Roseburg, Ore-The owners of Casey’s Restaurant in Roseburg, Lance and Laurie Mounts, were encouraged when they heard about Governor Kate Brown exceeding her authority due to the 30 day limitation on her Executive Order. They had read the claims by the Willamette University law professor that Brown had possibly violated the Article 10A of the Oregon Constitution which states the Executive Order declaring an emergency cannot exceed thirty days from issue without legislative action and approval; if found to be true, the Executive Order expired April 7, 2020.
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“We are not anti- government rebels” Laurie said, but we’ve got to save our business”. She said “It isn’t just a matter of the shutdown having an effect on us financially, but we bought this business from my parents two years ago and this is their retirement income also. And then there’s the 21 employees, they all have families and obligations to meet.”
Like thousands of business owners and employees throughout Oregon, the Mounts have had to improvise to stay afloat.
Initially, day one after the shutdown was ordered they began offering take-out meals, cutting their staff from 21 down to 2. And Lance said most of those who were laid off, are long-term employees, and some of them “haven’t even got their unemployment yet!”
But on Tuesday May 5th Casey’s was open for Dine-In service once again. The response from the public has been tremendous said the Mounts. And best of all they were able to call back to work all 21 of the original staff. But before the decision to open was made they had a meeting with the employees asking if any one of them had any concerns about their safety, or anything else. The response was unanimous; no concerns, it was a green light to open back up!
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However the State of Oregon didn’t see it that way. On Friday May 8, Mark Walker, Safety and Compliance Officer with Oregon OSHA visited Casey’s and issued them a “Red Tag” which states that the business was unsafe and must close their doors.
When we asked what safety codes or issues they had violated the Mounts said, “none”. In fact the OSHA Compliance officer said he observed them taking all the right steps at sanitation and doing a good job of meeting social distancing guidelines.
The response from their customers was again overwhelmingly in support. Many of them said “tear it down” in reference to the Red Tag. But the owners said they would not do that, and let the matter run its course as they remained open.
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Walker told them on Monday May 11, with regards to their remaining open after the red tag “We’ve never encountered this before…” telling them that he and his superior as of that date did not know what steps OSHA would take, since this is unchartered territory for them. He did say they could be subject to a citation or fines, but none have been issued as of this writing.
Mother’s Day was a banner day for Casey’s; the place was busy from their 6:00 am opening to 8:00 pm that night. At one point some patrons came in and presented them with a metal sculpture of an American flag and the words, God, Guns and Guts Made America Free cut out in the metal. Lance said he was overwhelmed by the gesture and encouragement, and when he thanked the group that presented it and all the patrons eating Mother’s Day meals, the whole place burst out into spontaneous applause! “I’m usually not an overly emotional guy” Lance said “but this really got me choked up.”
Patrons have said things like; “Thank you for letting us be Americans again”, “Gods Bless you Honey for opening back up”, and “Thank you for serving the people.” Clearly to the patrons of Casey’s it means more to them than just a hot meal, and a cup of coffee, but it’s the warm atmosphere, and for many a place where they can belong.
Lance and Laurie admit they don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but for more than 52 years Casey’s, now with a second generation family owner, has been right here, a Roseburg landmark. They say they are confident, and have a “total peace” about their decision and that their faith in God guides them through each and every day.
They also want to let the public know how much they have appreciated all the support that keeps pouring in!