A barbershop in Kingston has been cutting hair “illicitly,” as announced by Ulster County on Wednesday via press release on their website and Facebook post. The post, which went up yesterday, has 1.4K shares and 462 comments. A Little Beacon Blog has reached out to Kingston’s Mayor and Ulster County’s Executive to see if this knowledge was gained from a contact tracing program.

Kingston had not announced the news on their website as of this publishing, but did announce that the city is entering into a Phase 2 Recovery Plan, which means they are temporarily laying off select city workers.

Ulster County’s Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith encouraged people who had gotten a hair cut at a barbershop on Broadway within the last 3 weeks should pursue testing. The press release reminded people about the low priority level of salons and barber shops during the pandemic: “During the ongoing New York Pause directives from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, no barbershops, beauty salons, nail salons or other personal hygiene services are allowed to be open and operating for fear of spreading the potentially deadly virus.”

Governor Cumo’s Position On Barbershops and Salons

Hair care has been one of the hardest things to live without during quarantine. In theory, it seems like a semi-solitary activity. Only two people are involved, though direct contact is required. Governor Cuomo told Trevor Noah on Noah’s Daily Social Distancing Show in April 23, 2020, that he didn’t view salons and barbershops as essential, as too much risk is involved to operate. As reported in Vulture, “It has to be phased in,” said Cuomo when asked whether or not he’d pull a Georgia and open everything at once. “It has to be slow and building and watch that infection rate as you start to open up the valve to reopen … Basically, it’s a matrix. How essential is the business and how high a risk does the business pose?”

Meanwhile, At A Salon In Texas…

A salon owner in Dallas, Texas tried opening before she was allowed to, was issued a citation for doing so, but kept the salon open. She was arrested and held in contempt. The judge gave her the option of apologizing for opening, and she declined, then was sent to jail.

As reported in Time the salon owner told the judge: “I couldn’t feed my family, and my stylists couldn’t feed their families,” Luther testified, saying she had applied for a federal loan but didn’t receive it until Sunday. The federal loan, if she is referring to the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) does cover payroll for 8 weeks if granted to the business based on the previous year’s payroll, but can only be issued to people on payroll. If stylists are contract workers or pay rent to the salon in lieu of payment from the salon owner, as is the case many times in small salons, the PPP money cannot be paid to them.

The Texas Attorney General stepped in by sending a letter to the judge, appealing for her release. He wrote: “I find it outrageous and out of touch that during this national pandemic, a judge, in a county that actually released hardened criminals for fear of contracting COVID-19, would jail a mother for operating her hair salon in an attempt to put food on her family’s table,” Paxton said.

Meanwhile, Back In Kingston…

Mayor Steven T. Noble announced the enactment of Phase 2 of Kingston’s Recovery Plan. “Phase 2 of the plan includes temporary layoffs of 10 part-time and 9 full-time staff through July 31, 2020 across eight City departments, including the Assessor’s Office, Building Safety, City Clerk’s Office, Civil Service, Comptroller’s Office, DPW, Parks & Recreation, and the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Per an agreement with CSEA, impacted employees will retain their medical and other benefits during the layoff period. Layoffs will predominantly affect positions whose duties have been curtailed or restricted as a result of COVID-19.

“We have worked hard over the years to place the City in a strong fiscal position, which has allowed us to weather the initial financial impact of this pandemic.” said Mayor Noble. “Now is the time to make hard decisions to overcome this unprecedented challenge and embark on our path to economic recovery. To date, we have been able to maintain all essential City services, but the full extent of the pandemic’s impact has not yet been realized. It is critical that over the next few months we continue to exercise strong fiscal oversight and advocate with our federal representatives for funding for Kingston and its sister cities across the country.”

Mayor Noble added that due to businesses respecting the shut down, sales tax revenue has declined significantly, and impacted what was budgeted for 2020. According to the press release: “The first two sales tax payments received this week are down 27% (March) and 38% (April) from 2019. Additional income sources such as investment interest, parking revenue, fees, permits and others will also be impacted. With available data, the City Comptroller, John Tuey, is now projecting that the City of Kingston will have revenue decreases between $4,00,000-$6,000,000.”

Ulster County does pass the metric test for reopening, but because it is lumped into the Mid-Hudson Region, it will not open, as reported at Daily Voice. “I am proud of the progress Ulster County has made toward meeting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s guidelines for Phase One opening, but the Mid-Hudson Region as a whole still has work to do before the State will permit anyone to reopen,” County Executive Pat Ryan said in the Daily Voice article.

As of today, according to Ulster County’s Dashboard, Kingston has 109 active cases, and 1 fatality. In total, Ulster County has 1,542 confirmed cases, 732 active cases, and 64 fatalities.

Editorial Note: Based on comments seen at Ulster County’s Facebook post, please know that any comment that wishes anything other than a healthy recovery to those infected or impacted will not be published here.