Pasadena Businesses Plan Caravan to City Hall to Call for ‘Safe Reopening’

Frustrated business owners and employees are planning to caravan to Pasadena City Hall on Saturday to call on public officials to allow a “safely reopening” local businesses that have been forced to close or severely limit activities due to ongoing pandemic precautions.

The demonstration, hosted by the California Coalition for Safe Reopenings, the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and Pasadena Independent Restaurants, is scheduled to gather at Lot I of the Rose Bowl at 10:30 a.m., organizers said.

The caravan organizers then plan to make their way slowly to city hall with their message.

“We’re essentially trying to get the attention of Sacramento, get them to understand that what they’ve been doing so far is not working,” said Paul Little, CEO/President of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.

“The governor was absolutely right to shut the state down in mid-March. But that’s not working now — clearly it’s not working now — and we need something else.”

Restaurateur Gregg Smith said “we think we can safely, very safely, reopen the retail and the restaurants in Pasadena. And it looks like we’re going to have a lot of support.”

Included among the rally’s supporters is a new organization called the California Coalition for Safe Re-Opening. The Coalition is a collaboration between Chambers of Commerce and small businesses frustrated with the lack of coordination of re-openings and the haphazard recent closure orders.

The group urges local and county governments to support the effort to promote safe, organized, methodical and long-term reopening schedules.

Smith said “I want to keep all of our guests and all of our staff healthy and safe. That’s our main focus.”

“We have all followed everything the government has asked is to do,” he said.

But the manner in which restrictions have been imposed on businesses seems arbitrary and has had devastating results, Smith said.

First, restaurants were told they would remain open with social distancing in place, Smith recalled.

“We spent thousands of dollars, as did other restaurants, on plexiglass, which at that time there was such a run on plexiglass that the price went up triple of what it would have been. But of course, we still bought it. So we put in plexiglass dividers, we put plexiglass at our bars as did a lot of other restaurants and retailers,” he said.

“That lasted approximately two weeks. And then we were told, ‘Nope. Whoops. You can’t do that. Now you have to go outside,” Smith said.

“So a lot of us put a lot of money into our outdoor dining. Parkway Grill and the Arroyo Chop House put a hundred thousand dollars in setting up our outdoor dining.”

But that came to an end, as well, earlier this month, when state officials issued a public health order banning outdoor dining throughout California. In the weeks prior, Los Angeles County health officials had already ordered a halt to outdoor dining, but it remained permitted in Pasadena, which has its own health department, making it the only city in the county that still allowed outdoor dining service at restaurants.

Restaurateurs have complained there is scant evidence to support the notion that socially-distanced outdoor dining has contributed to the spread of the pandemic in any significant way.

“We’re talking about opening safely with the collaboration of health professionals, doctors and health departments, to make sure that what’s, what’s happening is absolutely safe,” Little said.

The restrictions are also having a major impact on the hundreds of families who depend on employment at the restaurants for income, according to rally organizer.

“Some of them were in tears during the first lockdown because they couldn’t pay their rent,” he said. “Now, when they’re getting their finances back in order, the day before Thanksgiving, they get another gut punch. There are 30,000 restaurants out of business in Los Angeles County. Half of them will not, in my opinion, survive.”

Another co-organizer of Saturday’s planned caravan, Global Luxury Real Estate Director Chelby Crawford, urged the business community to unite.

Small businesses deserve the opportunity to create safe and controlled outdoor environments. They have the tools, expertise and experience to do more than the large big box stores that remain open, she said in an email.

“Saturday’s event will be a safe and peaceful car caravan,” Crawford added. “Join the cause and show your support. The message is clear: We can open up safely. Saving jobs saves our community. This is an emergency show of support and demand change from our public officials to save our small businesses.”