Dent, Warnick express concerns over Inslee plan; Dano, other locals comment in video

MOSES LAKE — The governor’s proposed statewide reopening plan fails to effectively distinguish between rural and urban areas and still keeps too many businesses needlessly closed, according to Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, and Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake.

“Our rural counties are being punished by being tied in with our urban counties, which concerns me,” Dent said Tuesday evening.

Dent and Warnick gathered Tuesday evening in their joint office in Moses Lake as Dent was sworn in for his fourth term in the state House of Representatives by Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo.

Dent said the separate swearing-in was necessary because the entire legislature will not meet in person in Olympia on Monday, Jan. 11, when legislators are normally sworn in.

On Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a two-phase statewide, regional reopening plan, with the first phase of the plan keeping the governor’s mid-November restrictions largely intact.

Both Dent and Warnick are concerned that in the 13th Legislative District, which stretches from Snoqualmie Pass in the west across Kittitas County to Lincoln County in the east, rural areas are held hostage to the COVID-19 recovery rates in more populous counties.

“Grant County is pretty good, no large cities, but Kittitas is tied in with Yakima, and Lincoln with Spokane,” Dent said. “That’s just going to slow down their ability to open, and those rural counties could really be opened.”

Warnick said she also had “strong concerns” about the fact that restaurants will still remain closed, and gym attendance will be so limited as to make it too difficult for people who need to recover from major orthopedic surgeries or even want to stay in shape to attend.

She also said she is concerned that long-haul truck drivers won’t be able to get out of their cabs and take a real break.

“They can’t do that now in Washington state,” she said. “They could go to Burger King, and sit in their cabs, but how are we accommodating those drivers that need a break?”

Grant County Prosecutor Garth Dano said Tuesday night he had not yet read the governor’s plan. But Dano and a group of Grant County residents called “Concerned Citizens of Grant County” produced a video they sent to Inslee’s office asking him to rescind the current lockdown orders. Dent and Warnick also appear and comment in the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6OCNaiAWlg).

Dano said he would challenge Inslee, and other elected state officials, not to accept their pay until the lockdown orders are lifted.

“I challenge him (Inslee) not to take a paycheck,” Dano said.

Another in the video, Jordan Hamilton, owner of Michael’s on the Lake, Michael’s Market & Bistro and Rock Top Burgers, said his company spent more than $50,000 in PPE, such as gloves, as well as sanitizer and other items, to try to remain open during the pandemic. On top of that, he’s lost business and his employees have lost about $1 million in paychecks due to being laid off or having fewer customers. He referred to Inslee’s December closure and Tuesday’s announcement.

“Here we are in the December month, when we’re supposed to be at the biggest to get through the months of January and February,” Hamilton said.

“Even though we’ve received grants, it’s not enough to pay the bills,” said Kamela Farmer, owner of Uggie Boo’s Basin Street Bistro in Ephrata.

“The clock is ticking and we don’t know where we will be in a few weeks, months, a year from now if something doesn’t change,” said Cale Russell, owner of Ten Pin Family Bowling Center and Porterhouse Restaurant.

The closure has been detrimental for people’s mental health, too, said Brad Smedley, certified therapist at Seasons Counseling Services. He said an increased number of people have come to him with suicidal ideations.

“I’ve never been so busy,” he said.

The Washington Hospitality Association released a statement Tuesday afternoon denouncing Inslee’s reopening plan and its impact on small businesses, including restaurants. The governor’s closing of restaurants has not worked to stem the cases of coronavirus, said Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the association, in the prepared statement.

“Today’s announcement is not a roadmap to recovery. ... We have spent the better part of a year working with the governor and his team on some of the strongest indoor dining protections in the nation, which contact tracing data showed limited the spread of the virus. We’ve now been shut down again for eight weeks and cases have only continued to grow,” the statement read.

“We have done everything we can to work with the governor’s office, but this latest announcement leaves us at a loss for what to do next and makes it clear that we are running out of time.”

Cheryl Schweizer contributed to this report.