Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser echoed Dr. Anthony Fauci’s frustration with the patchwork policies that are preventing the United States from getting the coronavirus under control during a National Geographic conversation titled “Stopping Pandemics.” She said the lack of a federal response led her to be “guided by science” as she governs Washington, D.C.
If only that were true. In reality, the mayor’s executive orders consistently appear motivated more by politics than scientific evidence.
Since the onset of the coronavirus, local leaders have gone around the City Council to implement sweeping executive actions. Bowser has issued 36 mayoral orders since March 11, when her first coronavirus executive action to declare a public health emergency went into effect.
The extensive reopening guidelines were guided, in part, by Bowser’s ReOpen DC Advisory Group, which includes several celebrities and political figures with no clear scientific background. While the group claimed to survey the community extensively in preparing its recommendations, the final policies are burdensome and inconsistent.
For example, Bowser issued a mandatory public mask order that even she called “far-reaching.” The order requires the public to wear a mask at all times, except at home, but exempts “persons in the judicial or legislative branches of the District government while those persons are on duty.”
If Washington residents are required to wear face masks outside and indoor locations such as office buildings to protect themselves and the public, why are judicial and legislative employees exempt from wearing a mask at work? Why are the rules to protect individuals from a virus not one size fits all?
The mandatory order also exempts a person from wearing a mask if he or she is giving a speech for broadcast or an audience. It’s feasible this exemption will protect the fewer than 50 audience members allowed to gather for a speech, but this exemption also coincidentally benefits leaders who frequently work with the press.
The Phase Two guidelines for restaurants, including some bars, are also unnecessarily hurting businesses with strict guidelines. Businesses must comply with many rules that some argue are “security theater” or face hefty fines. Phase Two rules — such as no music louder than conversation level, a mandatory reservation system in place, and allowing bar seating only if a bartender serves customers table-style, not from behind the bar — place a heavy burden on restaurants without increasing social distancing. These trivial regulations make it harder for small businesses to reopen, which means more Washington residents will go without a paycheck.
Businesses desperate to remain open or to increase capacity safely are spending valuable resources to create a safe environment for their customers and staff. Some restaurants have gone to extremes to garner attention for their safety protocols. Social media is flooded with pictures of eccentric methods businesses put in place to help patrons safely socially distance or comply with the local requirements to reopen. Years from now, we may view these pictures the way we look at those old photos of students practicing the “duck and cover” drills in the 1950s.
The reality is, restaurants, bars, retail stores, gyms, and other businesses that rely on revenue from in-store purchases will do anything possible to protect their customers’ safety. These businesses want to remain open with a healthy staff to bring in revenue to recover from months of being shut down. The Wall Street Journal’s chief economics commentator Greg Ip argues these severe restrictions on daily activity, that have not been used in modern times, were too costly as it led to 13 million jobs lost in the U.S.
Accusations of government overreach are not new to Bowser. Her record includes a pattern of unnecessary regulations and executive overreach that have garnered pushback from the community and the Washington, D.C., City Council. In 2017, Bowser attempted to impose several regulations on animals that she ultimately had to withdraw due to the arbitrary nature of her position. More recently, Bowser battled with the D.C. Arts Commission after the council accused her of overreaching her authority by illegally taking control of the art collection it owned.
Since peaking on May 1, daily confirmed new cases in Washington have dropped dramatically. According to the New York Times, the district has averaged less than one death per day for the last month. Every death is a tragedy, but the situation is far improved from this spring, when an average of 12 district residents were dying daily. But before we credit Bowser’s response, consider that our neighbors in northern Virginia and other states have seen the same positive trends with less burdensome mandates.
People, regardless of party affiliation, are worried about their health and financial security. Most of us are looking to our political leaders to help assuage these fears as we head into the winter months. But if our Washington, D.C., mayor continues to impose excessive regulations on the district without improving safety, we have more to worry about than the coronavirus.
Madeleine Weast is a vice president at Firehouse Strategies.
