The Missouri tourist town of Branson is ditching its mask mandate early after electing a new mayor who ran on platform that called for doing away with it.
Newly elected Mayor Larry Milton said that the “city heard your voices loud and clear" after the Board of Alderman voted 6-0 on Tuesday night to repeal the public masking ordinance effective Friday.
The ordinance was first enacted July 31 after extensive discussion amid rising COVID-19 case counts.
Last month, the Board of Aldermen voted 4-2 to repeal it, but delayed implementation until May 24 to allow Branson’s tourism industry an opportunity to vaccinate its front-line workers. But that wasn’t fast enough for Branson voters.