Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, D-2nd District, appeared to be the only council member who joined with Clancy in voting for the measure.
Clancy’s request that the votes be recorded so that the public would know how their representatives voted was rejected by Days, the council chair.
Clancy’s bill was meant to reinstate the mask mandate while the Page administration fights in court to reinstate its public health order.
The Page administration contends the legislative body didn’t have the authority on July 27 under state law to strike down the mandate because the order was not directed at businesses. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, citing the council’s action, filed suit to block the order, and a judge issued an order blocking it until a hearing on Aug. 17. Schmitt, a Republican, is also suing to block a similar mask mandate in Kansas City. A mask order issued July 26 by the city of St. Louis remains in effect.
Page, in an address to the council Tuesday, said opponents were putting their individual preference over the community.
“Personal responsibility and personal liberty are not mutually exclusive … masks and vaccines are our way forward,” Page said.
Clancy on Tuesday implored her colleagues to reconsider the mask mandate, pointing to statements by Fitch and Days that they weren’t necessarily against masks but opposed to its implementation by executive order.
