[Goose]

No health director is issuing such an order without the full agreement of the Mayor.  The person who actually signs or issues the order is not pertinent to discussion.

While I certainly agree that "normally" the health director and the Mayor will be in agreement on such an order, I believe it is CRITICALLY important people understand why the law is written the way it is. In the past there have been instances when some Mayors have violently disagreed with the health officers about quarantine orders. The structure of the law allows the health officer to override the Mayor's objections if necessary. The Mayor would have to fire the health officer and then appoint a new health officer that would be willing to remove the quarantine. Politically, very hard to do. If the health officer has no independent authority, the only thing they could do would be resign in protest. Nobody would even know who they were and nobody would care, until it was too late. Conversely the law as written can provide political cover to a Mayor, who can simply say "I didn't do it. The health department did".

[Goose]

No health director is issuing such an order without the full agreement of the Mayor.  The person who actually signs or issues the order is not pertinent to discussion.

While I certainly agree that "normally" the health director and the Mayor will be in agreement on such an order, I believe it is CRITICALLY important people understand why the law is written the way it is. In the past there have been instances when some Mayors have violently disagreed with the health officers about quarantine orders. The structure of the law allows the health officer to override the Mayor's objections if necessary. The Mayor would have to fire the health officer and then appoint a new health officer that would be willing to remove the quarantine. Politically, very hard to do. If the health officer has no independent authority, the only thing they could do would be resign in protest. Nobody would even know who they were and nobody would care, until it was too late. Conversely the law as written can provide political cover to a Mayor, who can simply say "I didn't do it. The health department did".