Huntington Beach City Council bans mask, vaccine mandates for COVID-19

The Huntington Beach City Council narrowly voted early Wednesday to ban universal mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the city.

The declaration passed with a 4-3 vote. The meeting, which began Tuesday night, adjourned at 2:49 a.m.

Those who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 would still be required to wear masks in certain settings.

Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark introduced the motion at Tuesday night’s meeting.

In the declaration, Van Der Mark said mask mandates imposed at City Hall and other parts of the city in 2020 and 2021 “unnecessarily limited the freedoms of the citizens of Huntington Beach — even those who were not around anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 or at risk of any exposure.”

Van Der Mark’s resolution requests the city manager to return to the council with a resolution at the next regular meeting declaring the city to be a “no mask and no vaccine mandate city” as a response to COVID-19 or any variants.

“Individuals, whether at City Hall or in the private sector, should have a right to choose whether to wear a mask or get vaccinated or boosted,” it reads.

COVID-19 cases have been on the rise again recently in Orange County and neighboring Los Angeles County, according to data from those county’s health departments.

The number of hospital patients statewide who test positive for COVID-19 is also on the upswing after several weeks of decline, with 1,668 COVID- positive patients reported by the state health department in the latest data. Orange County had 79 such patients.

Hundreds of anti-mask protesters gathered at the Huntington Beach Pier on June 14, 2021, the night before the state lifted most coronavirus-related physical distancing and mask requirements for those vaccinated.