City council moves past vaccine mandate discussions

CHENEY – The Cheney City Council is as tired of the discussion revolving around vaccine mandates as you are. Once again, the subject of requiring vaccinations for employees of the city of Cheney reared its divisive head during the regularly scheduled council meeting on Feb 8.

Resolution E-993 was the latest document regarding vaccine mandates for future city employees and a vaccine incentive for all employees. This resolution states that vaccinated employees would receive a monthly reimbursement of $50, going back to January 2021.

The resolution also stated that future employees would have to be fully vaccinated (at least two doses of an FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine) to be considered for future employment. Financial incentives range from zero to $600 because they will be applied retroactively.

“My major concern is future recruitment,” councilman Mark Posthuma said. “I don’t want to also create a divide among new folks coming in versus folks that may not be vaccinated within our current staff.”

Councilmember Jill Weiszmann went even further.

“This entire resolution is a bad policy,” Weiszmann said.

Weizmann then gave a passionate speech about how she is tired of COVID-19 vaccination policies being brought back up week after week and further dividing the community.

She wants to get back to working with her fellow council members in a more constructive way where people are being professional instead of pointing fingers and blaming each other.

“I hear, and I see it, and it breaks my heart because this city has never been like this before, ever. And the council has never been like this,” Weiszmann said. “I think the divisiveness needs to stop, and I’d like to see it stop tonight.”

Posthuma added to Weiszmann’s dissent, specifically toward the portion of the resolution that required vaccinations for future employees. He said the way the resolution is worded, its neither medically accurate nor scientifically accurate.

The policy states that the vaccine will reduce the risk of contracting and transmitting infection, which Posthuma says, is not scientifically accurate.

“Denmark and Israel are the highest vaccinated countries in the world and they have 40,000 cases a day by most vaccinated people,” he said.

Posthuma added that if their policy said that being vaccinated reduces their risk of hospitalization and death, it would be scientifically and medically accurate.

Eventually, after the thoughtful debate from the council, resolution E-993 was amended to be strictly a vaccine incentive program. The vaccine mandate portion of the resolution was stricken with a vote of four to three.

The amended version of resolution E-993 passed with a five to two vote. Weiszmann and Posthuma were the two council members that voted no on the amended version of Resolution E-993.

Their main concern with a vaccination incentive program is that it will continue to divide city employees on top of adding a discriminatory element by essentially treating vaccinated employees better by paying them more.

“The challenge I have with that is we’re going to create in the workplace exactly what we created before, where people are going to be upset with each other,” Posthuma said. “And for that reason and that reason alone, I can’t agree with it.”

The funds for the incentive program will be diverted from those set aside for the COVID-19 rapid testing protocols, which are no longer utilized.

 

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