A new effort to save California’s restaurants is underway at the state capital. A bipartisan group of eleven state senators, including Sen. Patricia Bates of Orange County, are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to classify restaurants as an essential business and allow them to reopen.
In a letter to the governor, the lawmakers said the future of thousands of restaurants, their employees and local communities are dependent on the industry’s survival.
The Dana Point Chamber of Commerce stands in solidarity with Senator Bates and this group of bipartisan supporters in urging Governor Newsom to allow our restaurants to reopen and continue to serve our communities. As the letter states, restaurants “do more than simply provide a place to eat. Restaurants are active participants in local neighborhoods, providing meals to senior citizens and working with food banks to feed families to put food on their tables.”
We don’t contest that COVID-19 is a real threat and agree that it should be taken seriously. Our local restaurant owners understand they have a responsibility to their employees, customers and general public and have implemented many modifications and increased cleaning protocols in an effort to combat the threat of infection.
State guidelines have had a devastating impact on restaurants that provide jobs & revenue to communities. Unfortunately, these guidelines and closures have disproportionately affected the restaurant industry and without the promise of state or federal relief, many won’t make it through another round of closures, resulting in empty buildings, loss of tax revenue and thousands of individuals becoming unemployed.
As a leader in this community, representing more than 300 small businesses in Dana Point, we have seen firsthand the extraordinary efforts our small businesses have made to comply with the ever-changing state mandates. Many of our restaurants spent thousands of dollars preparing to efficiently and safely operate outdoors, only to be told to shut it all down. The most recent “Stay at Home Orders” jeopardize the potential survival of even the most resilient small businesses.
We urge the Governor to honor the bipartisan group of Senator’s request in reclassifying restaurants as an essential business, therefore allowing them to reopen with clear/concise protocols that would allow them to operate safely.
Sincerely,
Vickie McMurchie
Executive Director
and our extraordinary and essential Dana Point Restaurant Community and their patrons/supporters.