SAN DIEGO — Some in the restaurant industry are pushing back against the state’s current guidelines to keep restaurants closed except for take-out and delivery.
State Senators from the San Diego area have joined a petition that was sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom last week. The restaurant industry has been hit really hard during the pandemic, leaving a lot of employees struggling to make ends meet.
Eleven Senators from across the state said restaurants should be considered essential businesses. Without that classification, they say nearly 2 million jobs in California are at stake.
“If half of those people are unemployed, we’ve got 800,000 Californians that could be working that are now unemployed and on EDD or on unemployment benefits. Where they could be paying into the system, now they’re taking from the system, which is a double financial hit to the state,” said Senator Brian Jones, who represents CA District 38.
Jones and Senator Patricia Bates, who both represent North San Diego County areas, are two of the senators to join the petition so far. The letter was sent to Newsom on Friday, saying in part:
“As it is becoming obvious to Californians, these essential businesses 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 struggling to put food on their tables.”
The Little Italy Association of San Diego is also supporting the petition. The 501 (c)(3) organization represents property owners, residents and businesses of the Little Italy neighborhood downtown.
“We want to open up December 19 because December 19t is the last Saturday before Christmas. If you don’t want this complete liquidation of small businesses and restaurants, at least in San Diego County, you’ve got to give people an opportunity to make some money somehow,” said Marco LiMandri, with New City America, which manages The Little Italy Association of San Diego.
Jones said they haven’t heard back from the governor yet, but he said this was a bipartisan effort to support restaurants.
As a reminder, the current stay-at-home order said restaurants must be closed during the lockdown to help prevent further spread of the virus.