A Clarkston city official said heâs received several complaints from residents who object to Gov. Jay Insleeâs âsweeping restrictionsâ on indoor gatherings for restaurants, bars, gyms, schools and homes.
At Monday nightâs Clarkston City Council meeting, Councilor Russ Evans said he and others feel the pandemic rules on the Washington side of the Snake River are unfair.
âSome feel itâs ridiculous, and some feel itâs outright tyranny,â Evans told the council.
While the fast-food industry has hardly been touched, other businesses are suffering, he said. People are also questioning the online model of education and how it will affect schoolchildren.
Law enforcement officials in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley said Friday their officers have yet to cite anyone for violating COVID-19 regulations like mask mandates or gathering restrictions.
Enforcement is largely complaint-driven, and Lewiston Police Chief Budd Hurd and Clarkston Police Chief Joel Hastings said they simply havenât received many complaints. There is no statewide mask mandate in Idaho, so Hurdâs officers have only been dealing with the issue since the Lewiston City Council passed one late last month.
But Hastingsâ department has been tasked with enforcing Washington Gov. Jay Insleeâs statewide mask mandate since June. And while the department received several complaints about noncompliance in the early months of the mandate, they have tapered off since then. Hastings said that may be a signal of widespread acceptance of the public health orders.