Orange County Business Owners Express Concern About Surviving Another Shutdown
COSTA MESA (CBSLA) -- Martin Colleary, the owner of Colleary's Bistro in Orange, said he doesn't know if his business can survive another round of shutdowns, and other business owners are echoing his concerns.
"Our sales are down 90%. We used to do over $100,000 a month. We're now doing $15,000 a month. We had to let everybody go. We lost two cooks..." Colleary said. "We're dying. I can't pay my rent, my mortgage."
Colleary has praised the Orange County businesses that have decided to remain open despite the regional stay-at-home order that restricts in-person dining, but he's not taking the chance.
"If I get my liquor license taken away or health department license taken away, I'm done," he said. "I'm 65 years old. This is all I've got left."
Some officials in Orange County are also standing by their businesses dealing with financial turmoil.
"This is the end of the road for so many people," said O.C. Supervisor Don Wagner.
Restaurants, bars and other businesses rallied in Costa Mesa to convince the state to allow them to reopen safely.
"They're saying, to me, look, if I shut down again, I'm just out of business forever, my employees are done. So, Governor, you can come shut me down but I'm not going to do it to myself. They've got nothing to lose," Wagner said. "Our health care agency's director said to me that this is exactly the wrong way to go because what you're doing is you're forcing people inside."
Wagner has been questioning why the O.C., despite its intensive care unit bed availability being above the regional average, was included in the Southern California counties included in the health order.
