The Leflore County Board of Supervisors discussed enforcement of the county’s mask requirement and other matters related to the coronavirus pandemic on Monday.
Fred Randle, director of the Leflore County Emergency Management Agency, said the virus numbers in Leflore County are rising slowly, although no particular area of the county is seeing more cases than others.
He suggested to the board that it should require glass barriers for all county departments’ offices, mainly those areas with high traffic such as reception desks.
“(The virus) ain’t going no place soon,” Randle said. “It is going to get worse before it gets better.”
Robert Collins, the board’s president, agreed.
“Well, gentlemen, we are at war,” Collins said. “This coronavirus is something we have to attack. We got to fight it with everything we got.”
The board voted July 13 to require the wearing of masks indoors in public. The ordinance mirrors one passed by the Greenwood City Council earlier.
Collins said they need the cooperation of the Sheriff’s Department and others in law enforcement to make sure residents wear masks in public and fine them if they are not.
“This is not a friend thing here. You may have to go against your mama and your daddy,” Collins said. “This is a fight.”
Reginald Moore, vice president of the board, said part of the problem is the inconsistency between jurisdictions.
“Until we get a uniform system across the board nationally, statewide, county to county, city to city, we are just doing a whack-a-mole,” he said. “As long as this state has different mandates and this one doesn’t, we aren’t really flattening the curve; we are not chasing this thing down. Even here locally, we have ‘mask wearers’ and folks who are not.”
Undersheriff Ken Spencer said he’d noticed some businesses are not enforcing the mask requirement. “As best as I can tell you right now, if we see someone out there in violation, we are going to approach them,” he said. “We have the authority to issue a citation.”
The supervisors delayed a decision on modifying the ordinance until they can review its exact wording.
The supervisors also discussed a letter they received from former Greenwood resident Hari Pillai asking to change the name of Lee Street to Medgar Evers Way, in honor of the civil rights activist who was shot and killed in 1963.
Pillai, who has since moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, wrote: “Mississippi has come such a long ways to where we were, and yet, we have a long way to go. I believe that keeping the name ‘Lee’ on my parents’ house address sends a message on who we are.”
In response to questions, Board Attorney Joyce Chiles said the supervisors have the right to change any street name within the county.
“Surely we are not getting into this,” District Supervisor Sam Abraham said. “We got Lee Street, and we don’t even know who Lee is. As much as we got on our hands — we have the coronavirus — hopefully we are not getting into this stuff.”
The board took no action on the request.
Also Monday, the supervisors:
• Debated who would oversee the task of spraying for mosquitoes throughout the county before voting to transfer the responsibility to the Road Department.
• Unanimously voted to temporarily close 2.5 miles of County Road 555 three times a week until September for agricultural irrigation.
• Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. Twitter: @AdamBakst_GWCW
