ST. PAUL — The state of Minnesota on Saturday, Dec. 19, told three more establishments to close indoor in-person dining or face a 60-day suspension of their liquor licenses.
The action is the latest in an escalating showdown between small-business owners and Gov. Tim Walz over the ban on indoor dining. Walz says his executive order, which extends through Jan. 11, is necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus during a deadly statewide surge in COVID-19 cases. Small-business owners say they are being singled out and going bankrupt as malls and big-box stores enjoy holiday revenues from in-person shoppers.
Larvita McFarquhar, owner of Havens Garden in Lynd, was outside the state Capitol for a rally Saturday and later stopped by a packed Alibi Drinkery in Lakeville to show solidarity with the bar’s co-owner, Lisa Monet Zarza. Both women are on the state’s sanctions list for keeping their bars open.
“We are a free people,” McFarquhar said. “We’re not going to let any governor, any dictate, any mandate take that away from us.”
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division notified Cornerstone in Monticello, the Interchange in Albert Lea and the Pour House in Clarks Grove, warning them to close or face a 60-day suspension of their liquor licenses. All three were observed by investigators to be open, and two were at full capacity with a line of people waiting to be seated.
The state intends to suspend the liquor license of each establishment for 60 days, pending a hearing before an administrative law judge. Each establishment will be notified of the intent to revoke its license for five years if there are further violations.
Walz was met with swift backlash and threats of defiance from business owners and customers alike last week when he extended his initial four-week moratorium on indoor dining. For many businesses that have been scraping by for months, the latest round of closures — at the busiest time of year — could be a final nail in the coffin, they say.
“I feel like I’m on the Titanic and our governor has made us a third-class citizen that has to be on the bottom of the ship,” said Jeff LaBean, owner of the Depot Bar & Grill in Faribault, said at a Friday protest at the Capitol. “He wants to drown us.”
State officials say the order is necessary for the sake of public health.
“We’re asking the small percentage of bars and restaurants that have opened for inside dining and drinking to stop and comply with the executive order,” said Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington. “Thousands of our neighbors have died from COVID-19 in Minnesota. That should be enough of a reminder that the health of our communities has to come first. Bars and restaurants that don’t abide by the law will face the consequences of their actions.”
Four bars have upcoming hearings scheduled: Alibi Drinkery is Dec. 22; Boardwalk Bar & Grill in East Grand Forks is Dec. 23; Mission Tavern in Merrifield is Dec. 30; and Neighbors on the Rum in Princeton is to be determined.
Both Attorney General Keith Ellison and Assistant Health Commissioner Dan Huff said they would prefer businesses and Minnesotans to comply with the orders voluntarily, rather than force them to use enforcement measures “as a last resort.”
McFarquhar and Zarza said they have no intention of shutting down.
“I would rather not be in a jail cell,” Zarza said. “But if that’s what it takes for the governor to make his point, that he’s going to send small-business owners and women who have children and grandchildren to jail for your constitutional rights, I guess we’re going to be there.”
Minnesota state regulators threaten liquor licenses of 3 more bars
“I feel like I’m on the Titanic and our governor has made us a third-class citizen that has to be on the bottom of the ship,” said Jeff LaBean, owner of the Depot Bar & Grill in Faribault, said at a Friday protest at the Capitol. “He wants to drown us.”
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