On Thursday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued new restrictive health orders for the state, which included a restriction for restaurants to only be allowed to serve customers outside and at 50% capacity — a crippling blow to the industry, according to New Mexico Restaurant Associaton CEO Carol Wight.
Wight estimated that about 700 restaurants (or 20%) will be forced into permanent closure, with little to no safety net to catch the newly restricted businesses. 200 restaurants have already closed for good since the start of Lujan Grisham’s lockdown. “She doesn’t have the latest number but estimates New Mexico will lose 20% of its restaurants – or 700 restaurants – with the new regulations in place,” reports KOB 4. Wight also said “Restaurants aren’t where COVID is being spread. We’re just not the problem, and [Michelle Lujan Grisham] punishing us for it.”
Another startling point Wight revealed was that Gov. Lujan Grisham never even took the time to speak to the restaurant industry before closing it down. “My board is putting together a letter to ask her to sit down with us and really think this out because she never did talk to the industry about this,” she said.
Now restaurateurs are being forced into a panic, as they previously were allowed to get back to work on June 1st, meaning they had hired back members of their staff and begun regular shipments of food and supplies to their establishments.
According to Carol Wight, it is going to be much harder on restaurants than the previous lockdown. “Last time we had PPP money, we had ways to get open, we had some savings left. We have no more savings,” she said. “Our inventory – we’ve got fresh inventory right now we’ve got to get through and three days is not enough. So what are we going to do, right? We’re all just throwing our hands up saying, ‘What can we do?’”
Lujan Grisham’s latest set of lockdowns includes a 14-day mandatory quarantine for out-of-state visitors, which is already negatively affecting the hotel industry. Joe Schepps, president of Santa Fe’s Inn on the Alameda said, “We had 157 room night cancellations in the 36 hours after the governor’s announcement.”
Jeff Mahan, executive director of the Santa Fe Lodgers Association blasted the Governor’s lockdown, with a similar criticism to Carol Wight’s of the NM Restaurant Association. “Why are you bringing an entire industry down to its knees?” said Mahan. “The data doesn’t justify such a severe 14-day quarantine.”
I’d love to see the restaurants go all “Boston tea party”, refusing to close, refusing to obey any yanking of liquor licence, and refusing to pay any fines. If they ALL banded together and stood up to Queen Michelle, they wouldn’t have to go out of business!
I will support my locate restaurant if they do it.
Good stay home..you are being played
Wake up. Is value on money more important than a life? Our Governor needs to be commended for looking at the big picture ,which is New Mexico Lives. Be proud of our Governor obviously she cares for us the people.
Really? Does she care for New Mexico’s infants aborted daily across the state? No she doesn’t and anyone who promotes the murder of infants could care less about your life! This is about getting the economy down to hurt the President’s chances at reelection. It isn’t going to work because people are waking up to the socialist agenda of the democrats.
No look again she is trying to be a dictator she needs to be removed she needs to be in jail she can’t even follow her own rules she is a hypocrite
She wants to beclose to Joe Biden so he can smell her hair every morning
I read commendations for the NM governor on the basis of protecting the health of New Mexicans. Those statements are OBVIOUSLY made by people that are not financially affected. What ever happened to personal responsibility? Aren’t we adult enough to decide for ourselves if we choose to eat out or stay home? WuLu’s job isn’t to tell me how to take care of myself. This has absolutely nothing to do with our health or welfare. It has everything to do with her personal power grab. If you’re scared, or at risk, stay home if you choose. It’s time to open up this state. It’s time to open up this country.
That is a bunch of balony… Numbers are inaccurate and inflated. How can you blame the spike in jjust one industry? She is playing politics for sure. No mention in her press conference or in the data supplied to show tracing to the restaurants. And then there were the protesters…
She is an uneducated Democrat.. Remember the 1st manny joke? She does not understand mathematics or public health. She will mot return as governor as she has harmed too many small businenesses. Those harmed will not forget… She, like AOC will lose and intelliigent people will gain a foothold in politics.
She CARES about no one but her political career. She is a typical politician and she wants to control everyone. I for one am not interestedinliving under a dictator. If you do keep giving her kudos.
You are stating out of fear not facts if you are scared you stay home leave everyone else alone no one forces you to go into public the governor should be kicked out of office she sucks
She’s a hypocrite, remember her shopping for jewelry and boating on the lake during her last lockdown? Think she only cares about our lives and not her own?
It has nothing to do with keeping people safe…it’s all about control
She doesn’t give a **** about the people of New Mexico. There are ways to stay open and protect yourself from getting sick. Enforce the mask order. No mask no service. It’s as simple as that.
