Austin News

State representatives need to figure out how to cut the Gordian Knot of reopening the Texas economy in a way that protects businesses, their employees, and public health – but that's only the short answer, a popular Austin brew pubs' manager said.

"You'd have to be a crazy, completely money-hungry narcissist to ignore public health for the good of the dollar," Jodi Mozeika, business team manager of Black Star Co-op Pub & Brewery on Easy Wind Drive, told Austin News. "Regrettably, public health in America cannot be supported without a thriving economy – and even then, we do a pretty (poor) job. So, there is some sort of Catch-22 in here, thanks to the systemic issues related to health and wealth."

Businesses and millions of Americans thrown out of work clearly are suffering in the pandemic.

Gov. Greg Abbott | File photo

"Without assistance for businesses and persons experiencing unemployment, our workforce will lose health insurance, child care, money for food and housing, thus creating an even larger threat to the health of our community," Mozeika said. "The ideal situation would be to reopen safely and with a little continuing help from the friends that we have elected into office."

Black Star has "been lucky in a lot of ways here at Black Star" during the pandemic, in part because of some assistance from those "friends" in elected office, Mozeika said.

"We've had a lot of external help from government funding, Good Work Austin, ongoing patronage from our member-owners, and more," she said. "But ultimately, the current situation continues to be a threat not just to the health and safety of our community, but also to the restaurant and brewing industries at large. We've all seen and heard about some of our favorite small businesses closing down during these last nine months, and without additional local or federal assistance, I believe that we will see this unfortunate trend continue even through next year or more."

Restaurants throughout Texas have labored under mixed messages from local and state government for quite some time, with New Year's Eve being one example. Gov. Greg Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton told Austin-area restaurants ahead of the holiday to ignore a Travis County curfew and defy a court order that banned restaurants from being open overnight.

"To Texas restaurants. A formal statement. 'The Governor's statewide executive order allows food establishments to be open for in-person dining on New Year's Eve as authorized by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission," Abbott said in a Twitter post a few hours before curfew. "They should remain open. Happy New Year!' Cheers!"

That tweet came about an hour after Austin Mayor Steve Adler posted to his own Twitter account urging Austin residents to stay home on New Year's Eve.

"This is not a drill," Adler said in his Twitter post. "Austin is experiencing uncontrolled spread of the virus. There’s no better way to bring in the new year than in solidarity with our neighbors."

However, Abbot also has at times advocated leaving decisions about reopening businesses up to local government. But it's the coronavirus itself that is the real enemy, Mozeika said.

"The threat that the virus has posed on our community had a much bigger effect on our business than the restrictions mandated by local governments," she said. "Although we at Black Star Co-op were able to open and varying levels of capacity over the past nine months, we had ultimately decided to only offer outdoor dining and to-go service up until very recently. We have been able to pivot and make the necessary changes in order to continue maintaining a modest amount of sales, however, the safety of our workers and our patrons have remained our highest priority."

Mozeika also expressed ideas about how some restrictions could change for the better.

"It's no secret that alcohol impairs our judgments, and research has shown that bars and restaurants are a hot spot for COVID transmission," she said. "I would like to see more comprehensive guidelines required for indoor dining. Good Work Austin businesses have pledged to go above and beyond the recommended guidelines in order to increase safety for staff and guests, and I would like to see our local governments especially be more proactive in following these recommendations."