Three Long Beach councilmembers are pushing to get the state to allow limited indoor dining, even as local and county health officials warn of a new surge in COVID-19 cases.
The proposal, which will be considered at the Tuesday, Nov. 17 City Council meeting, seeks to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to allow the expansion of indoor dining to 25% capacity for all restaurants in the counties in the purple tier. As it stands, California only allows outdoor and parklet dining at restaurants.
“Long Beach is a major urban city and considering our hospitalization and positivity rates, we are not dissimilar to cities in nearby communities that are in the red tier based on their county designation,” the proposal states. “This reality has produced very unfair and illogical outcomes, given that businesses within two miles of each other, offering the same service and engaged in the same activities, are treated inconsistently.”
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Just on Thursday, Nov. 13, Long Beach and L.A. County health officials announced rising COVID-19 cases, urging residents to stay vigilant, wear masks and avoid “indoor activities that don’t allow for plenty of fresh air to circulate.”
The City Council agenda lists Councilmembers Stacy Mungo, Suzie Price and Daryl Supernaw as supporters of the item. Altogether they represent the Eastern parts of Long Beach with a higher income in contrast towards the Western parts of Long Beach. According to Statistics Atlas, the average income in East Long Beach neighborhoods such as the City College Area in Mungo’s District is $102,280 or $93,368 in the Los Altos area in Supernaw’s District, or $123,882 in the Marina area in Price’s District. A stark comparison to the Western and Northern parts of Long Beach where the average income in the Westside is $53,775 and the Northside is $53,199.
Mungo said that she doesn’t view the proposal as a loosening of restrictions for restaurants and that the data depicting a surge doesn’t account for where people actually live. She said that she believed indoor dining could be accomplished safely.
Personal care services were allowed to reopen indoor services three weeks ago with no restrictions on capacity for hair and nail salons, the proposal points out.
“Restaurants should be considered in this conversation,” it says.
They shouldn’t be City Councilmembers. How selfish can people be?