KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The owner of the Westport Flea Market says they can't control what city leaders decide but says his business will do whatever it takes to make sure they can keep their doors open.
"People come to the Westport Flea Market to get away from their problems and not become one, and if they are being one, let's try to be compassionate, help them along," said Joe Zwillenberg, owner of the Westport Flea Market.
Besides taking food and drink orders, servers have to remind customers every now and then about Kansas City Missouri's mask mandate.
"The only pushback we've been really getting is people saying, 'Well, I've got the vaccination.' And we still say, 'You know, sorry, but that's the city's rule,'" Zwillenberg said.
With low vaccination rates and a high number of new COVID-19 cases, the city sought to extend the mandate.
But sometimes enforcement is easier said than done.
Take Wednesday's meeting where the public got to speak up about the mandate.
Attendees were all required to wear a mask walking into the building. But once inside some of them ditched the mask.
"In a crowd comprised mostly of folks who compared wearing masks to tyranny, communism, and child abuse, it was disappointing, but not surprising, that many attendees elected to break the City's rules," a city spokesperson wrote in a statement to KSHB 41 News. "Rather than starting a mini-riot by at once forcibly removing 100 attendees — who outnumbered the security and police staff — the City permitted them to remain at the venue in the unique situation where individuals came solely to protest masking. Fortunately, most venues in Kansas City, including regular meetings at City Hall, do not have a crowd intent on disrupting proceedings and violating city rules."
On Thursday, the council voted to pass the extension 10-2.
"I do not want to continue to wear a mask. And I don't want anyone to have to continue to wear a mask. But we have not kept this virus at bay," said Andrea Bough, KCMO councilmember representing the 6th district.
Only council members Brandon Ellington and Heather Hall voted against it.
"I just don't think it's going to be reasonable to expect people to say, 'Oh, are you getting ready to eat because if not put your mask on,'" Hall said.
The health department oversees enforcement of the mask mandate.
During the latest mandate that began Aug. 2, they've issued warnings to more than 150 Kansas City establishments with nearly 300 complaints filed against them.
Here’s a breakdown from August 2-August 18:
Complaints received: 271
Field investigations: 212
Email/phone call follow-ups: 2
"I think we're putting a lot of a burden on our small business owners, to police things that they really shouldn't have to police," Hall said.
There's a fine and even jail time that comes along with this mandate.
But the health department continues to reach out to all businesses that have received complaints before bringing down the hammer.
