Restaurateurs across southeast Michigan struggled to keep their businesses alive during the August blackout of 2003. Unfortunately, once the lights were back on, opening the doors of some restaurants didn't prove as easy.
When power was restored, businesses all across the affected area hurried to get business back to normal. Restaurants had a little longer road to travel to get back to normal, as millions of dollars in spoiled food was discarded and countless hours were spent sanitizing the workspaces, food preparation areas, and equipment. In the city of Detroit and metropolitan areas of Wayne and Oakland counties, restaurant operators got back to work as soon as the lights came back on. Macomb County on the other hand, was a different story.
MRA quickly got word that restaurants in Macomb County were being told they could not re-open. Just as quickly, MRA directors began contact with the Macomb County Health Department and the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA). MDA affirmed our contention that state law in no way requires a local health department to order a closure during a boil water advisory, but that mattered little to Macomb officials. The MRA then contacted state legislators from Macomb County to get the order lifted. A few hours later, restaurants were allowed to open.
In the ensuing days, the MRA and Macomb County Health Department fought a war of words in the local media. While health officials claimed they acted in the best interests of Macomb County residents, a subsequent water boil advisory a short few weeks later revealed how actions truly speak louder than words. During this particular advisory, rather than shutting down restaurants in the affected areas, the county allowed restaurants to open provided they abided by the proper precautions for a boil-water advisory.
MRA's commitment to solving this issue didn't end when Macomb restaurants were re-opened. Various committees of the state Legislature conducted hearings in the following weeks that examined not only the cause of the blackout, but also its impact on the affected businesses. State Sen. Bruce Patterson (R-Canton), chair of the Senate Technology & Energy Committee, invited MRA to provide testimony on how the blackout affected restaurants specifically, and the Macomb County closure.
MRA member Dennis Brinker, who operates six Sign of the Beefcarver restaurants and four other concepts, told committee members how the blackout resulted in thousands of dollars in discarded food, and thousands more in lost sales because of the Macomb order to close. He also spoke with the media who were covering the hearing.
Since the blackout, MRA has also continued discussions with the Department of Agriculture to ensure if such an event happens again that their office and local health departments, as well as restaurants, will all be on the same page and that communication is thorough.
Throughout the Macomb County closure, MRA was there for restaurant operators who were ordered to close, those who never got the message, and those who were given ambiguous "non-orders" from the county. And MRA will continue to be there to make sure that in the future, this type of fiasco never happens again.
