As Garcetti Shuts Down LA, He Makes Sure to Keep It Open for His Hollywood Donor Pals

Some very few people matter.

Most don't.

The power-mad mayor of LA has banned walking.

Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a new emergency order Wednesday that bans unnecessary "travel on foot" as he warns the city is nearing a "devastating tipping point" in their fight against COVID-19.

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The order prohibits "all travel, including, without limitation, travel on foot, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, automobile, or public transit," with limited exceptions.

Individuals who work in the healthcare and news industry are allowed to travel, along with individuals going to grocery stores, gas stations and other locations deemed essential.

Garcetti also ordered all residents living in the city "to remain in their homes," forcing businesses that require in-person attendance to shut down. Gatherings that include individuals from more than one household are prohibited.

His order makes an exception -- for protesting.

However, the order has exceptions for a host of activities including "outdoor faith-based services" and for those "participating in an in-person outdoor protest while wearing a face covering, maintaining social distancing, and observing the Los Angeles County Protocol for Public Demonstrations."

He's destroyed the restaurant business in LA, so he's going to send some but not nearly all laid-off restaurant workers a one-time check for $800, which.. is nothing.

That's how much they make per hour at the low rate a restaurant pays them. It does not cover their lost income in the form of tips, which is where they make most of their money.

Critics charge that SERVE is not enough, and doesn't cover nearly enough people.

[D]espite the tens of thousands of food service employees being out of work, only 4,000 are to receive stipends. The shortfall of the stipends, as well as the applicants being selected at random for the money should the number of applicants go above 4,000, has drawn criticism from many in the sector.

"I do have to say that it’s good to see SERVE acting as a little stimulus for restaurant workers here in LA, all out of non-public funds. That's a good thing," Armando Rivas, a food service industry mediator in Los Angeles, told the Globe. "But this isn't enough. $800 is roughly about how much a restaurant worker makes in a month because they aren't salaried and because many rely on tips. So that $800 SERVE recipients are getting just gives them another month. That's it."

"It's just a partial solution to a problem they caused by stopping outdoor dining and reinstalling the curfew. It’s basically the city giving them a months' severance for screwing them over. And I should say only 4,000 out of the tens of thousands out of work in restaurants alone."

Garcettti might be feeling heat due to the below video.

In it, a restaurant owner cries that her outdoor-seating restaurant has been closed down due to the danger of covid, supposedly.

But then she pans the camera around to show a very-similar outdoor seating area that is open -- which Garcetti built for his Hollywood pals, and which he permits to continue operating.

posted by Ace at 01:30 PM

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