More than 100 small restaurant owners have written to Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito asking to reopen for business next Tuesday and to be allowed to ramp up to full capacity within 30 days.
Baker has not said whether restaurants will be included in the first phase of reopenings that could start as soon as next week, but these restaurants laid out a set of their own criteria under which they think they can safely operate. Baker on Monday outlined a “four-phase” strategy for slowly reopening with economy, with certain types of businesses that are “more naturally set up” to limit interpersonal interactions going first. The governor and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, however, indicated that more details would be forthcoming in the next couple of days and in the full report on May 18 when the governor’s non-essential business closure order is due to expire.
The restaurant owners, who are not members of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said they’d chosen Dave Andelman of Phantom Gourmet and Mendon Twin Drive-In, to speak for them.
“Hard-working industry employees have been denied the right to make a living, and many will lose their job permanently. To create a safe, legal framework to reopen, we deserve a seat at the table, guidelines and a timetable, now,” the group wrote.
They pledged to reconfigure dining spaces and bars to meet six-foot social distancing standards, to sanitize, to put down marked lines outside for waiting, to clean or use disposable menus after each use, to test employee temperatures, to reduce the capacity of multiple-occupancy restrooms, to require masks at all times except for seated customers and to post pictures on social media to prove compliance.
Landlords with restaurant tenants have faced particular uncertainty over future rents and how leases may need to be adapted.
Several Republican state legislators on Tuesday urged Gov. Charlie Baker to not delay the reopening of the economy any longer, expressing frustration that other states around Massachusetts are allowing businesses to resume activities while owners and employees in their districts remain in limbo.
The lawmakers – three of the more conservative figures in the House – also expressed impatience with the level of detail the Baker administration has provided to businesses so far about which ones will be allowed to open first and when. Business owners should be allowed to figure out for themselves, to some degree, how to safely bring employees back to work, the lawmakers said.
“It’s time to open Massachusetts without delay,” said Rep. Marc Lombardo, a Billerica Republican who wore a red “Make America Great Again” cap on Tuesday’s Zoom call.
Rep. Alyson Sullivan of Abington and Rep. David DeCoste of Norwell were also on the call, as was Republican State Party Chairman Jim Lyons, though Lyons did not speak.
