SAN DIEGO COUNTY, California — It's a juggling act for San Diego restaurants, salons, and other service providers these days; public safety and staying in business often in conflict.
Some restaurants are following orders to limit service to just carry out and delivery, but not all. Many spent a small fortune adding outdoor dining areas; only to be told later that's not allowed as the rules and guidelines are constantly changing.
The co-owner of Public House 131 in Scripps Ranch says they're handling it better now than at the beginning of the pandemic, when they were forced to drastically cut staff.
Bob Adamson with Public House 131 said that they had "34 employees... now we're down to two per day; a cook and a counter person, so to speak. We cut their hours way down to about ten percent of what it was before."
Last week, an executive order for an even tighter clamp-down came from San Diego's mayor Todd Gloria.
Legal analyst Wendy Patrick read it over and said, "It's designed to keep everyone safe; that's the goal: compliance."
The order gives San Diego Police the power to write citations for flagrant violations. So far, not many have been issued, although we're told that fines will be levied against the hosts of that huge New Year's Eve party in Miramar. It grabbed headlines when a platform stage collapsed and sent three people to the hospital.
A spokesman for Mayor Todd Gloria’s office said they didn't want to have to issue the order but COVID-19 is "not a joke."
Gloria's deputy chief of staff, Nick Serrano added, "The sooner we all do what has been asked of us, the sooner we emerge from the pandemic to some sort of normalcy again."