SF Mayor London Breed, “This criticism is fair”
After facing criticism for getting “caught” dining out at French Laundry, San Francisco Mayor London Breed tweeted out on Thursday morning that “This criticism is fair.”
The mayor dined out in Napa County on November 7th, when the county was in the Orange tier and both indoor and outdoor dining was allowed at the time. At the time, San Francisco was in the yellow tier with both indoor and outdoor dining allowed. California’s guidelines “strongly discouraged” social gatherings with more than three households.
But the mayor acknowledged that she shouldn’t have attended the dinner, even though “technically” is was allowed.
The controversy comes in the middle of when San Francisco is likely going to announce more rollbacks and restrictions. Possibly related to the Mayor’s woes, a press conference yesterday which was expected to feature new rollback information was abruptly canceled.
Statement from Mayor London Breed’s Office
“The Mayor has strived to follow all COVID public health rules from the beginning of the pandemic. She does this not only because she is asking for residents to do their part, but also because she is trying to do her part to slow the spread of the disease. On November 7th, while taking a few days off after the election, she attended a small family birthday dinner for a friend at an open-air table at the French Laundry. There were eight people in total, including herself. The Mayor paid for her own dinner. At the time, San Francisco was in the yellow tier and Napa County was in the orange tier. Both allowed outdoor and indoor dining. During the recent period when San Francisco’s numbers were lower than they are today, the Mayor visited a number of restaurants in San Francisco to support them safely during this pandemic, but she has always been cautious when she is dining out. Now, with cases rising, and Bay Area counties moving back into the purple tier, she is once again limiting her actions and is encouraging all San Franciscans to do the same.
Read more at NBC Bay Area and SF Chronicle
What I especially regret is that the urgency of our public health message in this moment has never been more dire and my actions have distracted from that.
We’re in a much different place than even just a few weeks ago and we need everyone to do their part, starting with me.
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) December 3, 2020
