Two incumbent members of the Marion County Health Board were reappointed on 7-6 votes at a special meeting Monday night.
After an attempt at an earlier meeting to remove Mike Morton and Kendra Taylor failed, Board Chair Debbie Smith brought them back for consideration.
The vote came after Morton said he would not apologize for how Health Department Administrator Melissa Mallow and the health department followed the rules and guidelines and saved a lot of lives in Marion County.
“She did a fantastic job. Why we would want to try to ruin the career when she did exactly what she was supposed to do. You know the Health Department didn’t make up Covid-19 and it was a pandemic all over the world and a lot of countries were closed down. A lot of people had to wear masks, but I have to say I’m sorry you were inconvenienced that you had to wear a mask or employer made you get a vaccine. But you saved a lot of lives by doing it, probably your own.”
Morton said it was wrong to bring politics into the operation of the health department.
Rebekah Powers who recently moved back to the area concurred.
“I am a nurse. I ran a mass vaccination clinic where I lived. We gave 65,000 vaccines. The pandemic was awful and people died every day. We lived it. And to politicize the health department and the health of our community is wrong. Simple as that.”
Businessman Chuck Rose scolded the board for not following their oath.
“To ask them to do anything other than uphold the law the way it is written. There is a couple of words that can be used to describe what that is and they are not good words. But you are bound by that oath and if you don’t want to operate under that oath I ask that you resign and give someone else the position to carry out the laws and rules the way they are to be carried out.”
Board member Brock Waggoner who first sought to replace incumbent board members thanked those who provided comment, but continued to be critical of the health department’s operation.
“When we have every state around us opening up. When we have people leaving the county consistently and the health board continued to follow the Governor’s orders, they showed they were willing to follow the partisan decisions that the Governor was making instead of the general health of our community in this area. And is showed with our kids and masking and continued to try and shut businesses down.”
Those joining Waggoner in voting against the reappointments of Morton and Taylor were Tracy Murray, Jack Riley, Steven Bradley, Adam Smith and David Iossi. Two members were absent. They are Bill Henson and Tyson McHenry.
