Restaurants Get Reprieve on Posting Letter Grades

The City Council has delayed implementation of a county system requiring restaurants to display letter grades awarded by county health inspectors.

The council refused Tuesday to approve an ordinance requiring that the letter grades be used in West Covina because the Board of Supervisors has yet to set reinspection fees.

Under the system, restaurants receive grades from A to C. Restaurant owners can ask for a new inspection at their own expense within 10 days of being graded by the county. But county and city officials said Tuesday that supervisors had yet to set a fee for a second inspection.

The council deadlocked 2 to 2 on the law, with Councilman Ben Wong abstaining because he is a restaurant owner. Councilman Michael Touhey said he could not approve a local law without knowing the cost to the city’s restaurants. Councilwoman Kathy Howard also cast a dissenting vote.

Mayor Richard Melendez and Councilman Steve Herfert supported enactment of the law, saying that it protected families’ health.

Melendez, a Los Angeles police officer, said he has lost countless work days because of bad food consumed on the beat and was happy to see the letter grade system adopted. He said he now “always looks for the A grade.”