Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has slammed her long-standing criticism of public health restrictions by Gov. Steve Sisolak, saying the government’s emergency power has a “smack of tyranny” and that personal freedoms must be restored.
“Nevada dancers and Americans are smart enough to understand what’s at stake here and to make appropriate choices for themselves and their families,” Goodman said as he read and read aloud during the city council meeting.
Throughout the pandemic, Sisolak issued emergency instructions to slow down the spread of the virus, which regulates crowds, businesses, schools, activities and more. Its authority to do so is found in constitutional law.
But one year to the date since Sisolak ordered all non-essential businesses to close, Goodman chose to give a reprimand over a reopening in Nevada that is more gradual than she would like.
Sisolak largely avoided responding directly to her criticism Wednesday night, acknowledging that the moves made over the past year were “not easy decisions,” but he said they were guided by scientific data available at the time.
Sisolak predicted that the economy would recover and that stores would reopen, but said public health was his priority.
“That kitchen chair – if you have an Easter or Thanksgiving dinner, is empty because you lost a loved one to COVID, he’s not coming back,” he said.
Goodman still stoves
The mayor, who has faced considerable scrutiny for underestimating the severity of the pandemic, apparently referred this morning to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, with whom she had a viral interview last year. She also laments the effects of school closures on students and questions the link between the state strike and lifesaving.
‘One must also ask, if masks and social distance were now sufficient to slow down the spread of this virus, would it not have been sufficient a full year ago? she said.
Goodman noted that the COVID-19 per capita mortality rate was lower in Texas and Florida – two states that imposed relatively moderate security measures during the pandemic – than in more regulated states such as Nevada, Michigan and New York.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in November, home orders with public mask commands, case investigations, and contact tracing are effective in reducing cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Land of the free?
As there are more and more people in Nevada including vaccines, which will soon include those over 16, all major disease measures have gradually declined in the state, even as Sisolak has continued to weaken restrictions.
When Nevada overturned regulations in the fall, the number of cases and hospitalizations increased, leading Sisolak to institute a ‘nationwide break’ that forced Goodman to call himself a ‘dictator’ in ‘ an interview with the Review-Journal.
Goodman on Wednesday upheld her previous calls to open businesses without restrictions to protect workers and the local economy.
“America is the land of the free, but Americans in some states, not all, have been forced to subject their freedoms to the will of a single individual, seemingly forever,” she said. “Apparently there is no sunset over emergency forces being allocated to some governors, which holds a tyranny.”
Some Republicans have called for the governor’s emergency powers to be curtailed or reviewed and have introduced bills in the Legislature to do so.
Contact Shea Johnson at [email protected] or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.
The author of the Review-Journal staff, Colton Lochhead, contributed to this report.