By Samuel Strait, Reporter at Large – October 27, 2021 In a recent version of Dr. Stutz's Traveling Road Show, we were regaled with all the reasons why the mask mandate would not be suspended. There is a solution, however; get rid of Stutz. The County could save a bunch of money by just letting the Centers for Disease Control call the shots for Covid preventative mandates. $130,000 or so saved in one fell swoop. Maybe a few trips to Japan on the other side of that move by the Board of Supervisors. But seriously masking can be compared to setting "Stop signs" at a busy intersection? Surely there is more to the thought process about utilizing "stop signs" than has been with the effectiveness of paper or cloth masks as a virus preventative? If you discount the utterly worthless study by the CDC that claims masking effectiveness, there are multiple studies from abroad saying masking has absolutely no effect on the transmission of a virus. The truth of the matter is that Dr. Stutz is way over his head when it comes to making decisions regarding Covid related topics. He does not follow the well established time line of four to six weeks for a virus to move through populations before moving onward. Granted it may return to a community several times during a calendar year, but four to six weeks is about the length of time it takes to move on. Our experience in this community has been precisely that. Neither masking nor vaccine percentage has had any effect what so ever. Dr. Stutz's pronouncements before the BOS every two weeks will continue to find ways to keep masking in place no matter what. He is asking that two conditions be met, all surrounding numbers which have been suspect since the opening day of the pandemic. Confirmed cases and vaccination rates are his current goal lines for removing the mask mandate, which he acknowledges with the on set of cold, rainy weather will be difficult to be met. He unapologetically is saying at least four to six more weeks of masking is likely with his metrics allowing him to continue with moving the finish line. Likely it could be early January of the continuation of a pointless masking mandate. What is chilling is that our BOS seems unfazed by this prospect, with Supervisor Starkey stating she felt comfortable with wearing a mask. For a couple of hours during a Board meeting maybe, try working for eight hours at a check stand or behind the counter at the Post Office, and see if you feel the same, Supervisor Starkey. The bottom line is that Dr. Stutz's messaging is to merely follow blindly the CDC's propaganda with no thought to question as many have the obvious problems with that propaganda. While he is comfortable spinning masking as comparative to a "Stop sign", he is oblivious to the obvious fallacy of the comparison. He scoffs at people who are frustrated with following a mandate that so obviously DOES NOT WORK! China has recently been outed in a massive way making it clear to even a child that intensive public restrictions, masking, social distancing, rigid lockdowns, massed vaccination, and travel restrictions did not prevent a significant surge of the Delta variant in China at the same time we had ours. Dr. Stutz's for all his hand wringing simply cannot make an irrefutable case for continuing the mask mandate. Our spineless sheep at the BOS simply nod their collective heads and return to the sheep pen to wait for release two weeks further into 2021. Happy Holidays everyone. Hope you find joy in continuing to wear a mask into the New Year.