'Why am I struggling to get the help?:' Broadway restaurant awaits ARPA fund approval

LORAIN — A restaurant on Broadway is still waiting on help from the city. Broadway Mary's owner Mary Szefcyk will have to wait another two weeks until the ordinance to approve $30,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds comes before Council again, after it was sent to a second reading Tuesday evening. The ordinance failed to win enough votes to suspend the three-reading rule for Szefcyk's ARPA funding request, with Beth Henley, D-1st Ward, and Tony Dimacchia, D-at Large, voting against the rule suspension. The request first came to City Council late last month, combined with another $900,000 in ARPA funds for Neighborhood Alliance. At that time, Council voted to split the two into separate ordinances and to readdress Szefcyk's request at a later date. A pipe burst at City Hall forced members to reschedule a Federal Programs Committee meeting from Dec. 27 to Tuesday evening, where Building, Housing and Planning Director Matt Kusznir explained Szefcyk's request in further detail, including $3,000 for payroll, $20,000 for mortgage payments and funds for utilities and back taxes and a liquor license. The department awarded $30,000 out of the original $34,000 requested, as back taxes and liquor licenses are ineligible expenses, Kusznir said. Rey Carrion, D-6th Ward, said small businesses were hurt during the pandemic and part of the city's ARPA funds are supposed to help those struggling. He said the funding awards should be done objectively, and if personal issues are taken into account for Broadway Mary's, then they should've been for the 40 or 50 applications already reviewed. Dan Nutt, D-4th Ward, agreed. As a small-business owner himself, he understood the impact of the pandemic. "Not only is it obviously a small business in Lorain," he said. "It's on Broadway and I think they do a fantastic job. … That's what these dollars are for and, hopefully, this can help them get through the short-term struggle they're dealing with right now." Henley referred to an email some Council members had received from Szefcyk making changes to line item requests, but Kusznir said the only funding request Council was to consider is what was in the application submitted to the city in August. After the vote to suspend the rules failed, several of those members who had expressed support for the ordinance were confused by their colleagues' hangup. "I feel her pain. Why push it out? Why risk that future of that business? I don't mean to attack anybody, I'm just confused," Nutt said. Council President Joel Arredondo echoed Nutt's confusion. "It's unfortunate that we cannot support our businesses downtown," he said. Dimacchia, who previously stood against her funding request, said his vote was not an indictment on the ARPA funding process but that he didn't need to justify his vote to anyone. "I'm not going to support it, I have my reasons," he said. "I've been supportive (of) these ARPA funds and I don't need to explain (my vote) to anybody on this floor. After the meeting, Szefcyk was left just as confused as some City Council members. "Did the other applicants go through what I'm going through? Because the more they push it back, it's just more time that I'm not getting assistance," she said. If she'd opened in a larger city, her business would be fine, she said. But she took a sacrifice to open in Lorain to help establish a downtown business district. She isn't sure what she's going to do between now and the next regular Council meeting — utility payments are overdue and she worries her water and electricity may be shut off before then, forcing her to close her doors. She could temporarily operate as a ghost kitchen, only allowing orders through DoorDash or UberEats, she said, but that isn't what she wants to do. That's not what Broadway Mary's is, she said. "They say they want to support businesses and why am I struggling to get the help?" she said. Also after Tuesday's meeting, Szefcyk's councilwoman, Victoria Kempton, D-2nd Ward, questioned the motives behind her colleagues' decision. "I hope that she can receive the money after she has went through all of the hoops and done all of the things she was supposed to do," Kempton said. "I would hope that for personal, political gain we don't sacrifice a small business."Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.