She trying to be a good little dicktatee and be perry joes vice pedophile
You my friend are veing led down a Primrose Path, by a devious individual. If you eill rale the time to look at the numbers OBJECTIVELY and not just blindly follow party Rhetoric, you eill see you are being duped. The numbers are bogus, first the number of cured are never subtracted from the number of reported, any fifth grade math student can tell you this eill skew the reported numbers negatively. Secondly the Algorithm being used is flawed in that the CDC and the NIH are forcing the Tezting centers to use an Algorithm that takes one Probable test and converts it into 17 Positive tests. Third there were a group of nurses in San Francisco that sent in 10 UNUSED Covid-19 test kits because they became suspicious of all the positive test reports coming back. ALL 10 UNUSED kits came back positive.
Please do yourself and the families of these Restaurant employees that are again out of work, unable to pay their rent, utilities, buy food for their children, or needed medication and do som research into the facts about these supposed numbers before you defend someone that is destroying the Lives and Livleyhoods of our Great State
She could care less about the people of New Mexico she just wants her chance to be Joe Biden running mate which isn’t going to happen anyway but she will cow tail to all the other Democrat idiot’s
Rumor has it,they some are.
If they close again,they close for good.
At 50% outdoor only capacity, they close for good..
They’re up against the cliff either way..Go down fighting for it
Please, she is no Queen with her Democratic socialism outlook for New Mexico.
I agree a 100%, she does not care about any one but her circle. As long as we put up with her she is going to destroy NM. Look what she wants to do with energy. Typical Democrats
It’s all industry in NM.
Whether its the hospitality industry, oil and gas, farming and ranching, trucking industry or any of the other producers I didn’t mention.
NM’s industrials should form an alliance and keep the State in Court until they are defeated.
The Governor called a special session to raid to permanent fund so she could continue to pay NM State workers to stay home before she locked the State down. Proving the public sector is favored over the private sector producers.
Reopen your business. Take it to court. The governor does not have. The authority to close businesses. The New Mexico constitution does not give her that power. Stand up. Fight for your rights and way of life.
And get sick????
Just shut the hell up already
No one is getting sick any more. Give it a rest…
Brittany, do you own a business? Do you go to Walmart or any other store? Are you retired with a guaranteed income? Do you have a guaranteed income of any kind? If your finances are secure, and you’re afraid you’ll get sick, then YOU stay home. Have you noticed there are no reports of Walmart employees getting sick in droves? What would make other businesses any riskier? Are you worried about yourself getting sick, or others getting sick? If you’re worried for yourself, then take all precautions. If you’re worried for others, it’s none of your business. They can make their own decisions as adults.
A Walmart in Las Cruces just shut down because 4 of their employees tested positive.
We were in lockdown for months which had no long lasting effect. Guess you don’t understand how money and the economy works. Again, the numbers are inflated.. they are exaggerating everything to scare you… if you want to live in fear that is your choice but not mine. You’re chance of getting so many other diseases are much higher.
The governor absolutely has a constitutional right to institute restrictions that have to do with public health. That right and duty has been upheld by the Supreme Court in multiple decisions.
We are incredibly lucky here in New Mexico that the governor has been so proactive.
The 14 day quarantine should have been in place and ENFORCED months ago.
I actually do agree that perhaps there is a way to work with the restaurant industry to make absolutely sure that everything has been done to make the indoor experience as safe as possible, and to allow individual restaurants some leeway. And I honestly think, from experiences in 3 separate restaurants the last couple weeks that most facilities are doing a really, really good job.
Restauranteuers need to be supported when they refuse service to people who will not accede to basic measures, as well,
The real fault lies with jerks who think that they need to do nothing to protect or respect others, who complain about very easy, basic things like wearing a mask and staying away from close contacts with others in public.
Keep drinking the kool aid
It’s not being enforced!! The state parks that are open have more Texans than New Mexicans. Are you telling me that they all quarantined for 2 weeks?? Lies. And now I know for sure they are inflating numbers. I know personally of two cases where individuals completed paper work for a test, waited 3 hours and never got tested and left. 3 days later they get results in the mail showing positive! Seriously?? Bullshit. If you’re that worried it is your right to stay home just like it is our right to go out. MLG needs to be removed from office before she destroys our state.
I would love to see anyone eat with a mask on.
industry is the best cure for the virus, we have brains we are not in kindergarten
The restaurants should have gone MILITANT months ago. They’ve been pushovers. Very weak response. If they went downtown and rallied hard, and yelled and screamed bloody murder, they’d be respected and FEARED and the vicious Red MLG would give them a wide berth. Their weakness has only invited further crackdowns on them as obviously The Tyrant has a vendetta against them. Like all Leftists the only thing she fears is an iron fist and it’s time she got it.
