It goes without being said – we’re in a different world. The life we knew before March 2020 is a life forgotten. We must all accept that. Well, let me rephrase that. We’ve already accepted it. It’s time for our government to accept it as well.
As much as none of us wants to admit it, COVID-19 is here to stay. We no longer need restrictions on our businesses that are negatively impacting our communities and economy. We must be allowed to make this our new normal, adapt to it, and continue living life.
Between March and September of 2020, what needed to be done was done. There was no playbook written on how to handle this situation. Our government officials made choices and they had to learn from their mistakes. Eighteen months later, and despite all the action taken, our businesses our suffering, our unemployment rate is still elevated, and inflation is at an all-time high. And yet, our government is still restricting business.
I can’t seem to understand why our elected officials are not facing reality. Welcome to our new life. This is it. This is how we are going to carry on from here. There is no end in sight to COVID. This isn’t some plague that we’re fighting off. The virus is here to stay, and we need to accept that.
Businesses were faced with ridiculous restrictions these past 18 months. Why are we still hearing that a restaurant must operate one way, while shopping centers operate a different way, and Costco and Walmart operate a set way? How does this all make sense? And when does it all end?
Crossing county lines in California feels more like crossing international borders. There is no consistency and there is no structure. It’s governors against supervisors. supervisors against mayors, mayors against sheriffs. But who gets the short end of the stick? Our businesses. And if a business makes a mistake and doesn’t follow the myriad of conflicting rules, they are then slapped with a $5,000 fine.
You walk into a restaurant in one part of town and vaccines are required. You can easily walk across the street, to a different city, and there is no vaccine requirement. Why does one get to operate more freely than the other?
Landlords are still unable to raise rent or evict tenants in the city of Los Angeles after almost two years. The government is providing rent relief to not just people who have refused to pay their way throughout the pandemic, but people who haven’t even completed the necessary paperwork to get free money to pay back their rent debt. More so, private companies are still suffering from the “emergency” order. But when will this crisis cease to be an emergency?
We’ve come to the part of the pandemic where this is just our way of life. The vaccine is readily available. You can even walk into a Walmart and get a vaccine on the spot, no appointment necessary. About 65.5 percent of our population is vaccinated. People understand their options, understand the risks, and are deciding for themselves. Why can’t we offer the same dignity to our businesses? Why can’t the government just accept this new normal?
A little more than a year ago, people were hoping to wake up on Jan. 1, 2021, with all of this behind us, a terrible dream. Now, year two of this pandemic is ending. We need to accept that in this new year, there is no going back to what we once had. It is time for us to live with the “new normal” we have been talking about since March of 2020, and it is time to support our businesses so that they can continue to support us.
Stuart Waldman is president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, a business advocacy organization based in Van Nuys that represents employers in the San Fernando Valley at the local, state and federal levels of government.