Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 12/16/2021
LUDLOW – After a roundtable discussion between Western Massachusetts restaurants and the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional licensure on Nov. 19, state Rep. Jacob Oliveira and Tony Tavares, the owner of The Villa Rose, spoke with Reminder Publishing about the conversation and the next steps.
Tavares said he hopes outdoor dining continues beyond the current deadline of May 1.
“I know they are trying to make outdoor dining permanent; I think that would be a great thing especially when the restaurants have gotten hit so bad during COVID [-19] and we are still getting hit. We see a big difference already as the cold weather approaches,” he said.
An issue Tavares brought up during the roundtable and currently still has concerns about is the labor shortage everywhere.
“The biggest issue for a small business like mine is the labor, I know they stopped the unemployment, but our biggest issue was trying to get people to work. I think the problem is everyone is looking for workers and a lot of them still have not gone back. They collected, probably saved and have been sitting at home,” he said.
To combat that shortage, Tavares said provisions should have been made to reward the people that worked through the entire pandemic.
“I think if you had all the people in the medical field or restaurants that have not stopped working during the pandemic, I think those people should have gotten rewarded too. Why just take care of people staying at home and not for the people risking their lives and going out there for their family to earn their money,” he said.
Tavares disagreed with one topic of the round table: the danger of to-go cocktails.
“I am not a fan of that because in the state of Massachusetts, drinking and driving is a big issue, so what would make me sell someone a drink, put it on their trunk, drive up the street, they pull over, take out that drink and they start drinking while driving,” he said. “I think it is a lot easier to drink a cocktail to-go than drink a bottle of wine to-go.”
Oliveira, a member of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, said the meeting was a good way to hear input from restaurant owners in Western Massachusetts.
“I thought it was a good discussion to hear from people on the ground that are dealing with all sorts of complications that are making things a little bit more complicated for those that operate restaurants throughout Massachusetts,” he said. “It was good to hear from a variety of restaurant owners and proprietors that had various different perspectives on it.”
Based on the discussion, Oliveira said it was clear everyone was in favor of continuing outdoor dining.
“It was pretty clear to me that everybody was pretty much in agreement that outdoor dining was successful and should be made permanent and looking at ways in which we can extend those provisions beyond May 1 of 2022 is something important, particularly for businesses here in Pioneer Valley,” he said.
Oliveira said an added incentive to extending outdoor dining past May 1 is the number of colleges and high schools in the area that will be hosting graduations and families that will want to eat out at a restaurant to celebrate those occasions.
With the deadline approaching Oliveira said the committee is working to makes sure restaurants are able to continue with outdoor dining.
“I think the urgency is evident to me, that May 1 is coming up rather quickly. We are entering into our winter months right now where things are getting colder and outdoor dining options are pretty limited but as soon as we have that first nice warm day in springtime, I know a lot of these restaurants will be opening up their outdoor dining facilities and making sure they have the tools to operate those facilities is important,” he said.
Along with outdoor dining, Oliveira said the committee will also continue to look at extending provisions to allow alcohol to continue to be sold to go at restaurants.
“I think extending those provisions or making them permanent is important to our Joint Committee on Consumer Protection. I think cocktails to-go worked, it was another feather in the caps of restaurant owners where they can sell their product to folks that may not have felt comfortable going in. Even as things are starting to get back to normal and our restaurants are beginning to fill up to capacity, cocktails to-go and to-go meals are something that are very popular and will continue to be very popular,” he said.
Going forward, Oliveira said it is important to continue to have conversations with stakeholders locally.
“Having these community conversations and inviting a variety of stakeholders is so important. Those conversations when we hear directly hear directly from the business owners are so important to continue,” he said.
Oliveira added the bills will be sent before the full legislature if they are approved by the middle of winter.
“The committee has several hundred bills that are filed each session, and we are wrapping up our public hearings in the next couple of weeks. At that point the committee will take a look at all the bills and likely report out in mid-winter to get the bills to the full House and Senate,” he said.