A Baker City couple are urging the City Council to consider passing a resolution endorsing the idea that businesses should be able to set their own safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shannon and Whitney Black, longtime residents who also own Black Distributing Inc., a fuel supplier, recently sent a letter to new Baker City Mayor Kerry McQuisten expressing their concern about how state-imposed restrictions are harming businesses and the local economy.

McQuisten said the city has also received letters from other business owners and residents who, like the Blacks, are upset about how restrictions are affecting Baker City.

The Blacks propose a “Common Sense Sanctuary” for city businesses.

The couple explain the concept in the letter, writing that “business owners would then be free to devise individualized safety measures for employees and customers and confidently open their businesses. Each business would be free to determine the most effective way to keep their unique customer population happy, healthy, stress-free and contributing to our local economy.”

Whitney Black said in an interview on Monday, Feb. 1, that she and her husband have noticed, in talking to friends, relatives and customers, that the fluctuating business restrictions have contributed to a widespread sense of helplessness and frustration

“This just stinks for everybody,” Whitney said.

Baker County has been in the extreme-risk category, and thus subject to the most stringent restrictions on businesses and other activities, for all but two weeks since the state instituted the four-category system Dec. 3.

Restrictions for counties in the extreme group include a ban on indoor dining for restaurants.

In their letter, the Blacks wrote: “Trying to operate under a one-size-fits-all policy meant for a large city has cultivated nothing but instability, fear and distrust, and has not been effective in keeping us mentally and physically healthy. Closed businesses, lost jobs, lost dollars and mental distress are taking a toll on Baker City and have strapped us in a stagnant mess.”

Whitney said the situation bothers her not only because the economy is suffering, but because in a smaller town such as Baker City, business owners, particularly during the slower winter tourism season, rely on a clientele that often includes friends and relatives.

“These businesses are so integrated with the people,” she said. “The customer base are people you care very much about.”

Whitney said she understands that COVID-19 restrictions are imposed by the state, and that there is no clear legal avenue for local jurisdictions, such as cities or counties, to replace state mandates with their own strategy.

But she said she has been inspired by the Declaration of Independence. She cites that document’s reference to “inalienable rights” including “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and its note that “whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.”

Whitney said the main reason she and her husband wrote the letter is to stimulate discussion, both at City Hall and in the community, about how the pandemic is affecting businesses and residents, and potential ways to mitigate those effects.

McQuisten, who was elected mayor by her fellow councilors on Jan. 12 (in Baker City’s form of government, elected councilors, not voters, choose the mayor, whose role is largely ceremonial), said the topic will be on the agenda for a future City Council meeting.

McQuisten, emphasizing that she was speaking as an individual and not to represent the Council as a whole, said that based on her conversations with business owners, some feel that they are “almost being criminalized for just wanting to earn a living.”

McQuisten said she’s concerned that if major local events are canceled this year as they were in 2020, the loss of critical tourism dollars will force some businesses to close.

“I’m aware of a group of mayors across Oregon who have been asking Kate Brown for concrete data, for tangible numbers to look at that restaurants and gyms and these small businesses have in any way been responsible for spreading the virus,” McQuisten said. “This has been six weeks of requests that I’m aware of and there’s nothing coming out of her office. Some of them are expressing frustration to me because the office won’t even return a call to them at this point.”

McQuisten said she is bothered that residents and business owners are afraid of repercussions were they to defy state mandates.

“All of the calls and emails I’ve received are from citizens and business owners crying out to us as their local elected officials for protection against their own governor,” she said. “That alone signals something very wrong happening in Salem.”

City Councilor Shane Alderson said he’s received emails from people who support the Blacks’ proposal. And although Alderson said he wants to hear from City Manager Jonathan Cannon and from the city’s attorney about the idea of a “sanctuary” for local businesses, he’s interested in examining the issue.

“I know that our local businesses have been struggling and, as a city council, it’s our duty to do everything that we can for our local businesses to keep them open and also to keep our people safe,” Alderson said.