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Posted on 07/17/2020 1:07:12 PM PDT by lightman
Frustrated by Gov. Tom. Wolf’s latest COVID-19 restrictions on the food service industry, restaurant owners in central Pennsylvania are armed for a fight.
Representatives from dozens of establishments gathered earlier today at Bonefish Grille in Lower Allen Township to express their dissatisfaction with the governor and his recent mandates. In the coming days, they plan to spread word about a petition demanding change.
“How can one person have this much power? How can one person go across our constitution, stomp on it and never look back? And there’s nothing we can do? He has too much power,” said organizer Matt Flinchbaugh, owner of Flinchy’s in Lower Allen Township.
On Wednesday, Wolf ordered restaurants, bars and breweries to dial back capacity limits from 50 to 25 percent. In addition, seating around bars is prohibited and establishments are no longer permitted to serve alcoholic beverages unless patrons order sit-down, dine in meals.
Wolf said that the reason for the rollback in freedoms associated with the green phase of his reopening plan is due to fears about a new coronavirus case surge.
But owners say their industry has been unfairly targeted, and the latest restrictions make it nearly impossible to survive, be profitable and maintain full staffing. Plus, they say their hands are tied because of the Supreme Court’s recent decision maintaining Wolf’s authority over the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
State legislators, including Pa. senators Mike Regan, a Republican from Northern York County, and John DiSanto, Republican from Dauphin County, as well as John Longstreet, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, took to the podium.
Regan urged those in attendance to rise up against the governor.
“This one man is making decisions for everybody and it’s crippling Pennsylvania and it’s crippling business, and most recently, it’s probably going to kill a lot of restaurants and bars here in Pennsylvania,” Regan said.
Melissa Bova, Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association’s vice president of legislative affairs, announced an online petition will be circulated among restaurant owners to share with their customers. The petition will urge the Wolf administration to bring restaurants back up to 50 percent capacity.
A similar petition is being circulated by Montgomery County restaurant owners, Bova said.
“We are going to be using a platform that will show whose constituents the people who signed the petition are a part of, so we can go to those people who are putting out the vote right now, and say, ‘Five thousand people in your district say this is BS and you need to do something,‘” she said.
“We are going to use those numbers to push the needle,” Bova added.
Restaurant owners in attendance Friday said they are ready to begin collecting signatures.
“Is it a futile attempt? Who knows. At least it brings awareness,” said Don Carter, Jr., owner of several establishments including Dockside Willies and Duke’s in Wormleysburg.
He said he’d like to see more consistency from the governor’s office and is upset the restaurant industry was targeted earlier this week with no mention of other businesses such as dirt track races, Hersheypark or casinos.
Themi Sacarellos, one of the owners of the Round the Clock Diners in York County, called the petition a good first step. In recent weeks, Round the Clock made headlines for defying Wolf’s orders to shut down dine-in service for customers. The owners were fined by the Department of Agriculture.
“People should voice their opposition,” Sacarellos said. “Let the people speak up, if they want to write their name on a petition, I think they should.”
The restaurant association’s Longstreet said they have been working with the governor for about two months to add sense to some regulations pertaining to restaurants. Initially, he said they were able to get outdoor dining, drinks to-go and expansion of premises, but somewhere along the way something changed.
This week, he said Wolf’s administration consulted with the association and agreed to maintain the 50 percent capacity limits.
“All of a sudden out of the clear blue without any notice, they reduced it to 25 percent. There will be no statistics that show 25 percent makes sense because they don’t exist,” he said. “The only significance to that number is thousands of Pennsylvania restaurants close permanently and hundreds of thousands of employees are out of work.”
He urged owners if they can’t win in the courts, they will win in the court of public opinion.
“We’ve got to rein this in and get back to 50 percent now,” he said. “Now we need all of you to fight this fight through the court of public opinion.”
In the meantime, today Wolf Governor urged Congress to provide financial relief to restaurants by passing the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive Act. The bipartisan bill is designed to provide $120 billion to help “Independent restaurants with the economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The market will adapt but cutting capacity in half is crippling.
The zhit must cease.
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
As a PA resident I wish I could get names so I could give them my business....whileI open carry and wear my MAGA hat.
They should spread the word about the Capitol Steps protest scheduled for Wednesday at 11. Would be nice to see a huge crowd there.
The petition will urge the Wolf administration to bring restaurants back up to 50 percent capacity.”
Oh. Ok. (Sad sad sad sigh...)
From the article: Flinchy’s and Bonefish Grille in Lower Allen Township (Cumberland County near Harrisburg); and Round the Clock Diner in York (two locations)
Today Allegheny County relented from no indoor seating to 25% capacity.
Which is curious. If I had to guess I’d say too many Democrat state reps were feeling the heat and were in danger of flipping to yea on Doug Mastriano’s amendment.
Wolf will stomp down even harder now.
Let him.
He’s destroying any chance for dems to get elected in many parts of the state.
Agreed. Only Philly and the central parts of Pittsburgh are going to hang with Dems if this keeps up.
Good luck petitioning a dictator.
Just flat-out ignore his orders.
Wolf lost credibility the moment he appointed Dr. (Dickless) “Rachel” Levine as Secretary of Health and shredded what little veneer of respect remained the moment he set out with unmasked, un “socially distanced” BLM protestors.
He is a dangerous lame duck who simply doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.
“How can one person have this much power? How can one person go across our constitution, stomp on it and never look back? And there’s nothing we can do? He has too much power,” said organizer Matt Flinchbaugh, owner of Flinchy’s in Lower Allen Township.
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The legislature already voted to legally end the ‘emergency’ but Wolfie ignores it and appeals to the PA supreme court. Last I heard they’re looking into it.
From wikipedia:
“Wolf has expressed his opposition to targeting countries with economic sanctions or boycotts, saying, ‘We ... will not encourage economic punishment in place of peaceful solutions to challenging conflicts.’”
Counties, however, that’s okay!
Doing to Lebanon County what he wouldn’t do to China.
I really hope Doug Mastriano is out next governor.
In many states this would be treated differently under the law than a public accommodation.
I just got back from tavern in Ohio and a sign in red says on 7/20 everyone must wear masks.
I asked was it dewine?
The response was mayor Tito brown and everyone is ignoring this ****
You wear one in and wear one out,
Elections have consequences. Choose wisely.
Private clubs are under the same restrictions and it is no easy matter to change from a public to a private liquor license.
Basically Ytown is giving tito the finger
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