Should local elected leaders speak out, take lead in easing tensions over COVID masks and vaccines?

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Elected leaders in the Colorado Springs area wield power and influence, but can or should they use it to reduce divisions over the the use of masks and vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic?

On Thursday, KRDO NewsChannel 13 spoke with two of the top elected officials: Stan VanderWerf, chairman of the El Paso County Board of Commissioners; and Tom Strand, president of the Colorado Springs City Council.

They discussed whether they should become more involved in the debate about mask and vaccines, given the different and evolving policies in schools and other institutions, and the strong opinions about whether masks and vaccines are effective and necessary in preventing the spread of the virus.

"Some communities have chosen to be a little bit more strict and apply some of these protocols through mandates," he said. "I am not a supporter of mandates for masks or vaccines. We're trying to educate people so that they can make their own decisions."

Strand realizes that many citizens consider elected leaders to be role models and are willing to follow their recommendations.

"But I've also had people ask me to please not tell them what they have to do," he said. "As long as the pandemic isn't worse than it was last year, I don't see mandates being necessary."

The issue came up at a recent council meeting, when Councilman Bill Murray challenged two other members to publicly disclose whether they had been vaccinated.

"If we're going to advise people to get the vaccine and wear a mask, then we have a right to know who on this council is vaccinated and who is not," he said.

The two council members were briefly taken aback by the request but eventually said that they either had been vaccinated or planned to be soon.

This subject takes on added importance as COVID cases due to the Delta variant increase across the country, overwhelming hospitals and infecting even people who have been fully vaccinated but generally affecting the unvaccinated.

El Paso County Public Health no longer attends council or commissioner meetings to provide regular COVID updates, and VanderWerf and Strand have differing opinions about how elected leaders can keep themselves updated.

"I continue to participate in the Regional Recovery Council, which is about how the community deals with Coronavirus," VanderWerf said. "I was just in that meeting yesterday. That's an intensive meeting, working with the epidemiologist and public health."

Strand would like to have more frequent updates.

"I don't think we're being updated as much as we can right now," he said. "Things are at a more dangerous level in our community. I think we should probably have updates at least on a monthly basis for the rest of the year."

KRDO NewsChannel 13 also contacted Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, who was unavailable for comment Thursday.