LA Politician Eats at Restaurant Hours After Voting To Ban Outdoor and Indoor Dining
Hours after Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl voted to ban in-person dining last week over coronavirus safety concerns, she visited her favorite restaurant and dined outdoors.
KTTV-TV received multiple tips that Kuehl was seen dining at Il Forno Trattoria in Santa Monica, an Italian restaurant that has been described as her “favorite,” shortly after the vote on Nov. 24.
A spokeswoman from Kuehl’s office confirmed the reports.
“She did dine al fresco at Il Forno on the very last day it was permissible,” Barbara Osborn said in a statement.
“She loves Il Forno, has been saddened to see it, like so many restaurants, suffer from a decline in revenue. She ate there, taking appropriate precautions, and sadly will not dine there again until our Public Health Orders permit.”
The restaurant told reporter Bill Melugin they “didn’t want to get involved” and had no comment.
The LA County Board of Supervisors voted last Tuesday to ban in-person dining for the next three weeks, allowing restaurants to only offer take-out, drive-thru and delivery services.
The order, which passed by a 3-2 margin, was scheduled to go into effect Wednesday, Nov. 25, according to the County of Los Angeles Public Health office.
During the discussion, Kuehl said outside dining was “a most dangerous situation.”
“It’s a bit of magical thinking on everyone’s part to think that at any restaurant anywhere that the server keeps a six-foot distance from the table,” she said, according to KTTV.
“The servers are not protected from us, and they’re not protected from their other tables that they’re serving at that particular time, plus all the hours in which they’re working.”
She added, “I sadly, but strongly, support moving our restaurants back to take-out and delivery.”
Kuehl dined at the restaurant on the day before the ban went into effect, but she has already received criticism from people who have grown frustrated at elected officials’ hypocrisy in the face of the pandemic.
Local restaurant owner Michael Voltaggio said Kuehl’s decision “sends a message that we’re getting direction from people that aren’t really believing in messages they’re making.”
“For me, it’s just proof of the continuous hypocrisy and just the lack of leadership and education as to what’s happening right now in this sort of shoot from the hip mentality that’s not doing anybody any good.”
“I’m like wait a minute, restaurants are so dangerous, but you’re gonna go eat in a restaurant? I mean it just blows me away,” Restaurant owner Josia Citrin said.
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