LA County Supervisor Eats at Restaurant Hours After Voting to Ban Outdoor Dining

Restaurant servers clean tables inside Mel's drive-in diner after Los Angeles County banned outdoor dining, in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 30, 2020. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

A supervisor in Los Angeles County ate at a restaurant just hours after casting the deciding vote to ban all outdoor dining in the county last week.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, a Democrat, ate outdoors at Il Forno Trattoria in Santa Monica.

“She did dine al fresco at Il Forno on the very last day it was permissible,” a spokesperson for Kuehl told Fox 11 after the broadcaster received tips about what happened. “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.”

A spokesperson added in a separate statement to City News Service: “Like so many people in Los Angeles, she has a favorite place to eat and is saddened that so many restaurants are suffering from lost business. Since the restaurant patio ban went into effect, she is doing everything she can to continue to support the restaurant, ordering takeout nightly. She hopes other County residents will take similar steps to support their favorite restaurants while we get through this challenging period. ”

Kuehl said during a recent Board of Supervisors meeting that outdoor dining is “a most dangerous situation,” saying she felt there was a risk of transmission of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus from unmasked customers to their masked waiters and waitresses. The CCP virus causes COVID-19, a disease.

“This is a serious health emergency and we must take it seriously,” Kuehl said. “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.”

Kuehl ultimately voted with two other supervisors to ban outdoor dining for three weeks, even though health officials were unable to provide data in support of the ban.

After the vote, Kuehl went to the restaurant.

Janice Hahn, one of two supervisors who voted against the ban, told Fox 11: “We have to remember that we who are in public office are held to a very high standard, as we should be, and one of the things I’m realizing with some of these new restrictions is if we can’t garner the trust of the public to be with us in this fight against the virus, then we’ve lost a big battle. And I’m feeling that now, nine months into this, we’re beginning to lose the trust of the public.”