After more than a week of public shame and praise, Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer masked up — and all it took was a text from his daughter.

Balzer, the three-term Republican, was both criticized and supported after he was confronted by a citizen just before a public meeting this month at the courthouse for not having his face covered according to county policy and a mandate from state officials.

But a text message between Balzer and his adult daughter, a microbiologist in Delaware, a day after his maskless appearance during a public meeting July 17 prompted his about-face, he said.

“I texted her a picture and asked if she had an opinion about it,” Balzer said.

Her reply had an impact. During a public meeting of the county’s prison board and a separate gathering of the county’s retirement board Monday, which he chaired, Balzer wore a mask.

Balzer said his daughter’s views convinced him that his previous position on masks needed to be reevaluated.

“Honestly, it’s the simplest thing you can do to just be a good human. The people that complain about it and say it infringes on their rights as Americans make my eyes roll,” his daughter said in a lengthy text message in which she talked about the impact of covid-19.

Balzer, when asked earlier this month about why he did not wear a mask in public, said allergies and an undisclosed health issue that resulted in a cough made it hard for him to breathe while wearing a mask.

In the days that followed, he said he received a heavy dose of criticism from the public but also a lot of support among those who are opposed to mask-wearing mandates.

Commissioner Gina Cerilli, on her Facebook page following Balzer’s two maskless appearances at public meetings, called him out for his actions, saying he was “arrogant and believes he is above everyone else.”

On Monday, Balzer said, in addition to his daughter’s advice, he also sought out counsel from his staff about his mask decision.

“A lot of people were for (not wearing) it, but I decided to wear one to avoid any controversy. My job is to be a leader,” Balzer said.

It seems his daughter is in agreement.

“Just wearing a mask is the easiest thing that can be done to look out for others,” she wrote.

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