Restaurant’s defiant stand on COVID-19 divides Agoura Hills

Strong support for Cronies at meeting



HIS RULES—Cronies co-owner Dave Foldes speaks to supporters at a December 2020 protest against the city and county dining ban. Acorn file photo

HIS RULES—Cronies co-owner Dave Foldes speaks to supporters at a December 2020 protest against the city and county dining ban. Acorn file photo

The first Agoura Hills City Council in-person meeting in more than a year, held last week, kicked off with nearly three hours of comment from members of the public who called on the city to drop its criminal lawsuit against Cronies Sports Grill.

The city filed the suit earlier this year in response to the restaurant’s disregard for public health orders issued last winter. While Cronies honored the first lockdown in 2020, it ignored the mandate to cease all indoor and outdoor service in December when the pandemic neared its zenith. The restaurant served patrons on a makeshift patio in the parking lot in violation of city codes.

A crowd of more than 100 people who said they were longtime supporters of the business defended its right to stay open. Some said city, state and federal government rules regarding public health were akin to tyranny and the business hadn’t broken any laws. Several speakers read sections of the U.S. Constitution. Others said the pandemic’s death toll and the severity of the virus had been greatly exaggerated.

Dave Rea, one of the owners of the Agoura Cronies, said he was upset by the reputation that Cronies has been given since they started protesting health orders last December—namely that they’re political extremists.

“We’re on two different sides of an issue and if I disagree with you I must be crazy? All the people (here tonight are crazy)? There are teachers, parents, coaches, mothers, fathers, business owners in this room. They’re my people,” Rea said.

“If we’re using that same logic, then there’s three of you (on the council) that are also extremists. Don’t close us down. Good people need a place to go. Change the way you think. There’s something else we can work out and you know it,” the owner said.

Numerous speakers said the council was overstepping its authority with the lawsuit and threatened to recall the members who voted in favor of the action. A few commenters implied that council members would be killed if the case wasn’t dropped.

“I think Cronies brings a light to the community, an opportunity for people to gather and talk and have camaraderie, which is something we all need during this time. Taking that away is taking away our liberties, our privileges and our rights that we are given by God,” Emily Green, a resident of Newbury Park, said at the meeting. “Please consider what you’re doing and really think deeply. If your god is Gavin Newsom, he’s hanging and you will too.”

The large crowd cheered and applauded nearly every public comment. At one point when the council elected to take a five-minute break the attendees began singing “God Bless America.”

Liz Cangelosi, an Agoura Hills resident viewing the meeting remotely, spoke in support of the city. She said statistics showed that during the three hours of public comments at the meeting, 1,000 people had died of COVID-19.

“The health community asked us to cooperate, and our nurses, doctors and so many people and local businesses did. Somehow Cronies feels they’re above the rules. Being responsible is hard. Being beholden to your neighbors is hard,” Cangelosi said.

“Your idea of the Constitution has nothing to do with this,” she told the audience. “Your ignorance doesn’t erase over half-a-million dead. I support the Agoura Hills City Council, who are defending all the businesses that truly support Agoura Hills.”

Many of the comments were directed at council members Deborah Klein Lopez, Illece Buckley Weber and Linda Northrup, who voted in the majority to bring the lawsuit forward, according to Cronies co-owner Dave Foldes.

The city vote to pursue criminal charges took place in a closed-door session. While the results of the vote are made public, the breakdown of how each council member voted is legally prohibited from being shared.

Foldes declined to say how he learned how the individual council members voted.

At various points the crowd heckled Lopez for participating remotely and Buckley Weber, who was present, for wearing a mask. They also accused Northrup, who was absent from the meeting, of being scared to face the crowd. Northrup later said she was absent due to unexpected side effects from her treatment for breast cancer.

Lopez and Buckley Weber, speaking during council comments at the end of the meeting, alleged that Mayor Denis Weber shared the breakdown of the vote with the owners of Cronies and asked that the council discuss the matter at an upcoming meeting.

“I don’t understand why the community feels they have such an inside line to what is part of a closed session. It’s my understanding that Mayor Weber has been in contact with (the owners of Cronies) and I believe he’s the only one, so I would ask him to please weigh in as to how it is they got this information that they’re acting on,” Lopez said.

“It puts those of us who re- fuse to talk about closed session items—because it’s against the law—in a really difficult position because we aren’t allowed to address these things.”

After speaking to the city attorney, Weber said he’d prefer not to discuss the matter at the meeting but would be happy to meet with the council members separately and address their concerns.

The Cronies discussion was table until the matter could be placed on a future agenda with Northrup there to weigh in on the matter.