Proclamation of Civil Emergency effective 8/13/2021 OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
PROCLAMATION OF CIVIL EMERGENCY
I, Daniel R. Barron, as the duly elected and sworn Mayor of the Town of Taos,hereby do invoke
those powers vested in the Office of the Mayor under Chapter 2.04 CIVIL EMERGENCIES of the
Town Code and upon consultation with the Town Manager and Code Official, Police Chief and
Fire Chief, as well as the recommendation of the Town's Emergency Management Team, and
consistent with the Town's adopted Pandemic Response Plan do declare, that a civil emergency
exists, as defined in Section 2.04.010 of the Town Code (as outlined in but not restricted to
2.04.01 OC.), and, consistent with those powers therein granted under Section 2.04.020 (and more
specifically in but not limited to 2.04.020. G.), do declare as follows:
1. A PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY EMERGENCY EXISTS:
That, despite outstanding efforts at vaccination, testing, masking, and social distancing by
the Town and its residents to control and reduce the prevalence of the COVID-19 virus,
a. That, several more contagious variants of the COVID-19 virus have developed.
b. That, states and counties around us are experiencing both a rate of new cases and
hospitalizations not seen since last February, and in some cases since the outbreak.
c. That, we are a tourism and second home community and our experience with the
pandemic to-date has taught us that the despite our best efforts to contain or eliminate
the virus here,it travels with visitors that come here and our residents that travel outside
the area and return.
d. That, children under 12 may be particularly susceptible as they cannot get vaccinated
and the variants seem to be more effective in infecting them than the original virus.
e. That,this is occurring at a time that we are returning to school, going into the fall when
viruses tend to spread more effectively and we are already seeing increased levels of
childhood respiratory illnesses other than COVID that usually do not occur in this
frequency at this time of year.
f. That,we have one hospital in our community with limited capacity that serves an entire
region and can become overloaded very quickly, leading to a decline in the availability
and level of care and bed space available to our residents at a time when other regional
hospitals will be unable to accept out-of-area transfers.
g. That, our local, state and national health care system is already worn thin on staffing
and suffering burn-out and COVID fatigue even before another crises might arise and
may not be able to be as resilient as our last effort.
h. That, as Mayor, our Town government is fully committed to keeping our economy as
open as possible for as long as possible,to being welcoming to all visitors and allowing
our arts and entertainment community, galleries and restaurants to be able to do
business, our children to return to school and participate in sports, and for our
community to lead as normal a life as possible.
i. That,to achieve these goals for the long-term,we must take very reasonable preventive
and precautionary measures early on, as we did at the start of this pandemic, that will
protect the health and safety of our businesses, our elderly, our children, our first
responders, health care workers and essential employees in our businesses so that we
can remain open for business and have as normal a life as possible and not be forced
later due to inaction to return to more restrictive measures, such as closures or shut
downs, that hurt our economy and our people.
j. That, as Mayor, I have been contacted by the Office of the Governor of the State of
New Mexico and asked to help take the lead at the local level in instituting preventive
measures to help slow the surge of the virus variants within the state using reasonable
precautions that will create a firewall to preserve the gains we have made to date over
other states and other parts of the state.
k. That, the resurgence of the pandemic and the development of and increasing surge by
the Delta and Lamda variants of the COVID-19 virus pandemic do constitute a natural
disaster through a public health and safety crises endangering life(health)and property
(economy) to such extent that extraordinary measures must be taken to protect the
public health, safety and welfare of the community.
1. That, as Mayor, I am empowered to take such measures under section 2.04.020. G. of
the Town Code and am hereby authorized to issue such orders as are imminently
necessary for the protection of life and property.
2. PUBLIC NOTICE OF PROCLAMATION OF CIVIL EMERGENCY:
That, as Mayor, I direct that signed copies of this Proclamation shall be attested to by the
Town Clerk and delivered to the Town Council within 48 hours of its signing and to seek
their ratification of such measures at an Emergency Meeting of the Council called for said
purpose and no other business.
That I direct that copies of the proclamation, along with ratification and any additional
actions of the Council be published in the media, posted at all Town facilities and
distributed to the public within 24 hours of its passing, with an effective date to not be
sooner than 48 hours after its distribution.
That, as Mayor, I direct that copies of this proclamation shall be provided to the Town
Manager and Emergency Management Team,Police Chief,Code Enforcement Official and
Fire Chief.
Copies of this Proclamation and the actions of the Council shall be provided by the Town
Clerk for posting at the entrance to Town Hall,on the Town website,the Town's Facebook
site, distributed through the Town's email lists, and by publication in the Taos News, as
the newspaper of record.
An email address and phone number shall be provided to the public to be able to ask
questions about the actions contained herein and within the Council resolution, including
any changes in hours or procedures for accessing Town services and on how to obtain
Town-sponsored testing, masks, sanitizer and other direct and indirect technical or
financial assistance, information, services and supplies.
