In a year that has delivered little but bad news for small businesses, California is finally offering a glimmer of hope by allowing certain businesses to reopen. The results have been overwhelmingly positive. For example, indoor shopping malls, barber shops, and nail salons in Los Angeles County are reopening safely while generating much-needed revenue to support jobs, and are boosting California’s economic recovery. Our goal now must be to sustain and accelerate our progress toward economic renewal, not to erase it through additional shutdowns.
Forcing businesses to shutter once again would needlessly punish job creators, workers, and the entire California economy when they can least afford it, setting up a lose-lose for our city and its people. Just as the first shutdown shattered our state’s workforce, disproportionately harming Black and minority communities, a second shutdown right as these communities are beginning to come back would deliver nothing but heartbreak and loss.
Consider the potential cost to a neighborhood like View Park-Windsor Hills, which saw unemployment among its majority African American population soar above 30% earlier this year. The Latinx population across Los Angeles also saw unemployment skyrocket, erasing years’ worth of gains that had seen it achieve the highest employment rates for all groups heading into the pandemic.
Members of this community, like so many others across our city and state, simply want to work. They want the right to go about their lives safely and responsibly while balancing their economic and health needs. Since the reopening, they have proven themselves more than capable of striking this balance.
Businesses, too, are proving their dedication to following the guidance of public health experts and ensuring the health of their patrons, whether by bolstering sanitization practices, placing social distancing markers on floors, or posting numerous notices reminding customers to wear their masks. These businesses are grateful to their returning customers, who are taking every step necessary to prioritize their own safety while also providing much appreciated patronage.
Now is not the time for hasty or reactionary decisions that would punish these businesses, workers, and everyday families who have done everything right. Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and countless other local and state elected officials in California deserve credit for allowing many businesses to reopen. In doing so, they have provided a crucial avenue to employment for thousands of families, empowering them to rebuild from the pandemic’s economic and social devastation.
Given how safe and successful these reopening’s have been, California’s leaders have no reason to implement another shutdown—and every reason not to. In addition to devastating employment, new shutdowns would reduce the tax revenue we need to fund public programs that provide a critical lifeline to citizens in need during this difficult time. And in the midst of continued concerns about our state’s budget, can we really afford to cut off this revenue?
Working hand in hand with our public health officials and state leaders, indoor retail stores and other businesses are proving their great value to our communities by safely reopening. These businesses will lead our recovery efforts, and we cannot afford to close them back down now. While there is still difficulty and uncertainty ahead, California can remain confident that our future will be bright as long as the unforced error of a second shutdown is avoided.
Angelenos are counting on their leaders in both Sacramento and Los Angeles to continue taking the steps required to help our communities return to greatness. Like so many others, I have been heartened to see the vitality and energy return to previously darkened storefronts. The emotional toll of a shutdown is difficult to quantify, but the relief and hope we feel today confirms that our shared suffering as a community will not last forever. There is light at the end of the tunnel. If we stay the course, we will make it through these challenging times together.
Robb Korinke is Co-founder of CaliforniaCitynews. He is also the PAC Director of the LA County BizFed PAC and IE BizBac.