The restaurant owners need to ignore this order. They are not the problem with Covid-19. The only way to fight this tyrannical governor is to rebel in a joint effort. Be brave and fight together. No more shutdowns! And the residents of NM will support you.
This woman needs to be stopped, she is destroying NM. She has nothing saying restaurants are the cause, people need to eat! Home Depot’s are a better option if she is going to be throwing out guesses. The only actual definite to her mad charts is that the rise in positive cases directly relates to the last order mandating fines for not wearing masks. That is the only direct relation to those charts, either masks are absolutely not working or are causing the rise in cases. There are absolutely no facts or relations that restaurants have anything to do with it.
Restaurants need to stay open and ignore this order!! If everyone keeps their restaurants open there is nothing she could do. If we all don’t fight this she will win again. DO Not Close!! There are attorneys willing to represent you. This is 100% illegal what she is doing.
Consider that here in NM we have less than ONE TENTH of ONE PERCENT total COVID cases,. Power Grab and power trip by I would hope a ONE term governor!!! Make your voice and vote count!!!
Omg, Wear a mask. This would not have happened. I will vote for her.
good to know.
Hows being a Democrat working out for ya, New Mexico????????
Myself I don’t care for her , I understand she’s going to blame President Trump.
Absolutely, MLG has to go!
Screw her! Keep your restaurants open! What’s she gonna do ? Arrest everyone? The people will back you !
It is sad to see the many Humans lose sight of valuing lives. True restaurants do not cause Covid-19 The people infected with the virus spread the virus. So common sense limit the contact. That’s using a responsible adult brain.
Brittany, So I take it that you are independently wealthy and can afford all the things you need to live and pay your bills that obviously do not stop during whatever duration this will go? I for one can not and neither can those with private businesses. What utopian life do you think this is? The government is not our friend. This pandemic is real but can be managed if people would just do the basics. And if you believe there needs to be a vaccine before resuming it’s not coming. Masks only work with those who maybe sick or Compromised. Even then there is no guarantee because the “so called experts” can’t. Lockdowns and Social Distancing are causing as much if not more issues than COVID. Mental, Immune, Social etc but you don’t see that because society today blanks out that. But protest and riots haven’t spiked the numbers and neither has the scary “orange man”. But do yourself a favor start thinking for yourself and do your own research. Don’t be a lemming and just follow because your being told too
Im sorry Brittany you are a sheep and buying the lies the fake media is spreading more people are dieing because of the lockdowns not Covid 19. Suicide rates homelessness, bankruptcy. depression, domestic abuse, all side effects of the unlawful lockdowns . Show me proof in numbers how MLG has helped this state once since she took office before you run your mouth.
The hell with her everything needs to open this is the democrats agenda to blame trump for everything she opened a non essential business gor damn jewelry and has spent 3 times her budget over this nonsense if people understood that even the flu has strands of (coronaviruses) its on the back of lysol cans wake up people
Brittany, you are believing her Stats… They are really inflated…
a health care worker on 770 yesterday stated that anybody that dies and has covid, no mater what they die from…. stroke…. heart attack .. Cancer, it doesn’t mater… that death is called covid and counted as such.. If a person tests positive and then is tested again a little later and again tests positive.. they are counted twice.. it happens a lot..
This is a bunch of crap already, if you’re going to shut down these small business owners and destroy small business then you need to shut down the big corporations that are lining your pockets, shut down Walmart, target, gas stations, if you’re going to shut down restaurants, COVID-19 is such a smart virus it doesn’t attack Walmart only small businesses,
I would support restaurants and bars doubling their prices and operating at 50 percent capacity through Thanksgiving. Wear a mask, give folks space, but stop hiding in the house while local businesses crumble. Corona is not the boogie man. Cases can and have been managed and cured early with common sense and homeopathics. If you are at risk or uncomfortable, stay home. Whoever is orchestrating this global mess does not have our best interests at heart.
Just a heads-up that Wecks is fighting back today Monday and will open some of their restaurants. They need our support as FINALLY we are seeing some pushback from the restaurant industry.
Soon the bikers, veterans, business owners and the rest of the people will stand and take our state back even with that want to be Hitler bi..h in office.
Well well the truths out as historically accurate as it is the NM dictator is doing everything possible to get to the White House. The really sad part is that her family will in time pay the price. Every business in New Mexico has the right to be open now. I haven’t heard of a special session in Santa Fe to put the bogus rules into act. Unless the entire state legislature can meet and vote on these issues, it’s just words from a public servant. New Mexicans she works for the people of New Mexico. She’s not the person in charge, we are!! Business owners stand your ground and true New Mexicans will support you. The folks that came here from other states because they couldn’t get there way, are New Mexico’s biggest enemies. STAY STRONG NEW MEXICO !!!!