An Ohio restaurant located just across the border from Erie, PA has named Pennsylvania Governor Wolf as their “employee of the month” thanks to a lockdown related spike in business. With Erie County currently stuck in the “yellow phase”, PA restaurants are limited to outdoor dining only. Ohio restaurants on the other hand, have been allowed to open so long as they adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Breakwall BBQ named Governor Wolf as employee of the month in a Facebook post. “Also want to give a shout out to our employee of the month , Pennsylvania’s very own Governor Wolf .. you the man sir!” the post read.
After the hilarious Facebook post gained circulation in Pennsylvania, restaurant owner Mike Morgan wanted to be clear in that the post as meant to be lighthearted. “It was like one sentence,” Morgan said in a follow-up post. “For clarity, we were light-heartedly commenting on the situation in Erie. I do teach economics in the fall and will be hosting several seminars on entrepreneurship in the winter. Now, let’s get back to the BBQ. How’s that sound?”
Governor Wolf has been criticized for his lockdown policies, which are among the most strict in the nation. Protests against stay-at-home orders erupted in April, with demonstrators criticizing the broad, inconsistent nature of the orders. Wolf has called his lockdown critics “cowardly” and threatened to revoke business licenses for those that attempt to open.
Wolf was again scrutinized just two weeks ago, when the Governor took part in Black Lives Matter protests, clearly in violation of social distancing guidelines. Wolf himself acknowledged the optics of the decision. “That was inconsistent of me, I acknowledge that,” Wolf said in a press conference. “But I was trying to show support for a cause, the eradication of racism that I think is very, very important and I was trying to show my support for that effort,” he went on to say.
Governor Wolf has cited the state’s downward COVID-19 policy as proof of the lockdown’s effectiveness. Yesterday marked the fourth straight day where less than 400 cases were reported in PA. “Our new case rate has fallen consistently, even as we’ve reopened businesses, even as we’ve resumed activities, even as we’ve gone back to work,” said Wolf.