Charlotte city officials walked into a bar. ... What could possibly go wrong?
Seven months after first closing its doors at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hattie’s Tap & Tavern reopened to patrons on Saturday as part of North Carolina’s move into Phase 3 of it’s safer-at-home order.
With the new rules in place for bars, including a 30 percent capacity and outdoor seating only, owner Jackie DeLoach came up with a new set of guidelines.
Among the bar’s new safety regulations: Patrons can now sit and drink on the back patio only. “Mask required while standing” signs cover the premises. Walkways are marked, there are multiple hand sanitizer stations throughout the property, and staff are supplied with extra masks.
“We had everything — I thought — well set up,” DeLoach said.
And then on Monday evening, members of the Charlotte City Council showed up. The owner and a customer said the bar had trouble enforcing its mask requirement with the group. The mayor and council members disagree.
Earlier in the day on Monday, DeLoach said council member Larken Egleston asked her if several members could visit Hattie’s after their meeting, a marathon all-day strategy session. DeLoach set up two picnic tables for the group to sit together and “have a drink after work.”
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Almost two hours past reservation time
The initial reservation was for 6 p.m., then it started getting pushed back, DeLoach said. The council members, along with Mayor Vi Lyles, City Manager Marcus Jones and other city employees showed up at 7:45 p.m., she said.
Also in attendance on Monday night was Queen City Nerve publisher Justin LaFrancois. LaFrancois is a regular at Hattie’s, and he said he couldn’t wait to visit the bar after its reopening. “It’s one of my second homes,” he told CharlotteFive on Tuesday.
LaFrancois said he has never seen a group of City Council members visit the bar before. And their behavior surprised him, he said. He watched them repeatedly being asked by staff to wear masks.
When Lyles first arrived, she was asked to put on a mask. After looking for it in her purse, she had to return to her car to get her mask, LaFrancois and DeLoach both said in separate interviews.
Lyles and City Council member Tariq Bokhari had to be reminded to wear masks and follow other COVID-19 precautions inside the establishment multiple times, DeLoach and LaFrancois each said. LaFrancois told CharlotteFive that he witnessed both of them not wearing masks while they were walking around the premises.
DeLoach said while staff had to tell council members to put on their masks “often,” they did comply when prompted.
Both LaFrancois and DeLoach said Bokhari made multiple comments that were disrespectful.
In one instance, DeLoach said she reminded three council members, including Bokhari, to keep their masks on unless they were seated. DeLoach said in response, Bokhari said they were “close” with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. DeLoach then said she was more concerned about the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, because it could take away her liquor license. But Bokhari again said he was “close” with that department, as well.
“My comment back was, ‘Really, if you were then I would have been open months ago,’” she said.
“For them to be inside my establishment and basically say, ‘Oh I can do what I want because of who I am,’ I don’t like that,” DeLoach said. “I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what title that you have, or who is your buddy buddy — I have rules, and you’re in my house and you need to follow my rules.”
A tweet gets the community’s attention
LaFrancois took to Twitter to share evidence of the council members’ behaviors. He posted a photo of the group in question with the caption “80% of the council is at Hattie’s right now.” (He later corrected his caption to state that the percentage was incorrect.)
The people identified by The Charlotte Observer in LaFrancois’ picture included Lyles, Bokhari, Egleston and city manager Jones. In a tweet on Tuesday, LaFrancois stated that council members Julie Eiselt and Malcolm Graham, along with other city employees, were also present.
Egleston is seen standing in the photo without a mask. In a Facebook comment on Tuesday, he stated he was not wearing a mask because he was drinking a beverage.
Egleston said he did not see the sign notifying patrons they must wear a mask while standing.
“The irony is I was standing by our table instead of sitting because I thought that was safer than sitting down right next to someone,” Egleston wrote.
Egleston did not return a phone call seeking comment from the Observer.
As Lyles was leaving Hattie’s, LaFrancois said Lyles leaned in — closer than 6 feet — to say goodbye to him. He described Lyles and Bokhari’s actions as nonchalant, but not surprising.
“They weren’t as affected by this pandemic as everybody else was, including the small business owner whose establishment they were at that they felt that they were being supportive of, so I didn’t expect them to take it as such a big deal,” LaFrancois said.
LaFrancois said the actions of Lyles and Bokhari showed the opposite of support. “If it did, they would have done a lot more to help these places while they were closed for the seven months that they were — rather than just show up and be flagrant with the rules.”
Lyles declined to answer questions on the matter through spokesperson Jeremy Mills.
Mills said via text that Lyles had her mask with her the entire time she was at the establishment and put it on each time she stood up.
Bokhari said via text that after several hours of meetings, he and the other city officials wanted to visit Hattie’s to support a business that had struggled in the last seven months amid the coronavirus crisis.
“While I didn’t say what was alleged, I did make what I thought to be an innocent joke that clearly didn’t resonate, and I’m sorry for how it was received — it certainly was not my intention to make someone feel offended,” Bokhari said.
Risk of COVID-19 spread increases while mingling outside of one’s household
Local and state health officials in North Carolina have urged residents to carefully select dining companions and limit those who sit at their table to people with whom they live. In describing recent contact tracing results, Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris said recently that many people who tested positive for COVID-19 later reported they’d been at breweries and restaurants, as well as gatherings with friends and non-household family members. Harris and other health experts say the risk of infection increases as residents mingle in close contact with people they don’t live with.
Harris told the Observer on Tuesday that unless a patron is eating or drinking, that person should be wearing a face mask or covering and staying socially distanced in restaurants and bars.
“It is especially important now that more businesses are reopening,” Harris said.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 7:59 PM.
