WHEREAS, under Governor Gavin Newsom’s continued emergency order, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) has the power to reimplement a citywide mask mandate, rather than the
mayor;

WHEREAS, masks warp socialization, create an environment of fear, and should only be used in the case of a genuine public emergency;

WHEREAS, prolonged mask mandates have contributed to businesses failing in downtown San Francisco, and most office employees remaining 100% remote until recently;

WHEREAS, masks have an adverse effect on kids’ social development;

WHEREAS, kids experiencing depression or other mental distress are unable to speak in-person with a therapist or counselor without both parties wearing a mask, damaging necessary communication;

WHEREAS, we have the tools necessary to mitigate COVID-19 without masks, both with vaccination and treatment;

WHEREAS, San Francisco cannot return to normal unless mask use ceases to be encouraged and commonplace, and residents accept COVID infection as inevitable & something to be diminished, not continually delayed;

WHEREAS, the San Francisco Young Republicans (SFYR) is mindful of the heightened risk of COVID to the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, but rejects the Democratic talking point that we must indefinitely reorganize society in order to address this;

BE IT RESOLVED that the SFYR opposes future mask mandates, condemns them as based in a perpetual siege mentality, and endorses the end of Gov. Newsom’s emergency order granting county health directors fiat authority;

BE IT RESOLVED that we condemn the detrimental effect extended mask mandates have previously had on downtown SF businesses;

BE IT RESOLVED that we abhor and condemn the continued masking of kids in school, and endorse the statewide lifting of the school mask mandate immediately, with no exceptions for local school districts;

BE IT RESOLVED that we condemn the safety-at-all-costs mindset that encourages continued mask use among people not at risk, and empowers do-gooder busybodies;

BE IT RESOLVED that aside from the genuinely at-risk population – the elderly, and people whose health status puts them at high risk of COVID complications – the SFYR flatly opposes mask use, absent the return of a true emergency.

Sincerely,
Future – “Mask Off” (s/t, 2017)