U.S. Senate candidate Manny Sethi criticized Nashville Mayor John Cooper Thursday after the mayor announced the city would revert to Phase Two of its planned reopening after COVID-19.
“This is lunacy,” Sethi said in an emailed press release.
“Mayor Cooper is more interested in shutting down Nashville’s economy than he is in leading. He was more than willing to join mass protests and allow riots, only to pivot now to closing down Nashville, destroying small businesses and hurting working families in Davidson County, while he attempts to raise property taxes at the same time.”
Citing an increase in COVID-19 cases, Cooper said at a press conference Thursday that the city will go back to the second of its four-phased rollout to reopen the city. Nashville will formally go from Phase Three back to Phase Two on Friday. The city will remain in Phase Two for the next several weeks, Cooper said.
Many socially-driven businesses and activities that opened in Phase Three will now have to temporarily close, including event and entertainment venues. Nashville’s limit on gathering size is now 25. Restaurants will move back from 75 percent capacity to 50 percent capacity, as permitted in Phase One, Cooper said Thursday.
Metro Parks facilities, opened in Phase Three, will remain open, including dog parks, skate parks, basketball courts, and playgrounds. And recreational leagues and pools are still allowed, Cooper said.
Additionally, all bars in Davidson County, known as limited-service restaurants that derive the majority of their revenue from alcohol sales, will close for a minimum of 14 days beginning Friday, Cooper said.
As The Tennessee Star reported last month, Sethi released an ad entitled “Leftwing Lockdown.”
“For the last three months liberals said social distancing is so important, you deserve to be arrested if you go out to eat or go to church with too many people. They destroyed small businesses and ruined lives,” Sethi said in an emailed press release about the ad.
“But now, apparently, protesting next to thousands of people is fine, as long as it’s for a woke liberal cause. It’s total hypocrisy.”
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “John Cooper Press Conference” by John Cooper.
Cooper is just a tool! He’s blindly following the leftist playbook, and running Nashville into the ground!
How come nobody is talking about the new way of accounting for Covid-19 cases, “probable cases?” If you are in close proximity to a person who has tested positive for the disease, guess what, you’ve got it! Well, that’s what the new CDC reporting guidelines call for.
All of the reported numbers are suspect. If you have Covid-19 and you die, the “system” records the cause of death as Covid-19! A classic case of t he old adage, “figures don’t lie, but liars figure”.
…you think rioting is an outdoor activity and therefore no masks are required.
Pitchforks and torches folks…How much more of this BS are you Nashville businesses going to take? Take your city back from the leftists bent on destroying local commerce!