Grambling makes face masks mandatory

GRAMBLING — Face masks are now mandatory for public places within the city of Grambling.

Grambling’s City Council gave its approval during Thursday night’s monthly meeting, requiring people working or shopping within the city to wear protective face masks because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“The COVID-19 virus has had a tremendous impact on African Americans,” Grambling Mayor Ed Jones said before the motion was passed. “Because we are a predominately African American community, we feel like it is necessary to take this stance to protect our citizens. We are also asking our citizens to be mindful of staying safe when they go out to other places.”

Jones had the power himself to issue the executive order requiring face masks to be worn but said he wanted input and agreement from the city council before doing so. Jones’ request passed unanimously.

“We’ve made it mandatory to wear masks at City Hall for quite some time now,” Jones said. “We have an accumulation of masks here, and if someone comes in and requests a mask, we give them a pack of five. All someone has to do is come to the drivethrough window at City Hall and request a mask, and they’ll receive a pack of five until we run out.”

Failure or refusal to wear a mask in public within Grambling city limits could result in a fine. The fine for a first offense is $150, a second offense is $250 and a third offense $500 and an appearance before the Grambling City Court.

The city of Grambling will provide signage for city businesses as well as masks to be distributed to people without a mask who want to enter a business.

In other business, Grambling’s City Council passed a resolution declaring June 19 — Juneteenth — an official city holiday and requesting that the state of Louisiana makes it a state holiday as well.

“Right now it is recognized as a day, but not a state holiday, so state employees have to work, and we want this to be a way of unifying everyone in the state, so we’re asking the Legislature to amend two particular statutes regarding state holidays and also asking the governor to do so by executive order,” said Grambling city attorney Pamela Breedlove during the meeting..

During Thursday’s meeting Grambling’s City Council also approved the Ruston Daily Leader as the city’s official journal for the 2020-21 fiscal year.