Commission will send letter opposing vaccine mandates
The Anderson County Commission’s Operations Committee on Oct. 11 forwarded a motion to the full commission for discussion regarding a resolution in opposition to COVID vaccine mandates.
Monday night during the commission’s monthly meeting, the resolution — a letter to the Tennessee General Assembly opposing COVID vaccine mandates — passed by a 10-6 vote.
Voting against the letter were Commissioners Chuck Fritts (District 1), Robert Jameson and Rick Meredith (District 2), Jerry Creasey and Theresa Scott (District 7), and Phil Yager (District 8).
Commissioner Steve Mead said that as county commissioners they were bound by their oath of office to oppose a mandate that has been labeled as unconstitutional by the Tennessee attorney general.
“I don’t see why this is difficult,” Mead said. “Everyone at this table has taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Tennessee against all enemies foreign and domestic.”
Mead also stated he would be asking for a recorded vote on the matter.
But Commissioner Tracy Wandell (District 1) said it wasn’t a constitutional issue. “This is an issue between employer and employee,” he said.
Wandell further stated that he did not think it was the commission’s job to be part of the HR arm of federal employers.
Wandell changed his mind later after language was added to the letter that specifically said, “To protect Anderson County employees.”
“I don’t think I’ve said I don’t want them to take or get a shot. That’s up to the person, the individuals,” he said. “But I guess someone can twist this motion, this resolution, and make it sound as if some of us vote against this we’re saying, ‘You get the shot or you’re fired.’”
Wandell said that’s not the case. He said the county has a policy in place and the county should stay with that.
Bob Smallridge (District 8) said, “I don’t think this is something we need to get involved in.”
He said the federal government was trying to get control of the spread of COVID and that “the best thing to do is to get vaccinated.”
But after more discussion, Smallridge also voted to send the letter.
Several Anderson County citizens spoke to commission and told how they were not going to take a COVID vaccine because of underlying medical conditions, and they had suffered financial hardships because of lost jobs and contracts. A health-care worker said she was going to lose her job because she wasn’t going to get vaccinated on advice from her physician. She suffers from numerous allergies and she said she takes a COVID test twice a week, but was told to take a vaccine or be let go.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank asked commissioners that if they didn’t oppose a vaccine mandate, what would they tell county employees who would not take a vaccine for religious objections or for underlying medical reasons?
She also asked that if the emergency rule is put in place by the federal government, would Anderson County be under the guidelines of that OSHA regulation?
“If this comes down and this parade of employees comes before you, what will your decision be?” Frank said. “What will you ask them to do? Will you force them to take the vaccine? It’s a very real legitimate question. This particular resolution is just asking our elected leaders to oppose this.”
Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager told commissioners they could debate the issue for a long time, but it would be difficult for the federal government to “push this” on the states. Yeager said the body could make it a political issue if it chose to, but said, “Right now we’re not faced with the issue of our employees being required to have the vaccine as of yet.”
He said the county would deal with that if it comes about.
“Right now, I don’t know of anything that is enforcing a mandatory vaccine on county government employees, and those are the ones we care about and those are the ones we have jurisdiction over through personnel policies,” he said. “You’re debating an issue that’s really not right at the county level.”