Restaurants Will Not Be Required to Post Inspection Scores

The Hawthorne City Council has discarded a plan to adopt a Los Angeles County ordinance requiring restaurants to post their health inspection scores in view of customers.

The City Council discussed the county policy Monday night, but no one on the council seconded the motion to vote on the issue. The county Health Services Department began issuing grades in January in unincorporated areas and has asked cities to adopt ordinances of their own.

Hawthorne city officials said they are not opposed to holding restaurants and food vendors to high standards, but they believe the current system is too rigid. Councilman Mark Schoenfeld, who is also president of the Industrial Caterers Assn., said that the current policy is a burden on the industry, but that he would support it if it were fine-tuned.

“The county only inspects restaurants once a year,” or sometimes less often, he said. “If you get a ‘C’ grade you’re forced to wear the scarlet letter for a year until they come around again, and that’s just not right.”