Hawthorne to Keep Grades

In a surprising reversal, the Hawthorne City Council has abandoned plans to opt out of the county’s restaurant letter grading system.

The council voted unanimously late Tuesday to reject a new ordinance that would have exempted Hawthorne’s markets and restaurants from posting the letter grades, which indicate their compliance with county health codes. Residents and restaurant owners waited as the council met in closed session for more than three hours before making a decision.

The result was a surprising turnaround from last month, when four of five council members indicated that they would vote to repeal the grade posting requirement.

But Mayor Larry Guidi said Wednesday that the council never really intended to bolt from the rating system. The aim, he said, was to draw attention to complaints by local merchants about how the rating system is managed.

“I figured by making it a little controversial, the [county] health department would be forced to listen to complaints,” Guidi said.

The issue came to the forefront last month after a public complaint from restaurant owner Gary Evans, who had received a C and two Bs on inspections during the last year.

Evans, whose family has owned Pizza Show on Hawthorne Boulevard more than 40 years, said he thought that the inspections were unfair. Although his business now has an A rating, he had to pay for county officials to come back and conduct a second inspection.

“It is so subjective,” Evans said. “It is a snapshot of one moment, by one inspector, on one particular day. It’s not a true representation of performance.”

Evans said that he favored a ratings system but that grades should reflect performance over time. A letter grade is too vague, he added, because it doesn’t tell the public what violations occurred.

At a Denny’s across the street, manager Helen Obeid said her restaurant was given a B rating two months ago for a handful of minor infractions, such as loose floor tiles and missing sink caulking. She had to tape the B rating to her window for two weeks before she paid health officials to come back.

“I don’t think we lost a lot of customers ... but people did notice it and ask about it,” Obeid said. Most customers don’t really know what the letters mean beyond “B means bad and C means really bad,” she said.

Currently, 13 of the county’s 88 cities do not require the postings, said Terrance Powell, a chief environmental specialist for the county Department of Health Services, which hands out the restaurant grades. Those cities include Azusa, Avalon, Montebello and San Marino. Pasadena, Long Beach and Vernon, which operate their own local health departments, do not require letter grades.

Health officials inspect restaurants three times a year and stores selling prepackaged foods once a year. Visits are generally unannounced, except when restaurant owners ask for another inspection. Restaurant owners are notified of those inspections in advance.

However inconvenient inspections can be, Paul Baltadano said he thought the health inspections went a long way toward preventing restaurants from serving people bad food. He manages a Subway sandwich shop on Rosecrans Avenue.

“If you’re doing your job and doing things right, it doesn’t matter what time they come, because you’re supposed to have things in order all the time,” he said.