This Fresno County town has reopened barbershops, despite governor’s orders

Parlier is among the first cities in California to reopen its barbershops and hair salons amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Leaders in the city of about 15,000 southeast of Fresno signed a proclamation on Friday allowing barbershops and beauty salons to come back online. So far, four barbershops and no beauty salons have opened their doors, according to Mayor Alma Beltran.

This is despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent announcement that salons and barbershops would be among the last businesses to reopen.

“I have to do what’s best for my community,” Beltran said. “The governor doesn’t know the areas like Parlier, Sanger, Selma. He might look at them from the perspective of San Francisco. But he doesn’t have any idea of how it is in a small rural community.”

She said of the 27 cases of COVID-19 in Parlier, 10 have recovered, and only a couple faced hospitalization.

Does the city supersede the state? Beltran said she believes so. But if the governor decides to take action, the city attorney will deal with it.

The Parlier City Council will vote on Thursday whether to reopen more businesses, like clothing stores or flower shops, in time for Mother’s Day. Newsom announced Monday that stores like florists would be able to reopen by Friday.

Beltran said Parlier decided to take action because many local business owners had been unsuccessful in applying for loans and unemployment. The city also counts on a large population of immigrants, many of whom do not qualify for aid programs.

“I don’t want to see children go to sleep hungry,” she said. “We’ve dealt with children going to bed hungry in the past without COVID. Now I can’t even imagine what they’re going through.”

‘It’s very different’

The new rules mandate that barbers wear masks and gloves at all times, maintain six feet between customers, and have less than 10 people in the shop at once. Clients must also wear masks.

“I went from having 15 chairs to only four,” said Emmanuel Iniguez, owner of CenCal Barbers. “It’s very different.”

Robert Iniguez, owner of Phat Bobby’s Cuts, said he was thankful to have his job back.

For the last two months, he has had to stay home and dig into his limited savings to keep his family of four afloat. He is still waiting on an unemployment check and he has not qualified for any loans.

“To be honest, I feel like barbers and beauticians were the ones who got hurt the most in this town,” he said.

At least 18 barbers work in Parlier, and even more beauticians, Iniguez estimated.

Only he and two other barbers were at work on Monday, however. His other three barbers stayed home because they were concerned for their safety, he explained.

Beltran expects beauty salons may wait to see if the state takes action against the city before opening back up.