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CLAYTON — St. Louis County Council Chair Rita Days on Tuesday blocked a vote on a proposed countywide mask mandate, siding with council Republicans who argued a vote would violate a ruling last month by a Missouri judge that barred such COVID-19 orders.

The resolution, sponsored by Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, was to approve the order requested on Nov. 30 by Dr. Faisal Khan, acting health director.

But before a vote could be taken, Councilman Tim Fitch, R-3rd District, objected.

In a prepared statement, Fitch argued the ruling by Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green required the county to issue health measures through legislation, not by order, and added that a new mandate would violate a state law limiting health orders to 30 days within any 180-day period if they don’t get local politicians’ approval.

“This is a generally applicable order. (It’s) illegal for us to vote on — even to take up. The council cannot approve this without going through the normal legislative process. Having one vote effectively creating law is not the normal legislative process,� he said.

Councilman Mark Harder, R-7th District, echoed that argument, saying the measure needed to go through the usual “three-week process.�

“To pass this the way it is is illegal,� he said.

Clancy, citing an analysis by the county counselor’s office, said Fitch’s opinion “was not accurate.�

She said the question was “simple�: “Do you want there to be a mask mandate in St. Louis County or not? The question is as simple as that.�

Days upheld Fitch’s point of order, “in light of what you said in terms of how we do the normal legislation.�

She promised to schedule a council committee meeting to discuss the issue, after Clancy requested the hearing.

Days also said last week that she would schedule a hearing. She said Tuesday that her office had been unable to get quorum — four out of seven council members — to agree to a time.

The request for another mask measure comes as the Page administration is locked in a legal battle with Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who sued in July to block an earlier county order.

Earlier on Tuesday, Schmitt issued a legal warning to all of the state’s local health authorities and public school districts, demanding that they immediately lift their COVID-19 health orders. He cited Green’s ruling, which declared such orders “null and void.�

Page has insisted the county mask order issued in September remains in effect, pointing to a letter from the state public health department that advised local agencies to consult their own attorneys on the impact of Green’s ruling before it takes effect Dec. 22. Attorneys for Schmitt and St. Louis County are scheduled to meet again in court on Thursday.

Appointees’ pay

In other action Tuesday, the council voted 6-1 to give final approval to a ballot measure that, if approved by voters in April, would require the county executive office’s budget include the salaries of all appointees who work in that office.

The move was recommended last year in a state audit of county government that slammed a longstanding practice of county executives, including Page, to stack their staffs with appointees, then charge their salaries to other departments.

Based on current staff records, the change would reorder the county budget to add about $687,065 in salaries to the county executive’s office budget, bringing the total to $1.65 million for 21 executive staff positions, including the county executive. Page, whose salary is set by the charter, is paid $140,000 a year.

Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-6th District, voted against the bill. Trakas said he wanted to consider the measure along with other legislation proposing changes to the county charter.

“It should be done in a comprehensive, holistic way,� he said.

Abortion rights

Also on Tuesday, the council voted along partisan and gender lines on a resolution supporting abortion rights against what it described as “unprecedented attacks on reproductive freedom and justice.�

The council’s four Democrats, all women, voted for the resolution. The council’s three Republicans, all men, voted against.

“I’m glad the councilwomen could stand together on this,� Clancy said.

Trakas said his vote “had nothing to do with my gender.�

“This has to do with my beliefs,� he said. “Whether man or woman, I stand with the right to life.�

The move comes after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority last week signaled they would allow states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy and could overturn the nationwide right to legal abortion.

The landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision allows states to regulate but not ban abortion up until the point of fetal viability, at roughly 24 weeks. The Supreme Court is revisiting the ruling in a case involving a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Missouri has a law banning abortion at eight weeks of pregnancy, but it is on hold pending a federal review. A Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis is the only location in Missouri that provides legal abortions.

Honoring fallen officer

The council also held a moment of silence and unanimously adopted a resolution honoring St. Louis County police Detective Antonio Valentine, 42. Valentine, a father of four, was killed in the line of duty Dec. 1 in Bellefontaine Neighbors when a car pursued by police crashed head-on into his unmarked vehicle. The driver pursued by police, Alfred Mayes, 33, also died in the crash.

Fitch, a former county police chief, presented Valentine’s family with a plaque honoring his service in a commemoration attended by Acting Police Chief Kenneth Gregory and several police officers.

Valentine’s uncle, Scott Valentine, a sergeant in the St. Louis police department accepted the honor.

“Thank you for remembering the person my nephew was, is, and always will be,� he said.