For 10 months, Hamilton County was on an island. The metropolitan county in Southeast Tennessee, unlike the dozens of counties surrounding it, required face masks in public.
The decision to implement a mask mandate to curb the spread of COVID-19 was the most controversial decision of Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger’s 10 years in that role, he told the Times Free Press.
The Republican mayor took a stance that some constituents saw as going against their freedom-loving reasons for voting him into office. If there was ever doubt, hundreds and hundreds of angry emails served as a reminder of that.
But it was a decision supported by strong scientific evidence and some of the most respected and trusted medical experts in Chattanooga.
Coppinger stood by it five separate times.