearing is essential to containing the COVID-19 crisis.

Mask-wearing has become politicized in the United States, with right-wing media propagating misinformation about their effectiveness.

President Trump has trafficked in misinformation throughout the pandemic. Although last week he called mask-wearing "patriotic," he's previously stated that people wore masks to spite him.

Last week Trump retweeted comments made by a discredited doctor who said masks and lockdowns were not important tools in the coronavirus crisis.

Dr. Stella Immanuel has claimed that space alien DNA is used in modern medicine and has attributed uterine disorder endometriosis to sex with demons that occurs during dreams, The Washington Post reports.

The video has been removed by most social media platform. Twitter told The Post that the video was "in violation of our COVID-19 misinformation policy."

"I thought she was very impressive, in the sense that, from where she came — I don't know what country she comes from — but she said that she's had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients," Trump said of Immanuel.

"I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her."

Full coronavirus coverage: Coronavirus In California: What To Know

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