Protesters gather throughout Santa Barbara in defiance of stay-at-home order

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — It’s been less than a week since Southern California’s regional stay-at-home order began.

Yet, both restaurant owners and employees are growing frustrated. 

"We can't provide any hope,” Lucky's Steakhouse wine director Larry Nobles said. “We don't know at the end of this three week lockdown that we're going to be able to hire all of our employees back."

Limited to takeout and delivery options only at his restaurants, Gene Montesano was forced to layoff 73 employees.

“A lot of these people aren't going to have Christmas, they're not going to be able to have presents for their kids,” he said. “It's a crime as far as I'm concerned."

For this reason, he decided to organize a peaceful protest in front of Tre Lune in Montecito.

"They want to work, be compensated and have medical insurance,” one protestor Gerd Jordano explained. “It's hit them very hard."

Those in attendance weren’t pleased that Santa Barbara County is being lumped together in a region making up over half of California’s population.

"We should not be a part of that, they have more cases down there,” Jordano said. “We have far lesser cases."

Many hope that state health officials approve Santa Barbara County’s request to create a smaller 'Central Coast' region with San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

This would allow all three counties to exit the regional stay-at-home order after three weeks, if their combined ICU capacity exceeds 15 percent.

"We can hopefully break away after the three week,” Nobles said. “Rely on our own ICU capacity for the three regions."

Across town, a freedom march took place on State Street’s promenade.

Several dozen protesters carried signs and waived American flags while chanting to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"Newsom is now governing by decree, there's no democracy,” one protestor Daryoush Nik-Andjam said. “He just decides that you're part of Southern California, so the rules constantly change everyday."

"It's unconstitutional what's happening to us,” event organizer Kay Bowman said. “If we all just stood up and said no, we could have our lives back."

The group is planning another protest next Saturday.