WEST PALM BEACH -- On Friday afternoon, a video emerged of dozens of maskless partygoers and entertainers ringing in the New Year at Mar-a-Lago, a club in Palm Beach County. After viewing the video, Representative Omari Hardy (D – West Palm Beach) wrote Todd Bonlarron, the Assistant County Administrator for Palm Beach County, in order to direct his attention to the many violations of the county’s mask order depicted in the video. On Saturday, Jan. 2, Representative Hardy called on Palm Beach County Government to fine and shut down Mar-a-Lago until County officials can be assured that the business will comply with the County’s mask mandate. He issued the following statement:

“I am calling on Palm Beach County to fine Mar-a-Lago and to shut it down. The county must be assured that this business will comply with our local mask mandate before it is allowed to reopen.

“I recognize that the President is a powerful person and that his business, Mar-a-Lago, is a daunting target for enforcement, but the law is the law. The county’s mask mandate applies to all businesses in Palm Beach County. The presidency does not confer to the President and his friends a special privilege to endanger the health and welfare of Palm Beach County’s residents.

“Why should the county allow the president to get away with this? Why should the president’s business be given special treatment when the county has punished other businesses for not complying with the county’s mask order? We must have law and order in Palm Beach County. What is fair for the average business owner is fair as well for the owner of Mar-a-Lago.

“This has the potential to be a super-spreader event, and my constituents are not snowbirds like Donald Trump, Jr. and Rudy Giuliani. They live here. This is their home. They will suffer the consequences of a potential super-spreader event at Mar-a-Lago long after Donald Trump, Jr. leaves here on his private jet.

“When I saw that video, I thought about the staff working at Mar-a-Lago. I thought about their families. I thought about the educators who might be teaching the staff’s children when school reopens after Winter Break. I thought about the folks they might encounter at the grocery store or at the pharmacy. I thought also about our healthcare workers who are risking their own lives to treat the sick as this deadly pandemic rages on. It is for them that we should take enforcement action against Mar-a-Lago.”

“I have been in touch with attorney Daniel Uhlfelder. Mr. Uhlfelder is a skilled attorney and an outspoken advocate for better government policy in the wake of this coronavirus pandemic. He is well known for suing Governor DeSantis for essentially abdicating his duty to govern throughout this crisis.

“Mr. Uhlfelder and I have discussed various options for ensuring that the county’s mask mandate is enforced and that no business owner is given special treatment.”