The owner of Eat at Joe’s, a Redondo Beach restaurant that has defied countywide closure orders intended to slow a surge in coronavirus cases, could lose his health permit if he doesn’t close by Friday — but said on Wednesday, Dec. 2, he remains unsure about what he will do.
The owner, Alex Jordan, said he received a visit from and a phone call by Los Angeles of County Department of Public Health officials on Tuesday, during which they threated to pull his health permit if he didn’t shutdown his outdoor dining. The Public Health Department, which banned in-person dining last week because coronavirus cases have spiked, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
But public health officials, said Redondo Beach Police Chief Keith Kauffman, responded to Eat at Joe’s to serve a notice on Tuesday. Health officials did not feel comfortable serving the order, he said in a Wednesday email, so they “moved away from the location, called dispatch and requested officers to come out and stand by.”
“Officers responded,” Kauffman wrote, “and kept the peace while the order was served without issue.”
Jordan said has received a lot of support for openly defying the county’s ban. He also said he will be open Thursday.
“They told me I had to shut down, I have three days and they will be back on Friday,” he said, “and if I’m not shut down, they will pull my health permit.”
Jordan said he is not worried about a fine. But if health officials follow through on rescinding his permit, Jordan said, he’d have two options: fight it or close.
“I’m not sure I could afford to lose my health permit,” Jordan said.
Jordan said he wants to operate his business, see his customers and have a good time — and keep his employees working. His stance, Jordan said, is not political.
“Show me where’s there is proof that being open, outdoor dining, is more dangerous than non-essential retail businesses,” Jordan said, adding that he knows the seriousness of the coronavirus. “If you can show me that, I’ll close down.
“I just don’t think closing restaurants,” he added, “is making any difference.”
Health officials, though, have said in-person dining is the only activity during which people from multiple households gather for extended periods — and, when it was allowed, could remove their face coverings.
“If we implement these measures,” LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said before the new restrictions went into effect, “my hope would be in a few weeks, we could see a decrease in our case numbers.”
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December 03, 2020 at 07:40AM
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Redondo Beach restaurant could lose health permit if it doesn’t obey coronavirus closure orders by Friday, owner says - The Daily Breeze
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