On Tuesday, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego declared a state of emergency in the fifth-largest city in the country and ordered all bars to close and all restaurants to stop dine-in service.

It's unclear if her declaration will stand past Friday, however.

The declaration must be ratified by a majority of the Phoenix City Council. After four hours in executive session Wednesday, the council decided to stop and continue the discussion at a special meeting Friday. The bar and restaurant rules will remain intact until then.

Going into Wednesday's meeting, it did not appear Gallego had the votes to support her declaration. The decision to delay the vote indicates she likely did not.

This is a departure from the pattern across other Arizona cities, which have mostly allowed their mayors to declare emergencies without issue.

Council may not support declaration

A ratified declaration of emergency would allow Gallego to run the city by proclamation and have the authority to "impose all necessary regulations to preserve the peace and order of the city," according to the city code.

This would allow her to force bars to close and restaurants to transition to a delivery or take-out model.

In a video posted to Twitter after the declaration was made, she said health-care workers had told her it was necessary for elected leaders to enact policies that would stop the rampant spread of the new coronavirus.

"What they’ve told me is that right now, they are preparing to treat people in tents because we don’t have enough beds, that we expect doctors to have to make heartbreaking decisions about who gets a ventilator and who doesn’t. They said that by declaring an emergency, we at the city of Phoenix can help them save lives," Gallego said.

Quickly after Gallego's declaration, Councilman Sal DiCiccio unleashed on the mayor on Twitter, saying the declaration would give Gallego unlimited powers for however long she wanted.

"This is nothing short of martial law, and there is absolutely no way I can or ever will support such a measure," DiCiccio said.

This isn't entirely accurate. Under the Phoenix City Charter, three members of the City Council can request a meeting of the council at any time. If the council wanted to take away the mayor's power, they could vote to do so 24 hours after the letter was sent.

DiCiccio's criticism was expected — he's a frequent detractor on the council.

What was more surprising was the apparent lack of support for the mayor's declaration from members of her own political party.

The Phoenix City Council is technically a nonpartisan body, but politics often play a role. Gallego and a majority of the council members are Democrats.

Four of the democratic council members — Vice Mayor Betty Guardado and council members Michael Nowakowski, Laura Pastor and Carlos Garcia — sent a letter to the city manager demanding an executive session to discuss the emergency declaration with the city attorney — alluding that they may not be supportive of Gallego's declaration either.

Pastor said as much in a Facebook post Tuesday night. She said that while she agrees that "we are in an emergency situation," she won't support the mayor's declaration "until I know the food industry workers we are displacing are taken care of."

If the majority of council members don't approve the declaration Friday, bars and restaurants can choose to resume normal business.

EATERIES SHUTTER: Coronavirus restaurant, bar closures in Arizona

Reach the reporter at jessica.boehm@gannett.com or 480-694-1823. Follow her on Twitter @jboehm_NEWS.

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