A quick survey of several Central Indiana Mayors shows no plans to impose any new mask mandates on city employees.
With the rise of the Delta variant, the Center for Disease Control has recommended citizens wear masks, even if they have been vaccinated. And President Joe Biden is in the process of requiring all federal employees to wear masks.
Indy Politics reached out to the mayors of Indianapolis, Carmel, Noblesville, and Greenfield and none of them plan to issue any new mask mandates for their employees at this time.
“We are continuing to follow my policy that has been in place for months, interestingly the same policy that President Biden adopted yesterday for federal employees,” said Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard. “Unvaccinated employees are required to wear masks and receive regular PCR tests. Those that are not vaccinated do not have to be tested or wear masks.”
“Mayor Chris Jensen is not planning to issue any mask mandates for Noblesville employees at this time,” said Noblesville spokesman Robert Herrington.
“At this current time the Mayor is not planning to issue a mask mandate for the employees, noted Greenfield city spokesman Chuck Anderson. “The Mayor has traditionally followed the Governors guidelines in regards to masking.”
In Indianapolis, the situation was a little more complex, according to Mark Bode, Mayor Joe Hogsett’s spokesman. “County offices are independently elected with their own jurisdictions, and the prior City-County Building mandate was set by the courts, rather than the Mayor’s Office.”
“That being said, my understanding is that the recommendations sent out by the Health Department, which were backing up the ones sent by the CDC, are consistent across the County, inside or outside the City-County Building, Bode noted. “All parties are continuing to monitor the situation as things develop, as the Mayor and Dr. Caine have said over the past few days, but as of now we’re at the recommendation level.”
