The small business owner wasn't truly dragged into the political realm until January, when public health mandates drafted a reluctant soldier into a burgeoning culture war.
Eric Flannery, co-owner of the Big Board restaurant in Washington, D.C., has always operated his bar, which has now been closed for a month due to repeated violations of mask and vaccine mandates, by his personal mission statement, which he insists is not politically tinged: Everyone is welcome. That didn’t change when Mayor Muriel Bowser implemented a vaccine mandate for indoor businesses on Jan.
“You would not believe this place. There were people wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ hats with people wearing pink hats sitting next to each other, smiling, having a good time,” Flannery said. “It was just people who had different political views and different ideologies who sat down and had good burgers and good beers, and we served with a smile. It was really, really, really fantastic.”
But the political environment engulfing the COVID-19 pandemic was different. Earlier this year, the pub had its doors closed amid legal battles over the mandates, and an eerie silence took root as the owners awaited decisions from the city. Despite both the mask and vaccine mandates being lifted in the district, as of late February, the government has not reinstated the restaurant's liquor or basic business licenses.
The restaurant must first have its business license reinstated before it can reopen. As of Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Buckeye Institute told the Washington Examiner that there hasn’t been a decision from the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs on whether it will reverse the suspension on its own or if the restaurant must file a motion in court.
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