KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The owner of Rae’s Cafe in Blue Springs refuses to comply with an order from Jackson County to close the restaurant after repeated violations of county COVID-19 orders.
A sign posted on the restaurant door Friday said Jackson County environmental health officials had closed the establishment.
The poster mentioned “not following the Jackson County Health Order and posing a significant threat to the health and safety of employers.”
“I don’t,” said Amanda Wohletz, owner.
Wohletz continued to hear customers anyway, even after the county officer left.
A public health specialist signed the order, but in the space he gave for a restaurant representative to sign, saying he “refused to sign.”
KSHB 41 News obtained a letter from the county to the restaurant to revoke the food establishment permit for Rae’s Cafe.
He described the operation of the cafe as an “imminent health hazard” for its refusal to enforce the mask’s warrant and for not properly disinfecting the establishment.
The letter states that operations must cease before “September 3 today.”
A Jackson County spokesman said they have received multiple complaints over the past two weeks about Rae’s Cafe.
“I didn’t respect the mandate of the mask this round. I did the whole last round,” Wohletz said. “He came on Friday and sent me a notice, a ticket and a court summons. The same Monday, another ticket and a court summons.”
His court date is Oct. 6 for both tickets.
The county said three more complaints came in on Friday, prompting them to close the restaurant.
Wohletz said his staff and everyone who enters his restaurant are medically exempt, so they don’t have to wear masks. He doesn’t ask his clients to wear masks when they come in and he doesn’t need any reason not to wear any.
“I don’t try to go to a lot of places, so the places I go to that I feel safe and comfortable with, that’s where I go,” said Craig Picard, a loyal customer.
Wohletz said he believes the mandate of masks is unfair to the catering industry because it is difficult to cook and work with a mask.
“It didn’t work the first time,” Wohletz said. “It’s not working for two years. Why will you continue to suffer from restaurants and bars that have already suffered for so long?”
Wohletz said it doesn’t back down, despite the door sign, and will open Saturday morning for breakfast.
The letter sent to the café indicates that a health worker may suspend or revoke the permits of establishments that do not comply with the health codes, that the owners may re-apply for a permit when the infractions are corrected and that the permit may not be re-inspected. establishment within 48 hours of revocation.
“Despite multiple attempts to work with the company to comply, the owner, knowingly and voluntarily, continued to violate the sanitary order,” said Troy Schulte, Jackson County administrator. “It is clear from the amount of complaints we have received that people in our community are concerned about the spread of the virus and demand responsibility from other people to prevent further pain, illness and death in our community.”
County enforcement is based on complaints. Health officials who visit a business after receiving complaints must see the violation to issue a notice or ticket.
They will give notice before they start giving tickets.
According to the county, since the public health order requiring masks went into effect Aug. 9, there have been:
- More than 500 complaints.
- 86 warnings.
- 22 entries.
The county has so far said permits have been revoked from three companies, including Rae’s Cafe, for breaching a health order during the pandemic.