SE Oakland News

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made hypocritical statements during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Michigan Capitol Confidential.

Michigan Capitol Confidential reported that Whitmer said in back in March, “This is going to be hard, but we’re going to get through this, and we’re going to get through it together." Residents might think someone who said that would have more sympathy for failing business owners who can't comply with her orders and still remain open.

"Michigan Capitol Confidential has reported many examples of small business owners trying to avoid ruin while also complying with the state’s lockdown orders," reporter Tom Gantert wrote. "Hundreds of thousands of Michigan workers are also still sidelined by official orders and restrictions, as of the end of 2020. There appears to be a discrepancy in this story, however: While the private sector has suffered during the pandemic, many government and public sector employees appear to have avoided those financial setbacks."

Pay raises for government workers have been verified after Michigan Capitol Confidential collected payroll data from several local governments, but many of those reaping the benefits of pay increases are simultaneously enforcing tight restrictions on businesses struggling to survive. 

Plymouth ROC Restaurant is one business that is fighting to stay above water and avoid bankruptcy due to COVID-19 lockdowns. 

"The establishment has been charged by the state of Michigan for engaging in 'an illegal occupation or illegal act upon the licensed premises'," Gantert wrote, according to Michigan Capitol Confidential. "The illegal act of attempted self-preservation was in providing service to customers in an outside tent with four walls in the middle of winter. Under the fine print of the governor’s orders, the tent is classified as 'indoors,' with service prohibited."

Enforcing the epidemic health order was no accident either, as it was spurred on by local officials after a complaint was filed about the restaurant. John Buzuvis, director of community development for the city of Plymouth, went to the restaurant and took photos of the tent in which food and alcohol were being served. Those photos then were used against the restaurant to prove it had violated the order. Buzuvis was asked to take the photos by Allen Cox, the city’s director of public safety.

Buzuvis had received a raise from $78,555 in 2019 to $79,831 in 2020, a 1.6% increase. Cox had a pay hike from $100,646 in 2019 to $104,313 in 2020, a 3.6% increase, according to Michigan Capitol Confidential.