The Otero County Board of Commissioners officially declared its opposition to New Mexico’s public aptitude emergency orders in a unanimously approved solution on August 20.
The solution brought through Couy Griffin, Commissioner of District 2 of Otero County.
“We know that resolutions have no legal authority,” Griffin said. “We know it’s just a consensus or determination from Otero County leaders that we need to allow others to make their own decisions. “
The vice president of the Otero County Commission, Lori Bies, said a letter from the Commission to Lujan Grisham indicated that the opposition had not received a response.
“This is strictly advice on how our county feels,” said Otero County President Gerald Matherly.
The solution calls for the elimination of a $5,000 fine imposed through the state for non-compliance with arrest warrants, who called the fine exaggerated and alleges that such fines are prohibited through U. S. and New Mexico rights laws.
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Earlier this month, the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the state’s strength to impose fines on corporations that comply with the emergency order.
The solution also stipulates that the needs to wear masks in public and restrictions on the interstate deserve to be relaxed. Commissioners, in the solution, recommend that only those who test positive or have symptoms of COVID-19 deserve to be required to use a cave. canopy in public or be quarantined for 14 days upon returning from an out-of-state trip.
The solution approved through Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico’s Secretary of Decomposing Social Services David Scrase, MD, said on August 20 that the state had met its final criteria for reopening. The existing emergency order is scheduled to expire on August 28. They hesitated to comment on a reopening program, as officials said that the southeastern component of the state where the instances have stabilized remains an issue.
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New Mexico Republican Party President Steve Pearce said in an August 19 press release: “The governor deserves his paralyzing pandemic policy, and breaking his word about his own regulations is an insult to all new Mexicans.
212 positive cases of coronavirus were reported in Otero County as of August 21, 62 people have recovered, 11 have died from the virus. The total number of tests administered to Otero County citizens was from 10720 to 21 August.
New Mexico had 23,951 cases, 734 deaths, and 11,145 recoveries as of Aug. 21.
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Otero County commissioners and local lawmakers said the low infection rate explains why it is enough to move to a case-by-case or multi-tiered style when contemplating the removal of restrictions and the reopening of the region’s economies.
Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews. com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.
Michael McDevitt of the Sun-News Crosses contributed to this report.