ST. LOUIS COUNTY听鈥 A south 狐狸视频 County restaurant is threatening to sue County Executive Sam Page over impending restrictions on indoor dining designed to check the local spike in coronavirus cases.
Italian restaurant said on Facebook Saturday that it would join with other family-owned restaurants to sue Page over the county restrictions, which Page announced Friday and are set to take effect Tuesday.
鈥淪am Page鈥檚 overreach with the arbitrary closure of indoor dining for county restaurants and bars is irresponsible,鈥澨拱俅潜艟辈源氢檚 wrote. 鈥淭he final weeks of the year are consistently one of the most important times of the year for restaurant employees. Our employees are family, and Sam Page took a direct uppercut towards their livelihood.鈥
叠补谤迟辞濒颈苍辞鈥檚 president John Saracino couldn鈥檛 immediately be reached, and it was unclear what other restaurants may be involved or when a lawsuit might be filed. But in response to the post, owner Steve Harris asked how he could join.听
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Reached Saturday evening at the restaurant, Harris said he hasn鈥檛 spoken to the Saracinos yet but he planned to work with them Sunday to figure out how to join the lawsuit.
鈥淚鈥檓 a little miffed by this whole thing, that Sam Page closed only restaurants down and everyone else can be open like in Jefferson County and St. Charles and even the city can be open for restaurants,鈥 Harris said.听
Harris said he had to lay off his almost 20 employees during the first shutdown in March. He brought them back after he received a federal Paycheck Protection Loan and restrictions lifted in May. The summer worked out all right, he said, because he was able to expand the restaurant鈥檚 patio onto the parking lot. But he鈥檚 not so confident with the approaching winter and a four-week ban on indoor dining.
A national masking order would have helped the county avoid the new restrictions, which start Tuesday, County Executive Sam Page said.听
Outdoor space heaters are near impossible to find now, and they can cost $20 each to fuel per night, Harris said. 鈥淣obody wants to sit outside and try to eat in the cold.鈥
The Saracino family owns four restaurants, but only its 狐狸视频 County restaurant on South Lindbergh Boulevard is subject to the indoor dining ban. Its 叠补谤迟辞濒颈苍辞鈥檚 Osteria and two Chris鈥檚 Pancake House locations are in 狐狸视频, and Mayor Lyda Krewson has not opted to bar indoor dining. Though cases are spiking throughout the Midwest, Krewson has said lower infection rates in the city mean indoor dining bans aren鈥檛 yet necessary.
Republican-led St. Charles and Jefferson counties have followed direction from Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, who reopened the state earlier than 狐狸视频 and 狐狸视频 County and has declined to issue a mask mandate.听
Page, a Democrat who won his first county-wide election this month, has faced a steady stream of criticism for coronavirus restrictions that have limited youth sports and other activities.
John Saracino has a history in 狐狸视频 County politics as an aide to former 狐狸视频 County Executive Steve Stenger听鈥 Page鈥檚 rival before his indictment and resignation for corruption opened up the top county job for Page. Saracino resigned in early 2016 as Stenger鈥檚 aide after听asking Stenger and former Police Chief Jon Belmar to write letters to a judge on behalf of his nephew, who was facing drug conspiracy charges. Saracino was also one of three former Stenger staffers whose county employment personnel files were included in a federal subpoena as part of the federal investigation into Stenger.
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