Anyone who crosses the border into Monterey County must wear a face covering out in public or face fines beginning immediately today, July 28, according to a unanimous vote by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors.
That means residents and visitors in all unincorporated areas, from Moss Landing and Prunedale to the north and Big Sur and Bradley to the south, are subject to the urgency ordinance due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It's an administrative citation with fines of $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second and $500 for subsequent violations. Repeated violations may be passed on to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office for possible misdemeanor prosecution.
Monterey was the first city within the county to pursue an administrative citation for failure to wear masks in public areas and was used as an example for the county's ordinance. Monterey's order went into effect immediately before the July 4 weekend. On July 6, the city of Salinas issued a similar order, and King City followed with a similar rule on July 23. Other cities are considering ordinances, including Carmel and Pacific Grove.
Hans Uslar, Monterey's city manager, created the citation as a way of making it easier to cite and fine people, rather than go through a cumbersome process of pursuing the violation as a misdemeanor for failure to wear face coverings under an order issued by Monterey County Health Officer Edward Moreno that went into effect April 30. (You can read more detail about what that order does and does not require here.)
A staff report to the supervisors called the misdemeanor "burdensome on the criminal justice system including the courts, District Attorney and law enforcement."
The county's ordinance gives County Administrative Officer Charles McKee authorization to hire temporary workers to fill in as enforcement officials after receiving training.
"The focus of the county will be on education, rather than citations, but citations may be necessary if education efforts are insufficient," the staff report states.
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