When The Oregonian/OregonLive first reported on Gov. Kate Brown’s plan for reopening restaurants and bars Tuesday, the biggest head-scratcher for many business owners came in the form of a 10 p.m. curfew.
"What, the virus goes into overdrive at 10?!,” read a typical response.
The curfew is part of Oregon’s Phase 1 guidelines for reopening, a process determined by each of Oregon’s 36 counties and their ability to meet thresholds for testing, contact tracing and more. When restaurants and bars are finally allowed to reopen their dining rooms, employees will have to wear masks, and businesses will have to separate customers by six feet and ask them to finish their food and drink by 10 p.m.
During a Thursday news conference announcing Oregon’s Phase 1 reopening plan, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state health officer and epidemiologist, said the rule was part of Oregon’s attempt to encourage social distancing.
"We’re asking people to sit down with their party and sit six feet from others, and we know if those bars are open late into the night, often times, people lose track of how much they’ve been drinking, they may not keep their physical distance as much,” Sidelinger said. “It’s really an attempt to try and make sure that we can let people go out, enjoy a visit to a bar, enjoy a visit to a restaurant, but not open up like it was before this pandemic arrived.”
Sidelinger said the governor’s office would continue to reevaluate all criteria, but stressed that during Phase 1, things “aren’t going to return to the way they were."
That answer didn’t sit well with some restaurant and bar owners. Earlier this week, Andy Fortgang, the general manager of Le Pigeon, pointed out that the curfew would mean anyone seated after 8:30 p.m. or later would likely have to be asked to leave 90 minutes later — a less-than-sweet finish to what is usually a special occasion meal.
Tip Hanzlik, the owner of Diamond Darcy’s, a video lottery retailer and bar in Wood Village, went further, saying he considered the curfew rationale “baloney.”
"We don’t serve drunk people. So just stop it right there at that,” Hanzlik said. “What, at 10 O’clock we lose our morality and our civility? We have folks who work at Lowe’s and Fred Meyer right down the street who get off work at 10, and they’d like to have a beer, hear a joke. And they’re going to have to tug on a locked door?”
Hanzlik said electricians were at work at his bar, moving circuits to allow his video lottery terminals to stand six feet apart, part of a subsection of guidelines allowing one of the state’s biggest revenue earners to go back online, so long as businesses could enforce social distancing between players. Video lottery machines had been shut off since mid March.
“I’m sure the governor is well intended, but they’re addressing a situation that is not a problem,” Hanzlik said. “I’ve owned bars on and off for 30 years. I take serving very seriously. Nobody likes a drunk. For someone to presuppose that our standards slip at 10 p.m., I find that insulting.”
-- Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell
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