3. DURATION:
That consistent with the Town Code, said proclamation by the Mayor shall be in effect for
48 hours from its issuance and must, consistent with Section 2.04.040, be affirmed by a
majority vote of the Town Council prior to its expiration and may be extended by the action
of the Council by their granting the authority to the Mayor through Resolution 21-41
affirming the Proclamation, declaring a civil and health emergency as long as required, or
until either the Mayor or Council rescind said proclamation or it is superseded by federal
or state public health orders or declarations.
4. PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES:
The Mayor, per the requirements of the Town Code, has evaluated independent findings
by the NM Health Department, CDC,the Town Emergency Management Team, including
weekly updates provided to the Mayor and Council, as well as the findings and
recommendations of the Town Manager and Management Team with regards to the impact
and progress of the current pandemic and, independently, the potential impact through the
surge of the newly spreading variants on the community and the ability of the Town to
provide municipal services; especially the ability to plan for and ensure uninterrupted
services critical to public health and safety.
Further, as Mayor I have also coordinated on a regular basis with the other mayors and
legislators of the state with regards to the pandemic and its impact, as well as potential
responses, and have also coordinated with and received a request from the Governor's
Office for local governments to (re)institute preventive public health and safety measures,
so as for the state to avoid having to resort to further restricting or completely closing
businesses and government.
Therefore, in order to cooperate with the state and our other governmental and health care
partners in instituting measures that provide the least disruption to income of our local
businesses,the uninterrupted employment of our residents, the continued safe provision of
services to the community, the continuity of public education, and in order to reduce to the
extent possible the potential for transmission of the virus to locals, I do hereby declare that
the following public health measures, and upon the consultation with and approval of the
Town Council, are to be taken:
A. Mandatory Face Coverings: All persons including employees, customers, residents
and tourists over the age of 5 are required to wear face coverings when in public,
interacting with the public or in a place where a person may interact with the public,
deliberately or not,including all Town properties(except in public parks where socially
distancing is maintained),gyms,concerts and indoor and outdoor public events such as
the Farmer's Market, restaurants (except while eating or drinking), businesses, banks,
entertainment venues,non-profits,government offices,public utilities,galleries and all
other places of business. All businesses and their on-site supervisors/staff shall inform
and require all staff and customers to wear a face covering when interacting with the
public or other staff and, under Town order, may refuse entry or service to anyone
refusing to wear a face covering properly.
B. Minimum Physical Distance: "Social distancing" (maintaining a physical distance
between all persons in all directions of a minimum of 6 feet) shall be maintained by all
persons when outside of their home, temporary or permanent residence (to include
"residence" to also mean hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, RV parks, camp grounds
and short-term rentals). All businesses, offices, organizations, museums, movie
theaters, galleries, spas, gymnasiums, health facilities, any and all commercial
activities, whether for-profit or non-profit, shall provide such physical signage, visual
markings in check-out and waiting lines and such other appropriate informational
measures as may be required to maintain social distancing between all persons.
C. Maximum Occupancy: All places of business,entertainment,worship,hotels,motels,
short-term rentals,bed and breakfasts and any and all places of business shall abide by
the lesser of the building code or fire code maximum capacity, which shall be posted
and readily visible to the public at the entrance of the premises.
D. State Public Health Orders: This Proclamation shall, by reference, incorporate and
be consistent with any subsequent more restrictive COVID-19 related Public Health
Orders, Executive Orders, and department regulations by the NM Health Secretary,
NM Governor, NM Health Dept., NM Environmental Department and NM Bureau of
Alcohol and Gaming or the Town and authorizes the Town Police Chief and Code
Enforcement Officer, and those they designate, to enforce the provisions of this
Proclamation and any subsequent accompanying Town Resolution or Ordinance and
all relevant state orders authorized by this Proclamation, per section E of this
Proclamation.
E. Penalties: Violations of this order shall be considered a petty misdemeanor, consistent
with the Town Code and laws of the State of New Mexico. Such offenses are punishable
under the Town Code by a fine not to exceed $300 per incident or violation and/or not
more than 30 days in jail.
F. Public Notice: Staff are directed, through the Town Manager, to produce necessary
informational mechanisms so as to alert businesses, the public and tourists as to these
requirements and shall develop a system of reporting and enforcement so as to ensure
their implementation in consultation with the Town Code Officer, the Chief of Police
and the Town Attorney. The Town shall produce and distribute flyers, posters and
signage for businesses to post to alert customers as to the requirements within this order
and shall engage in a public information campaign to alert visitors through banners,
billboards, and electronic display boards etc. as to the requirements contained herein.
5. EFFECTIVE DATE:
This Proclamation of Civil Emergency and the accompanying regulations herein shall
become effective at 8 am, Friday, August 20`h, 2021.
Proclaimed and declared this 13th day of August, 2021.
4anielarrone
Approved as to form:
Town ttorney
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