On December 22, 2021 - conveniently, their last meeting of the year - the Plymouth Board of Health voted to reinstate a mask mandate in all indoor public "spaces, houses of worship, or private spaces open to the public." This mandate applied to individuals who are two (2) years of age or older, with exemptions made for those who are unable to mask due to a medical condition or disability. In response to overwhelming public outcry denouncing the move, the board held an emergency meeting on January 5, 2022, to reconsider the measure. During the emergency meeting, Chairman Barry Potvin presented a lengthy slide deck detailing the state of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Plymouth County, and the Town of Plymouth. Dr. Potvin’s presentation was heavy on statistics, which were incomplete by his own admission. He continuously referenced the rise in cases, but failed to acknowledge the dropping rates of severe illness and deaths. His efforts to hide the facts are purposefully undermining the public’s confidence in reasonable public health measure – most importantly the power of vaccines. Dr. Potvin bemoaned the vaccination rate in Plymouth. He presented misleading information that the mortality rate of COVID-19 in Plymouth is 1.82%. However, he did not distinguish between the mortality rate pre-vaccines versus the mortality rate post-vaccines. Moreover, he dragged politics into the decision making process, saying that those who wish to refrain from masking are basing their decisions in ideology rather than safety standards. The best weapons we have against this disease are the vaccines, and by pushing his biased agenda, Dr. Potvin has further eroded confidence in the power of our greatest safeguard against COVID-19. That Dr. Potvin’s efforts have damaged the reputation of his board and the town, let the facts stand for themselves:

WHEREAS, Dr. Barry Potvin, having acted in bad faith as a public servant by choreographing and rehearsing a farcical emergency meeting of the Plymouth Board of Health, has lost the trust of the citizens of the Town of Plymouth, and thus endangered future public health measures;

WHEREAS, Dr. Potvin used his position of power in his opening statement during the emergency meeting to chastise and threaten the citizens of Plymouth, reassert his authority as superior to those of our highest elected officials, and remind the people for whom he is supposed serve that they are only to participate meaningfully if and when he allows it;

WHEREAS, Dr. Potvin dominated the conversation for the duration of the emergency meeting, with little regard or attention for those in opposition to his arbitrary and capricious mandate;

WHEREAS, Dr. Potvin has displayed a clear bias towards mandating masks since the moment Governor Charlie Baker lifted the statewide mandate, regardless of the science of the day;

WHEREAS, Dr. Potvin has selectively presented data to fit his narrative, disregarding contrary facts regarding the spread of COVID-19 and resulting deaths in the Town of Plymouth; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Potvin has consistently ignored the grievances of the citizens of Plymouth, the overwhelming majority of whom prefer an advisory to a mandate;

NOW, THEREFORE, we, the undersigned citizens, business people, visitors, and patrons of Plymouth, petition:

1. The members of the Plymouth Board of Health to undertake a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Dr. Potvin, removing him from the board;
2. Vice Chair of the Plymouth Board of Health, Rose Cain, schedule another vote regarding the de-escalation of the December 22, 2021 mask mandate to an advisory;
3. The Plymouth Select Board endorse the aforementioned vote of no confidence in Dr. Potvin’s leadership; and
4. The Plymouth Select Board expeditiously convene to select a replacement for Dr. Potvin.