“I’m making a Costo run, babe.”

“Are you going to Silverdale or Sequim?  If you go to Silverdale you can hit Lowe’s. Then swing by Central Market in Poulsbo. I’ve got a list.”

One of the great injustices of Governor Inslee’s lock down order is that he has bludgeoned small retail at the same time he has redirected consumer dollars to the Big Box stores.

“Shop locally” makes a great bumper sticker. It should have been a battle cry for city leaders. They should have been champions for the entrepreneurs that put it all on the line to bring charm and a personal touch to our community.

Those leaders have been sleep walking through this crisis. As we’ve reported about City Council meetings, they have discussed absolutely NOTHING about how city government can go to bat for our businesseses and the people those businesses employ. You get that? They haven’t even talked about helping (we watch the virtual meetings so you don’t have to).

In a town that depends so much on tourism, probably the industry that will lag the most in any recovery, you’d think its leaders would have been working overtime to find some way to stem the bleeding for every business that can be helped.

Now it might be county leaders turning their backs on small retail.

Retail is open in eight counties that qualified for “early open” under the Governor’s Phase 2. Jefferson County is not among them, though we were on the Governor’s initial list that got the go-ahead.  Some counties delivered their application to the Governor in just 24 hours; our leaders are running out the clock with meeting after meeting.  With all the foot dragging, another COVID case popped up and went away just as quickly. But county leaders now worry it disqualifies us from the “early open” because we weren’t supposed to have a single new case. It is an unrealistic requirement, but so are many other of Governor Inslee’s ever-shifting targets.

With fingers crossed hoping we might still be considered for maybe a couple days advance move into Phase 2, Public Health Officer Dr. Thomas Locke on Tuesday, 5/12/2020, released his list of businesses that should be opened now (and, in the opinion of many, open last week, and the week before that and the week before that…) Many are no-brainers. The Governor has said existing construction could resume, but held back on new construction, which never made any sense. Locke says all construction can resume. In addition he concludes that people in maritime manufacturing and fabrication shops can get back to work, as can office businesses, hair and nail salons, repair businesses, pet grooming, nannies and house cleaners.

Locke has intentionally left some things off his list and advises against them reopening. Those businesses are mostly tourist related. But for some reason he is withholding approval for our retail businesses to reopen. He lumps all retail into the “tourist-attracting” category, without distinction. Like Inslee, he takes a bludgeon to anything smaller than a Walmart.

“Trader Joe’s is open, darling. Get us something special for dinner.”

The County Board of Health will vote on May 21 to accept, reject, expand or contract Dr. Locke’s recommendations. The next day, the Board of County Commissioners will vote the BOH’s resolution up or down, no changes permitted in the process decreed by the Governor.

There has to be a way to let our small retailers turn the lights back on and start making some money. We have to stop exporting not only consumer spending, but also tax dollars. While local leaders may be callous about the pain to the private economy, they do feel the pain of plummeting tax revenue from retail sales. The county administrator has concluded that salary cuts for “the electeds” will be necessary. I’m thinking along the lines of 50% cuts for county commissioners retroactive to the date of the Governor’s emergency decree and continuing through 2021, but that’s for another op ed.

Back to why we must and can reopen all retail. Consider Quimper Mercantile, the largest small retailer downtown. We do not want an empty, dark shell as the anchor store at the entrance to Port Townsend’s historic district, you know, a taste of Detroit urban decay dished up with salt air and sea gulls staining an abandoned building.

Quimper Mercantile already has an established list of in-county customers which they should be allowed to serve. If your name is in their database, you get the locals-only discount.

Locke would allow barbers, stylists and manicurists to reopen if they serve only locals. Quimper Mercantile should be allowed to do the same. You could say they are “shovel ready.” It should be their call.

Other retailers could open under Locke’s overtly discriminatory restrictions. They better get open soon. Very few of these stores have the ability to stay closed much longer with a realistic hope of ever reopening and turning a profit again. It is the rare small retail operation that has a pile of cash to carry them through drought and famine, and many are already saddled with a heavy debt load.

“Last call, sugar. What else do you want from Silverdale?”

Better yet, just let our stores sell to everyone. There are no restrictions on the Big Box Boys limiting them to serving locals. Why, they even sell all kinds of stuff to people from Jefferson County.