HOUMA, La. -- After getting an earful Monday in Houma on Tuesday, oil spill claims manager Ken Feinberg met with restaurant owners in Baton Rouge.
And although Feinberg seemed receptive to their problems, many are still skeptical about the oil spill claims process, because they still haven’t received any help from the program.
Mark Martinez has always been a chef, but these days, he's a chef, a cook, trades off as a waiter, a bus boy and a father to his three kids. He opened Dockside Seafood restaurant in River Ridge a year ago, and before the oil spill, he had 25 employees. Now he's down to six.
“As a small business, you go through dramatic changes in a matter of three months like we did. In order to keep my doors open, you have to do what you have to do,” Martinez said.
The chef and owner is operating with a skeleton crew, wondering daily how long he will be able to stay in business without substantial financial help from the oil spill claims process.
“My employees have been taken care of to the fullest, the company has not though. A penny has been thrown our way from BP, you know, and we really haven't heard anything since [he applied],” he said.
The same goes for Deannie’s Seafood General Manager Darren Chifici.
“We haven't gone up on any prices, so we made that clear on our claim, that we're absorbing the cost and also seeing a reduction in sales. So, how that will fare out we don’t know yet,” Chifici said.
Deannie’s has lost tens of thousands in increased costs and decreased sales.
Tuesday, he was one of a handful of restaurateurs who got the chance to meet with claims head Ken Feinberg.
“He was very receptive. Said he was trying to make it as easy as possible for people to make claims, and encouraged to make claims. And so, I'm encouraged by that,” Chifici said.
“We requested the meeting with him and we wanted to establish a set of protocols. We wanted to make sure we understood what they were gonna be looking for from restaurants,” said Louisiana Restaurant Association CEO Jim Funk.
As of Monday evening, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility numbers show 5,996 businesses have made claims for oil spill losses, but only 1,550 have been paid.
“Until they get those checks and those checks they feel are, ‘fair’, I'll continue to receive a fair amount of criticism,” Feinberg said at a meeting in Houma on Monday.
The business claims are a lot more complex than those for individuals, according to Feinberg. Right now, restaurants are just guessing what documentation to submit.
“You know, we sent them a phone book full,” Martinez said.
“We submitted two years of tax returns, two years of payroll, sales tax. I had stuff a foot and a half high that I submitted for both restaurants,” Chifici said.
Both are still hopeful it'll pay off sooner rather than later.
Feinberg said he has sufficient staff to handle the business claims; however, the complexity involved in calculating the loss is taking more time.
He said some restaurant owners haven't submitted any documentation to back up their claims and that is taking time to sort out as well.
