Peoria Standard

The message from Peoria to Gov. J.B. Pritzker is clear, says Peoria City councilman John Kelly: It’s time to open things back up.

The Peoria City Council, by an 11-0 vote Tuesday, passed a resolution asking Pritzker to allow Peoria and surrounding counties to resume normal activities. It says the area has no lingering problems with COVID-19, and small businesses are suffering.

“Come on, let’s go,” Kelly told the Peoria Standard.

The resolution has no legal authority, he said, but it does serve as a strong show of unity by Peoria.

“It has no power,” Kelly said. “The only power is, I guess, I think it makes sense and it was unanimously adopted by the council. Who knows if it will spark any action by the governor.”

Last week Pritzker divided the state into four regions and set a series of phases they must pass through to reopen.

Kelly said the data collected by Peoria and the surrounding area show they are already at Phase 3 and ready to resume most normal activities. Under the governor’s plan, the earliest an area can be at Phase 3 is May 29.

That is too far out, Kelly said, noting businesses are suffering — “some may never reopen” — and the restrictions must be lifted sooner.

The resolution states that while big-box stores have remained opened, most smaller businesses were ordered to close. It states that the city of Peoria “desires that the governor review and revise his executive order and plan to ensure that Peoria’s local small businesses can operate in a manner consistent with what is being allowed by big-box stores.”

Kelly said that expresses the wishes of most community members, adding, “This particular issue has been going on for some time. I think it was time to push it a little bit.”

He has discussed the matter with local media and brought it up at an earlier council meeting. Kelly said he saw the resolution after it was drafted, made some minor changes and lobbied for it. The council, with very little discussion other than some positive comments, quickly adopted the measure.

Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, Peoria County Board chairman Andrew A. Rand and Peoria City/County Health Department administrator Monica Hendrickson held an online news conference May 13 and announced a reopening plan for their region. Several area mayors joined the the meeting.

It is called the Plan for the Heart of Illinois Sub-Region and covers 11 counties: Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton, Marshall, Stark, McLean, Livingston, Bureau, Putnam and LaSalle.

Pritzker had placed them into a larger area, the “North Central Health Region” that includes 27 counties. Kelly and the other officials said that is too sweeping of a region and Peoria, the eighth-largest city in Illinois with about 111,000 people, and the surrounding area wish to be classified as their own region.

The plan was sent to Pritzker on May 8, and he has not responded, Ardis said. He said with or without the governor’s approval, the plan will be implemented within 10 days.

“The plan is to continue to move forward,” Ardis said. “If the governor comes out and say no, our plan is to move forward.”

Kelly saw the officials making a strong case.

“It was a tour de force,” he said. “I did see the report that was sent to the governor and it was terrific. It was excellently done.”

Pritzker warned counties May 13 not to open earlier than the dates he set. He said they could risk losing reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“COVID-19 has turned our world upside down and stolen our sense of normalcy and stability," he said. "I want this to end just as much as you do. If I could take away the pain and the loss you're feeling right now, I would do it in a heartbeat. But this virus is still among us. This pandemic is not over. And to pretend otherwise in a misguided attempt to reclaim what we've lost will only make this last longer.

“For leaders, there are no easy decisions in a pandemic. Every choice, every choice, has consequences. And I know leaders across the state are struggling with these choices, and I have sympathy for them in that struggle. But what I don't have sympathy for is those so intent on disregarding science and logic, so afraid to tell their constituents what they may not want to hear, that they put more people’s lives at risk.

“You weren’t elected to do what’s easy. You were elected to do what’s right. To the small minority of businesses that choose to ignore the medical doctors and the data and to ignore your legal obligations to the residents of your communities, there will be consequences. Businesses and [individuals] will be held accountable. Counties that try to reopen in defiance may not be reimbursed by FEMA for damages they incur by ignoring the law." 

Pritzker added, “Police can and will take action, but there is no consequence the state could impose that is greater than the harm you will do to your own communities. One-hundred and ninety-two Illinoisans lost their lives to this virus in the past 24 hours. That's 192. How is that not real to you?

“More people will get sick and admitted to the hospital and die if we don’t stay the course and follow the guidance the experts have provided. Step up and lead. Now more than ever, your communities need you. Don’t let them down.”

Kelly, 70, is in his first term as a councilman. A retired financial consultant, he said Peoria is right and Pritzker is wrong.

“The science is on our side,” he said.