Decorah City Council will vote Monday night on a mask mandate

The Decorah City Council is expected to vote Monday evening on an ordinance requiring the public to wear a mask while out in public.  Violations would mean a $10 fine.

Decorah City Council member Johanna Bergan, who is the chair of the city's Community Betterment Committee, which met Thursday night, told city council members, "I don't care if we give out a ticket ever."  She is more interested in educating the public about the benefits of wearing a mask to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Decorah Police Chief Dave Smutzler agreed, saying police officers were taking an educational approach to enforcing the mask mandate.

The ordinance to be discussed Monday night will be based on the ordinance just passed by the Dubuque City Council.  Decorah City Council member Ross Hadley said the Dubuque ordinance was "clean, simple and just a couple of pages long."

Much of Thursday evening's discussion centered around the mechanics of passing a mask mandate.  Several city council members said it is important to have such an ordinance in place before Decorah schools start classes.