After Quent and Linda Cordair reopened their Quent Cordair Fine Art gallery in Napa on May 4 ahead of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to restart the economy, they received a phone call from the County as well as threats.
The couple’s retail business had been classified as a non-essential Phase 3 business due to the COVID-19 pandemic under Gov. Newsom’s State’s Resilience Roadmap but there was no date in sight as to when they would be permitted to re-open as previously reported in the Southern California Record. So, the Cordairs took things into their own hands.
“We're feeling like we shouldn't have had to go to this much trouble to run our business,” Linda Cordair told the Southern California Record.
On the first day of restarting, the couple received a phone call from the county informing them that they were in violation of the standard order and within days of that phone call, the Cordairs and their landlord were threatened with fines.
“In order to protect the landlord, we did close for a couple of days while we regrouped,” Mrs. Cordair said in an interview.
The Cordairs sent a letter to Napa County, urging officials to treat the gallery like other retail businesses and allow them to reopen in Phase 2 but the county never responded. Suddenly, the Pacific Law Foundation intervened on behalf of the Cordairs after seeing them on television discussing their dilemma.
“The County was notified of our intent to sue by the Pacific Law Foundation the night before we planned to file and they backed down,” said Cordair.
The May 18, 2020 letter, addressed to Gov. Newson and Napa County Health and Human Services Agency, states
"The Cordairs want to responsibly resume business at their small retail store but are prohibited from doing so because art galleries may not open until 'Stage 3' of the current statewide lockdown. The Cordairs fear that the business they have spent decades building will not survive the wait, echoing the concerns of vast numbers of small business owners throughout the State. PLF urges you to amend the State’s Resilience Roadmap and the County’s modified Shelter-at-Home Order to allow the Cordairs and all similarly situated businesses to open where they can operate in conformity with the State’s social distancing and sanitation protocols.”
In response to the looming lawsuit, county officials promptly reclassified art galleries as Stage 2 retail businesses and allowed the Quent Cordair Fine Art gallery to resume operations.
“I'm happy that our doors are open and that other art galleries are free to open as well,” Cordair said. “We're taking all the precautions necessary to keep ourselves and our customers well.”
When asked whether they would recover financially, Cordair said that clients in and out of town have expressed support.
“It’s a good question,” she said. “Now that our doors are open, we are looking forward to people being able to purchase the art and to make up the two-month financial gap created by government overreach.”