Testy opponents of Lincoln's mask mandate, directed health measures and Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department interim Director Pat Lopez decried her permanent appointment by the Lincoln City Council on Monday as a rushed move that silenced the voices of residents.
Still, council members from both political parties unanimously agreed to appoint Lopez, a registered nurse who has been interim director since May 2019. She did not speak at the hearing.
The council suspended its rules, which generally require waiting a week before taking testimony and voting on a resolution.
"Rushing a decision is not the right way," said Benjamin Madsen, co-owner of Madsen's Bowling & Billiards, which Lopez shut down over mask mandate violations earlier this month. "So I’m asking you to look at this with open eyes and remove yourselves from the politics of it."
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About a dozen people who refused to wear masks testified in opposition to Lopez's appointment before several walked out upset over the council's decision to approve her anyway.
The contentious hearing Monday marked the latest showdown stemming from the mask mandate issued in Lancaster County.
Last week, Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon prompted the council's vote after he told county commissioners that Lopez has illegally occupied her job and that he would seek a court order removing her from her post.
Votes by the Lincoln City Council, Lancaster County Board and local Board of Health are expected to stave off further action from Condon, according to County Board Chair Sean Flowerday. The County Board and Board of Health both meet Tuesday.
Condon has declined to comment further on his legal opinion, but he told the Journal Star last week the issue "became ripe" for him after Madsen's attorney J.L. Spray challenged Lopez's authority to issue closure orders in court earlier in August.
Lancaster County District Judge John Colborn never ruled on whether Lopez had the authority to hand down such orders as an interim director, but city attorneys have maintained that she did.
When asked why the council needed to suspend its rules to vote a week early on the appointment, City Attorney Yohance Christie said that Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and Lopez have agreed to the permanent appointment.
"Certainly, it's time to move past this," he said. He did not mention Condon's challenge.
Lopez has been on a $14,000-per-month contract as a consultant to lead the Health Department since the late Shavonna Lausterer took a medical leave and later died of breast cancer in the summer of 2019.
Testifiers accused Lopez of fraudulently holding her office and taking tyrannical actions as health director.
Gretchen Hess, who is a co-owner of the Brass Rail bar, questioned Lopez's actions to close bars and have Health Department staff perform undercover inspections. She also accused the city of applying laws unfairly.
Several testifiers said government rules, like the mask mandate and business closures, have added undue stress on residents while the pandemic continues to drive up rates of anxiety, depression and suicide.
Madsen, whose business has been allowed to reopen, questioned the ability of Lincoln to continue to operate under the current restrictions and survive it.
"Your knee is on the neck of Lincoln, Nebraska," Cindy Wendelin said referencing the death of George Floyd. "Please make wise decisions. Please don’t follow down a path that is going to destroy a lot of people."
Wendelin has said she is considering circulating a petition to recall the mayor over the mask mandate.
Before the council began the hearing on Lopez's appointment, Councilwoman Jane Raybould stopped the meeting to try and force maskless Lincoln residents who came to oppose the appointment to wear face coverings.
Raybould called for a point of order to get the crowd of more than a dozen people to put on masks or leave and asked to have the Lincoln police officer acting as sergeant-at-arms to enforce it.
But many said they wouldn't wear one, citing the personal health exemption in the mask mandate, as well as the exemption for those seeking government services.
This summer, testifiers who came to the council chambers were asked to wear masks and all the council members have during meetings.
Ultimately, Council Chair Richard Meginnis called for order in the chambers and the meeting continued without anyone being escorted out.
Following the hearing, Councilman Roy Christensen said he believes the mayor had the legal authority to appoint Lopez and he would vote to approve her since "that's the only person being put forward."
Councilwoman Sändra Washington said the city and county may not have felt the effects of the pandemic as hard as other communities in the country, but that doesn't mean there isn't a pandemic.
The pandemic has required everyone to make sacrifices, some of which they may disagree with, she said.
"There is nothing that the interim health director has done that has gone beyond her authority," Washington said.
Three council members, Washington, Christensen and Bennie Shobe, will be up for election in spring 2021.
"Spring is coming," one man told the council. "There will be a vote."
Photos: Lincoln during the pandemic
Reach the writer at 402-473-2657 or rjohnson@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LJSRileyJohnson.
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