Mayor blasts DeSantis for waiving fines
Demings criticizes invalidation of penalties for violating COVID-19 rules
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings unloaded on Gov. Ron DeSantis, who he accused of hypocrisy and putting politics ahead of public safety, the day after the governor invalidated fines that local governments have used against businesses violating COVID-19 rules.
“I believe Gov. DeSantis loves to create confusion,” Demings said, as he began a roughly 5-minute rebuttal to the governor’s claim that counties and cities had issued “unprecedented” penalties against people and businesses based on bad science.
“There is nothing unprecedented about local governments trying to provide for and protect residents during the pandemic,” Demings said. “We have been decisive in taking action when the governor was slow to act.”
The mayor said the county was spurred to begin fining businesses in December due in part to residents’ concerns that some were defying state, local and federal guidelines meant to stop the spread of the coronavirus, and nothing was being done about it.
“Perhaps it can even be debated that the governor’s inaction to enforce health and safety guidelines likely contributed to the spread of the virus in our state,” Demings said.
The yearlong pandemic has killed more than 32,000 Floridians and left nearly 2 million infected.
DeSantis’ order invalidating fines, which was released late Wednesday, undercut one of the few options that remained to cities and counties for enforcing mask requirements and distancing rules.
The late-evening executive order released by the governor’s office without comment remitted all local fines imposed between March 1, 2020, and Wednesday. It did not cancel out fines for violating state orders or those issued to hospitals, assisted living facilities or health care providers.
“I just think that those fines are out of control,” DeSantis said at a press conference Thursday morning. “... Most of those restrictions have not been effective. ... And so we want to really go forward fresh, and we want people to make decisions, but we don’t want it under the heavy hand of government.”
Demings said it was “somewhat hypocritical” and “simply... not right” that DeSantis waived local fines but not state ones.
A handful of local governments across the state, though none in metro Orlando, reported having issued roughly $1.9 million in fines between the beginning of the pandemic and when DeSantis in September ordered a halt to fines for individuals who broke COVID-19 rules.
But the governor at the time didn’t ban fining businesses. Orange County in December began fining restaurants, bars and shops deemed afoul of Demings’ order requiring employees and customers to wear masks and maintain social distancing indoors.
Demings said the approach worked: County strike teams had visited businesses more than 9,000 times and reached a compliance level of 99%, he said, while issuing 156 warnings and just 28 citations.
“Strike teams will continue their mission of making unannounced visits in Orange County in
furtherance of helping our businesses thrive by following recommended CDC and department of health guidelines,” he said. “... I’m not willing to sacrifice the health and safety of our community for politics, as some have clearly done.”
Demings said the county was still reviewing DeSantis’ order and exploring its legal options with regard to continuing to issue fines.
Nikki Fried reacts
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who voted against invalidating the fines during a Wednesday meeting of the state’s clemency board, in an interview Thursday accused DeSantis of failing to protect the state and undermining local leaders who tried to do so.
“It really was up to our local elected [officials] to really step up and show leadership, and that’s exactly what they did,” said Fried, the state’s sole statewide elected Democrat, who is considered a likely challenger to DeSantis’ re-election in 2022. “And now he’s said that, not only is he not going to do it, but he’s not giving the power to our locals to do it.”
It’s unclear if the governor’s order allows businesses to recoup fines they’ve already paid. Deming said it was “more than likely” they would have to be refunded.
Winter Garden’s Country House Restaurant had yet to pay its $300 citation, which the restaurant was fighting in court. On Thursday, owner Heather Wooding was hopeful the court date would be canceled after DeSantis’ order.
“My first and only answer is finally,” she said. “It should have been sooner, but I’m glad he finally stepped in.”
Her business received a citation after an employee was seen walking through the restaurant without a mask, county records show. Wooding previously told the Orlando Sentinel she had security footage showing that her employee was on a break eating and had gotten up to refill her drink.
“We hope Demings doesn’t figure a way around it,” Wooding said of the order from DeSantis.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, a Democrat, told the Miami Herald that DeSantis’ order was “bizarre.”
“It almost feels like he wants to be the champion for letting the virus surge through the community,” he told the newspaper. “I have no earthly idea why anyone would want to champion that cause.”
The city issued more than $14,000 in mask fines before DeSantis barred them, according to the Herald.
2 dozen places cited
Orange County records show about two dozen businesses here were cited, a few more than once.
The owner of Maryland Fried Chicken in Apopka, twice fined for unmasked employees, has paid $620 in fines and costs. The business was first cited on Dec. 21 when the compliance team inspected the Orange Blossom Trail diner, where an employee wore his face mask below the chin.
A compliance team report said he became belligerent with inspectors, yelling, “Go ahead and just write me up.” They did.
A few other businesses also paid fines, including Hong Fu, a Chinese food restaurant on South Orange where inspectors saw kitchen staff working without masks. Others haven’t yet paid the $300 fine and $10 filing fee.
Hank Gheith, owner of Hank’s Crab Shack & Seafood in Orlando, hadn’t planned on paying his fine and costs. His restaurant was cited because two employees were working closer than six feet apart, the social-distance minimum, without face coverings.
“Everybody’s been tested here time and time again,” he said.
“But what gets me is wasting taxpayer resources — three to four government officials coming in here, a small shop, a mom-and-pop — and you want to hurt us,” Gheith said. “We oblige as best we could, you know, but sometimes working in a hot kitchen that mask makes it feel like it’s 120 degrees in here.”
The Circle K gas station and convenience store on East Colonial has been cited three times since December for customer face-mask violations. The corporate-owned store ponied up $600 in fines and still owes $300.
The Knight’s Pub on North Alafaya Trail, one of several UCF-area bars that county officials have identified as non-compliant, was cited Jan. 29 for unmasked crowds. An inspector’s report noted patrons were being admitted “in droves” while not wearing masks or social distancing.
DeSantis first raised the prospect of canceling local fines Wednesday during a meeting of Florida’s Board of Executive Clemency in Tallahassee.
The proposal and vote, which took up about 30 seconds of the one-hour meeting, went little-noticed, overshadowed by the board’s approval of the automatic restoration of civil rights for people with felony convictions who fulfill their legal and financial obligations.
The board voted 3-1 in favor of the proposal, with Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, both Republicans, joining the governor and Fried voting no.
When De San tis suspended the collection of fines against individuals in late September, the governor’s office asked local governments to report their use of fines. While not all responded, of those that did, Miami-Dade County and Naples accounted for the vast majority of the penalties.
Miami-Dade County and its Fire Rescue Department by then had issued 2,097 citations totaling $870,250, accounting for 45% of the fines tallied by DeSantis’ office. In Naples, 3,996 citations worth $789,762 were issued, nearly 41% of the total.
The governor’s latest step comes the same week that Texas lifted a statewide mask requirement and other restrictions. DeSantis has touted his decision to “re-open” Florida months earlier than other states and even spoken regretfully about restrictive measures he took last year, such as closing gyms and banning elective procedures at hospitals.