Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that the city was considering ordering all the bars and restaurants closed when Gov. Roy Cooper closed bars and dining-in service at restaurants statewide on March 17.
Vaughan said that in making that decision, she had talked to a number of bar and restaurant owners and employees and felt confident that the closures were the correct response to the growing threat from COVID-19.
She said, “I know a lot of restaurant owners and servers. They are some of the most generous people you’ll ever meet. You can’t make that decision and not think of the impact that it is going to have on them and their families that makes it hard to sleep at night.”
She said, “When I talked to them about what we were thinking about doing, to a person they said shut us down. We know it’s coming. We’re expecting it and we’re waiting for it.”
Vaughan said she was told, “We see the writing on the wall, let’s just do this.”
Vaughan said that she had also talked to a number of restaurant people after the closure was ordered and said, “None of the owners have been bitter. I think that they know we are all in this together and none of this has been personal.”
Because of Cooper’s decision to close bars and restaurants statewide, Vaughan said she didn’t have to make that proclamation for Greensboro, but she said that had the governor not acted when he did, Greensboro was ready to move forward by closing bars and restaurants in Greensboro.
As noted earlier, City Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter has started the Facebook page “Greensboro Takeout” for restaurants with takeout and delivery service to let people know what they are offering and for people to comment. That Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/149165503014287/ .
Kudos to Marikay Abuzuaiter for her efforts. Sadly only about 30% of us use Facebook. Perhaps her majesty the Mayor could team up with Chamber of Commerce to develop a web based list everyone could access.