Tuesday afternoon Dallas County Commissioners, in a 3-2 vote, added on two more weeks to the current stay-at-home order which means non-essential businesses would have to stay closed until May 15.
The original date for the order to end was April 30, which is the same as Gov. Greg Abbott's Order.
The commissioners debated about the extension for hours and ultimately Judge Clay Jenkins, Commissioners Theresa Daniel and Elba Garcia voted in favor of it. Commissioners John Wiley Price, whose been very vocal about the current order and J.J. Koch voted no.
“It would affect the business, but for the community, I think sometimes it’s bigger than money, because we’ve got to be here longer so that we can make more money, but if everybody is sick in the community, we’re not going to make any money," said Damond Fields who owns Sankofa Kitchen in the Red Bird area.
He said they've remained open and have been providing to-go orders, but it's not the same as having people dining in to eat.
"It’s rocky, but of course we’re still here," explained Fields.
Down the street, Hypnotize 504 Beauty Salon has been closed for the last month. The barbershop is not considered an essential business, which means the owner, Marlon Kalice, hasn't earned any money.
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“It’s been hard, it’s been real hard we’ve been closed a month now, " Kalice said. "It’s crazy that they say that we’re not essential when liquor stores and gun ranges are open that's kind of crazy, but I'm not complaining because they are business. I think they could have handled it a little better like we could have been wearing face masks and gloves and have one customer at a time and other customers could be waiting you know, instead of just shutting us down."
Kalice, who employees seven people and has hundreds of customers, said he's fortunate that his wife works because they still have to pay bills for the shop.
He applied for a small business loan, but like many other owners, is in limbo.
He said he doesn't know if they'll be able to go one more month without any revenue, but this isn't his first time dealing with tough times.
"I’m from New Orleans and I had a barbershop in New Orleans and due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, I lost the barbershop then as well so, so this is like a second wave of loss, not as bad as Hurricane Katrina, but still economically it still hurts," Kalice explained.
