With more than two thousand medium and small companies, the most Latin city in Los Angeles plans to return to normal.
Many residents and business owners in Los Angeles County were relieved to learn that restrictions on the Stay at Home order had begun to be lifted on May 8.
This measure forced all businesses to close their doors for two months, unless they were considered essential, such as pharmacies and supermarkets; But now with the new news, some nonessential businesses will be able to start providing their services and selling their products.
The closure of businesses that was necessary for the health of Angelenos, but painful for everyone, also greatly affected hundreds of businesses, mainly small ones, which are the majority in the 88 cities that make up the county.
However, some supports that governments at different levels have provided, many of the small businesses have not been able to obtain them either due to lack of information or resources.
Among them is Ricardo Con Chan's acupuncture business, located on Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park, one of the most Latino and most visited cities in the community.
He said that since March 19 it has been closed and he does not know when it can be opened since in his case the contact is direct with the client.
"Right now I am contemplating whether I am going to reopen it or not," Con Chan said. “I applied for a grant from the Small Business Administration (SBA) but I did not qualify because I have no employees. But I know others who don't have employees and they did give them about $ 1,000. ”
For now, Con Chan said he is trying to reach an agreement with his tenant to see if he can pay him half the rent.
The acupuncturist said he prefers this option because the city-approved moratorium doesn't work.
"Because you are only accumulating the rent and you have to pay anyway," said Con Chan.
Another affected business has been Ranchito’s Ávila, with 50 years of existence in Huntington Park, which has had to adapt to the new changes of offering takeaways and through food delivery services.
Margarita Ávila, owner of the business, said that currently she is not making money, but she worries about her employees. It is because of them that they have decided to remain open during the pandemic.
"We have employees who are 40 or 25 years old here and I cannot close and leave them with nothing," said Ávila.
Avila said her long-time customers miss returning to eat at the restaurant, but she adheres to Los Angeles County orders for the reopening.
"At the moment we don't know when we can open the doors again," said Ávila.
The city of Huntington Park, which has more than 2,000 businesses with a large majority of Latino owners, currently has approximately 450 open, which are considered essential.
Graciela Ortiz, the city's vice mayor, said the economic development committee, to which she belongs, is constantly looking for options to help small businesses.
However, although the city would like to reopen, it is still not certain as the number of infections continues to increase, said the deputy mayor.
Huntington Park has approximately 80,000 residents of which 99.5% are Latino. Figures reported Tuesday identified 231 infected and at least five deaths.
Reopening order delayed
On Tuesday, at a special meeting of the Huntington Park City Council, a resolution was passed by unanimous vote to allow Phase 2 of reopening in the city to begin on June 2.
This makes Huntington Park the first city in Los Angeles County to extend the reopening period.
With a few more weeks of time, the city can plan how to offer more help to small businesses. This includes offering financial support as the city received a grant from the Global Community Development Grant Program (CDBG).
Ortiz said that with this help they can support some of the businesses; Although his plan is to focus on the smallest, starting with those with five or fewer employees.
The city will also look for a way to make it easier for nonessential businesses to offer the service of picking up their items on the sidewalks. This could include setting aside two regular parking lots in front of each business so that customers can park to collect their purchases. Also the plan is to have disposable masks available for customers who don't have one.
Ortiz said members of the City Council are aware that the city is suffering greatly from the stagnant economy. However, the ordinance is to be prepared as they fear that raising security orders without a plan can lead to crowds, especially on Pacific Boulevard which is usually very busy.
"If we were concerned that some businesses opened this (last) weekend and we saw that at one point there were many people and some even without masks or keeping their distance," said Ortiz. "For us, stage 2 of reopening came very quickly and we didn't have time to be prepared."
