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Letter: Herbert dithers and fails

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Utah Gov. Gary Herbert walks through the rotunda to a COVID-19 briefing Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Salt Lake City.

Open letter to Gov. Herbert:

Congratulations for continuing to dither and failing to take effective measures that have proven to be crucial in controlling the COVID-19 epidemic in Utah.

Your inaction and continual politically motivated positions have demonstrated a level of incompetence never seen before in a Utah governor, which has led to hundreds of unnecessary deaths, particularly among people older than 60 or those effectively trapped in nursing homes, i.e., "long-term nursing facilities."

You keep giving lip-service to the fact that, as governor, you have constitutional power to order all the citizens of Utah to wear face masks as a proven method of controlling COVID-19 spread. Yet, because of a complete lack of determination to exercise your greatest constitutional duty to protect the health and welfare of the citizens of Utah, you dither again.

You say you don't want to do anything that could incite a rebellion against wearing masks, yet every step you have taken assures that those who are irresponsible enough to refuse this proven method to rule the day.

Your lack of backbone and that of your COVID-19 chairman, Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, failing to require wearing face masks universally across the state, allows a dangerous inconsistency that will be ignored by a significant number as a political statement of resistance and no definitive legally binding responsibility to hold against them.

That endangers me and every other person they may come in contact with.

So, for my part, I will resist your dithering and continue to wear my face masks and the full range of other personal protective equipment so that I can not only remain safe but clearly prove my respect for my fellow Utahns.

Marv Poulson, Salt Lake City

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