Views
Opinion column
by Murrel Bland
Melissa Nead said it best.
“My back is against the wall and a knife is at my throat.”
Nead, the co-owner of The Dotte Spot Bar and Grill, explained her desperate situation to the Legislative Committee of the Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce Friday, Jan. 8, as it met via Zoom.
Nead said the 10 p.m. closing in Wyandotte County has cost her business when bars and restaurants in neighboring counties, such as Johnson County, can stay open until midnight.
Nead said she has been very careful to follow all of the mandates that the Health Department has required during the coronavirus pandemic such as keeping the capacity to 50 percent and wiping down tables.
Other bar and restaurant owners made the same pleas. Similar complaints also were heard at a meeting of the Economic Development Committee of the Unified Government Commission Monday night, Jan. 4.
The chamber issued a news release stating that it supports extending the hour of operations “to align with neighboring counties.”
Mayor David Alvey said he hopes that, working with the Health Department, a way can be found for restaurants and bars to extend their hours.
In other action, the chamber’s Legislative Committee presented its 2021 Legislative Agenda. Many of the items were those carried over from previous years.
The chamber supports a business and residential property tax system that phases in radical increases. A multi-year floating average, similar to that used by agriculture, has been suggested.
The chamber supports a “comprehensive pipeline” of high-quality education from early learning to post-secondary.
The chamber opposes any increase of the state sales tax rate and lowering the food sales tax.
The chamber supports the expansion of Medicaid to serve an estimated 120,000 low income Kansans. This would leverage federal funds.
The chamber supports federal legislation that would streamline the forgiveness process for amounts of $150,000 or less in the Paycheck Protection Program.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is executive director of Business West.
To see an earlier story about restaurant and bar owners, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/restaurant-and-bar-owners-say-theyre-on-the-ropes-because-of-early-closing-times/