EDITORIAL: Governor, photos & masks

Published 2:00 pm Friday, December 10, 2021

As the governor of one of just six states that still require people to wear face masks in most indoor public places, Oregon’s Kate Brown has ample reason to be scrupulous with her personal mask-donning habits.

More scrupulous, certainly, than she was while attending an event in Washington, D.C., recently. Brown posed for group photographs in which none of the subjects was wearing a mask.

An adviser to the governor said Brown “remained masked during the event except when giving her acceptance speech, eating or taking pictures with attendees.” The adviser also noted that attendees were required to show proof of vaccination.

But the indoor mask mandate that Brown has imposed in Oregon has no exception for vaccination status, so that requirement at the event the governor attended doesn’t excuse Brown for exhibiting a clear double standard.

A photo of a maskless governor is not egregious hypocrisy.

But Brown’s willingness to skirt the mandate that she expects her constituents to comply with diminishes her credibility at the very time she is looking to extend that mandate beyond its current expiration in February 2022.

If Brown and other state officials intend to continue a policy that the vast majority of states have concluded is no longer necessary to protect their citizens, then she ought to demonstrate, by her own actions, the importance of that policy.

In the meantime, residents in Baker County and elsewhere who haven’t already been vaccinated against COVID-19 should do so. It’s a proven way to protect us against the worst effects of the virus.

— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor