Local GOP protests school mask mandates 9-3-21

As September 3, the Klickitat County Health Department reports that the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases has reached 413 per 100,000--in other words, in the territory of the worst days we had suffered in earlier waves. There have been 91 cases among children younger than 13 and 151 cases among children ages 13-19. Across the nation, especially in states controlled by Republican governors and legislatures, hospitalizations and deaths are skyrocketing.

None of these developments have deterred the Klickitat County Republicans from promoting protests against mask mandates to protect our children and our educators in schools. Many of you may already have heard about how a group of protestors disrupted a Goldendale School Board meeting last month, shouting and calling people names, forcing the board to cancel its meeting and call the cops.

Such ugly scenes have repeated themselves in schools across the nation and in our own state. According to Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times, protestors in recent weeks have shut down school board meetings in Wenatchee, Oak Harbor, and Spokane. In Vancouver, after shouting down the board, parents vandalized some cars of school staff.

One of the unofficial leaders of the Goldendale mini-mob was Ashley Cooper, who is currently a candidate for Goldendale City Council. At the meeting, Cooper berated Goldendale School District Superintendent Dr. Ellen Perconti when Perconti requested that she and her fellow protestors wear masks—which they refused to do. Later, according to the Goldendale Sentinel, Cooper wrote on Facebook, “The School Board is a disgrace.”

Would the city of Goldendale be served well by an individual whose behavior disrupts a public proceeding, squalling that it’s her right to be maskless, thus endangering the health of the public and other council members? Would the people of Goldendale be served well by an individual who disparages the good citizens who’ve volunteered to serve as school board members?

Elections matter. Our involvement matters. There are many races for local office that will be decided in this year’s elections. Among those races are numerous school board positions. We need to pay attention.