San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
CORONADO LAX ON COVID-19 RULES
Some businesses bypass public health orders; city reluctant to enforce them
Coronado is reluctant to take enforcement actions against businesses that habitually fail to comply with the county’s Public Health orders, even when the city has records showing specific businesses are unable or unwilling to follow the rules.
This lack of enforcement comes at a time when the number of COVID-19 cases in the 92118 ZIP code — much smaller than other parts of the county — has more than tripled in the last month, from 22 cases on June 16 to 70 cases on July 16.
Additionally, eight restaurants in Coronado have shut down after employees tested positive for COVID-19 there within the last two weeks.
To ensure businesses comply with the health orders, Coronado set up a partnership with a local business advocacy group called Coronado
Mainstreet in May. Under the partnership, the city pays $2,000 a month and Coronado Mainstreet sends a representative out to “engage and educate” businesses, then sends a spreadsheet filled with individual compliance notes back to the city.
“The city wanted a pro-business organization to work with our businesses on the city’s behalf because we care about them and their success,” a city spokesperson said in a statement. “We also chose a business organization because it’s better than having our Police Service
Officers or building officers doing it because it’s business to business.”
Those records show that the program is largely working.
The majority of businesses that show up on Mainstreet’s spreadsheet are marked as compliant. Many of those who initially were noncompliant quickly corrected their missteps after getting a visit from Coronado Mainstreet’s representative.
For example, during a June 16 visit to a local pharmacy, the Mainstreet representative noted that
the business had a “Masks Encouraged” sign that should have read “required.”
“While I was in the store, there were around 20 customers and only 4 or 5 had masks on,” the representative wrote.
The representative spoke with the pharmacy’s manager about the sign. The next day, the representative noted that the sign had been replaced and every customer in the store was wearing a mask.
Despite the program’s success, records show that some businesses in Coronado have been outright hostile toward the compliance checks and continually fail to comply with the health orders.
During a June 11 visit to a local salon, the Mainstreet representative noted the salon had “No signs or safe reopening plan” posted. When the representative tried to speak about this with a stylist, the stylist became upset.
“She said the Health Order, ‘Isn’t the law,’ and said I’m not allowed back,” the representative wrote.
Three businesses on the spreadsheet have been flagged for noncompliance multiple times and appear to face no consequences from the local government.
At Crown Barber Shop, the Mainstreet representative noted lack of compliance on five separate dates.
During the first visit, on May 29, the representative noted that barbers and clients were not wearing masks, barber chairs were too close together and did not have dividers. The barbershop’s owner invoked Mayor Richard Bailey’s name as the reason behind her noncompliance.
“When I spoke to the owner, she became extremely angry and confrontational, she said she wasn’t going to enforce the rules, and said Mayor Bailey told her she didn’t need to enforce the rules,” the representative wrote.
During follow-up visits on June 9, June 11, June 16 and June 19, the representative wrote that barbers wore masks but clients did not and that the chairs were too close together.
Mayor Bailey declined to answer questions about this alleged conversation between himself and the barbershop owner, or how he feels about his name and title being used as a reason to skirt compliance. The mayor also declined to comment on the city’s lack of enforcement action against businesses that routinely get flagged for noncompliance.
However, Bailey noted that all businesses are expected to comply and most of them have.
“All businesses are expected to comply with the health orders and make reasonable accommodations, where allowed, for guests that are unable to follow the health orders for medical reasons,” he wrote. “As noted in the [Mainstreet] report, the vast majority of businesses and their customers are following the health orders and we thank them for their responsible service to the community.”
The barbershop’s owner, Misty Lewis, denied saying that the mayor told her she didn’t have to follow the rules. Lewis also insisted that the barbershop has always followed the rules and accused Coronado Mainstreet of singling out her business for some reason.
“I think you need to ask them why they are targeting the barbershop,” she said.
Coronado Mainstreet did not respond to questions about Lewis’ allegation that their records are inaccurate.
Another business that has continually been flagged for noncompliance is Danny’s Bar & Grill. Mainstreet’s first visit to Danny’s was on March 29, weeks before the county allowed bars to open, and claims the bar and grill was operating mostly as a bar.
“Masks not worn, alcohol being served without food, bar open until 1 a.m. after grill is closed, operating as if everything is normal,” the Mainstreet representative wrote. “No manager present; bartender not wearing masks; customers at bar with drinks only, no food. Kitchen staff was seated at a table so the customers weren’t waiting for food.”
During follow-up visits on June 4 and 7, Mainstreet noted that bartenders were not wearing masks and social distancing was not being enforced. At the June 7 visit, a bartender told the Mainstreet representative that someone from the local police department had visited Danny’s to address complaints.
However, during a followup visit on June 16, the Mainstreet representative noted that the bartenders were still not wearing masks.
A manager at Danny’s declined to comment.
A third business that has experienced numerous compliance issues has been Laundry Lounge.
On June 11, the Mainstreet representative wrote that wearing face masks was not being enforced. On June 16, the owner emailed Mainstreet to say, “she doesn’t always have staff working so there’s not always someone to enforce it, but she’ll put up more signs.” Then again on June 25, wearing masks was not being enforced.
The Laundry Lounge did not respond to questions about its compliance record.
It should be noted that, like businesses throughout the region, these three businesses continue to struggle economically amid the pandemic. On Monday, the governor announced restrictions on indoor services preventing barbershops from cutting people’s hair indoors and restaurants from serving food inside. Danny’s is currently closed Monday through Wednesday because it doesn’t have enough income to pay electricity and employees, according to a sign at the door.
Despite having records showing businesses routinely fail to comply with face mask and social-distancing orders amid a global pandemic that as of Friday has killed 472 people in San Diego County, the city of Coronado has been reluctant to take enforcement actions against them, or publicly disclose which businesses have been flagged for noncompliance.
“The notes in the report are for the City so that we can follow up with businesses in a helpful way,” the spokesperson said. “They are not violations.”
“We are trying to be positive and feel it would work against the program if businesses are called out based on the notes of someone who is not an expert on the Public Health Order or a code compliance officer, but someone who knows the basics of face mask wearing, social distancing and proper signage,” the city wrote in a statement.
The city also said it did not follow up on the alleged conversation between the mayor and the owner of the barbershop.
Coronado said that the city called the police department on one noncompliant business, but did not want to say which business that was.
“We have only sent someone to the one business, who we would rather not name,” the city wrote in a statement. “We do share our reports with the County since they are the agency issuing the orders and are willing to work with them. Not sure if they have followed up on the reports.”
A County spokesperson said that it is up to local agencies to enforce the rules.
“As we have said, it would be great if compliance could be reached by individual commitment,” Michael Workman wrote in a statement. “Violations should be handled by each local law enforcement entity.”
Workman added that Coronado’s effort to educate and enforce the health orders is “a great model, carried out by an ideal entity. Who better to help ensure businesses comply than a local business association?”
Earlier this month, Coronado engaged in multiple educational campaigns to encourage residents and visitors to wear face masks.
The city provided 1,500 reusable masks to people over the Fourth of July weekend.
In April, Bailey donated to and publicly endorsed a local fundraising campaign to distribute free masks to Coronado residents.
gustavo.solis@sduniontribune.com