Las Vegas restaurant owner petitions Nevada’s governor for help
Like many restaurant owners, Elizabeth Blau spent much of the past week trying to figure out ways to keep her restaurants open, in one form or another, and keep their more than 100 employees working. By Monday, however, things had changed.
As she was preparing to convert her west valley restaurant Honey Salt into curbside pickup and delivery only, and awaiting news on whether her Venetian/Palazzo operation Buddy V’s would be closing, she came to realize that things were going to get very bad for a lot of people.
She knew she had to start focusing on making sure there was a future for all of them when the COVID-19 crisis has passed. That’s when she began composing a letter to Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, just a day before the governor announced a closure of restaurants, bars and other nonessential businesses.
“It’s no longer a matter of whether we can take care of our employees,” Blau explains of the sad facts she’s been forced to accept. “It’s no longer socially responsible to just be open. So now we have to figure out a different way to take care of our employees.”
With a little help from Victoria Levin and Jolene Mannina, two of her partners in the Women’s Hospitality Initiative, Blau crafted an online petition addressed to Sisolak, entitled “Save Our Local Las Vegas Restaurant Community.” It begins by praising the governor’s “compassion and vigilance during these unprecedented times” and thanking him for “being a leader who provides a voice for all of us on the national stage.” But it goes on to ask for his assistance in securing five measures from the Federal government:
• Emergency unemployment benefits for all impacted employees;
• Tax credit for maintaining employee health benefits;
• Incentivizing rent and loan abatement;
• Eliminating payroll taxes;
• Forgoing state sales tax collections immediately.
Blau believes strongly that local restaurants that are able to continue serving their community in some form, with assistance, will serve an important role in the crisis.
“With all of these casino-hotels closing, the local restaurants are the lifeline to the community for people who maybe don’t cook and still need to eat.”
She worries, however, that without these measures, many may not be able to stay open. Moreover, she worries their closures may not be temporary.
“Everyone is talking about relief for our workers, which is great. But the next level has got to be to focus on what you’re going to do for these small restaurants. Because when they close the doors, they may not be able reopen.”
That’s why she is requesting relief for both restaurant workers and their employers.
“The big things that (restaurant owners) need are rent relief and abatement. We need landlords to work with us so that these restaurants don’t find themselves evicted when they close down, and there’s no cash flow, and we’re trying to support our workers, and we definitely don’t have money for rent. We need the banks to work with us.”
Blau posted the petition online Monday night, in the hopes of securing 50 signatures. Within 12 hours, she had collected more than 400, and at last count, there were over 650. Among the signatures are impassioned pleas for assistance such as “Stop the insanity!!,” “Do the right thing” and multiple requests that Sisolak “Please help.”
Blau get emotional when talking about the replies, pausing several times to choke back tears.
“All of the people who work for us … it’s like, where are they going to go? What are they going to do?
The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands operates The Venetian and Palazzo.
Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5250. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter and Instagram.