California’s stay at home order lift surprises Monterey

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) Predictions of the stay at home order removal began yesterday and restaurant owners are excited.

Ian Penniman, Melville Tavern Owner said he woke up this morning to emails and texts of other business owners excited about the stay at home order being lifted.

“I started getting emails and texts, and then I jumped on the computer and I start looking,” said Penniman. “Even on Twitter and getting the information on what we actually need.”

He said it’s a challenge to open outdoor dining in the winter. But, he was excited to move forward.

“It was actually the first thing we did today,” said Penniman. “Grab tables, grab chairs, unlock them, put them out. So it did feel good and just like that we had our first two guests that come in and another follows.”

John Culcasi, manager at Rosine’s restaurant was also worried about the weather. But he’s also excited to be one step closer to normality. However, he didn’t expect outdoor dining to be possible any time soon.

“I was really surprised,”said Culcasi. “I thought maybe a little more notice, maybe like hey next week we might be open. It happened really fast but were looking forward to it.”

Many are saying that the sudden lift of the order was due to an effort to pull Governor Gavin Newsome from office.

Former Monterey County Republican Chair said the regional order caused a lot of damage to small

“That the recall effort is picking up steam, the recall of Gavin Newsom,” said Congress Candidate Jeff Gorman. “I find it a little coincidental but I’m glad it’s being lifted.”

Today, Governor Newsom was asked about the claims that his decision to end the stay at home order was tied to the recall effort. But he called the claims nonsense.

"It's complete utter nonsense,” said Governor Newsom. “So let's just dispense with that fundamental foundationally nonsense