Group protests against restaurant shutdown
Area service workers, business owners rally as judge blocks restrictions
Restaurant owners, service industry workers and other business people bundled up against a snowstorm Wednesday in Severna Park to protest new county dining restrictions to fight against a spike in coronavirus cases.
Early in the rally, held in the parking lot outside Sullivan’s Cove, the crowd was informed that a county judge had temporarily blocked County Executive Steuart Pittman’s ban on indoor dining that had been set to go into effect at 5 p.m. Pittman had announced hewould halt both indoor and outdoor dining for four weeks until Jan. 13 before loosening the rules slightly Wednesday morning to allow outdoor dining in tents with at least 50% open siding.
The news was met by cheers from the crowd when they learned that restaurants could remain open until Dec. 28.
“It’s good news,” said Donald Kelly, owner of Park Tavern in Severna Park and several other Maryland businesses. “We just want a fighting chance. We want to work.”
The crowd was a mix of service
industry workers, business owners and elected officials gathered under tents, sipping tea and hot chocolate to keep the cold away. Some people shared their experience from the last nine months as they have tried to survive waves of the virus and capacity restrictions that followed.
The last nine months have been “paycheck-to-paycheck,” said McKenna Milliken, a server at Sullivan’s who has worked at the restaurant since it opened in January.
“I think it’s absolutely unfair,” Milliken said of the now-postponed dining restrictions. She wore a t-shirt with a slogan critical of Pittman. The shirts were being sold for charity.
“He needs to listen to the people,” she said.
Former Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich was set to speak at the rally. Ehrlich, an Anne Arundel County resident, said he wanted to support small businesses — those with tipped employees, in particular — that are hurting from the pandemic.
“When you see inappropriate restrictions against a sector that has already been beaten down, it gets people upset,” said Ehrlich, a Republican. “It certainly has me upset.”
On Tuesday, four Anne Arundel restaurant owners filed a request in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court for a temporary restraining order to block the closures. A Pittman spokesperson said the administration was prepared to defend the order and believes the county executive has the authority to impose such restrictions as he has throughout the pandemic. The judge ruled against the county. Pittman said they don’t plan to appeal and are preparing for the upcoming hearing.
Christine Richardson, president of the Pasadena Business Association, called the temporary stay “a slight win.”
“We want to make sure everyone survives this and is able to provide for their family,” she said. “People that are willing to go out, I think they should be able to do so.”
Eric Leatherman, a managing partner at Sullivan’s Cove, helped organize the event alongside an accompanying Facebook group, AA County Service Industry Support, with more than 200 members.
Two rally attendees, Harry and Uzil Salmoran, wanted to represent their father’s businesses, Mi Lindo Cancun Grill and Senor’s Chile in Annapolis, they said.
The restaurants have had to lay off their waitstaff as they move back to delivery and takeout, Harry Salmoran said. He expressed frustration at Pittman’s changes to the restrictions early Wednesday, before the judge’s order. “It doesn’t make sense to me,” he said. One of the owners who sought to block the dining ban is James King, a former state delegate whose Titan Restaurant Group owns several county restaurants. He told customers Wednesday morning that Blackwall Hitch in Annapolis, and the recently opened Smashing Grapes, would be closing indefinitely.
When asked if he would be attending the rally, King wrote in a message, “Unfortunately, I have my hands full laying off about 200 employees today and need that to take precedent. I feel I need to do that in person with as many as possible as it’s just the right thing to do.”
The county has sought to ease the burden on restaurants by introducing legislation preventing third-party delivery services from charging more than 15% of the purchase price of online orders.
The bill also stops delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub from paying delivery drivers less or claiming more of their tips. The County Council will vote on the legislation Monday.