EAST PEORIA, Ill. — In early November, East Peoria Mayor John Kahl was the first area mayor to say their municipality would not enforce tier one guidelines.
He seemed to indicate during Tuesday night’s city council meeting that would not change, despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Tuesday announcement tier three mitigation measures would take effect Friday on a statewide basis.
The mayor said he’s not trying to be disobedient, but rather attempting to strike a balance between acknowledging the virus’s seriousness and allowing business owners to protect their livelihoods.
“We’ve never discounted the virus. We’ve taken it seriously from day one,” he said.
“We encourage people to remain mindful. Be mindful of the businesses.
“Many of these businesses, in order to reopen or remain open, have implemented sanitation and safety protocols. It’s not that they’re out to thumb their nose at the patrons, it’s that they’re trying to survive.”
Kahl called the matter a difference of opinion from that of Pritzker. The mayor said behavior during COVID should come down to personal responsibility.
“At the end of the day, the action truly is about putting that decision back into the hands of the residents and the business owners, and allow them the ability to make a decision as to how they want to protect their health and livelihoods. That’s what this has been about since day one,” he said.
“It’s not about defiance.”
Commissioner Daniel Decker, who revealed Tuesday night he was stricken early in the month with the virus, echoed Kahl’s sentiments.
“This is a virus we all need to take seriously,” he said.
“However, we also need to take seriously people’s livelihoods, and restaurants and owners of the restaurants. Their mortgages don’t stop, their rents don’t stop, their employees’ needs don’t stop, and so it’s not easy to just sit back and say you should close,” he said.
“I’m not mad at the governor, and I know the mayor months ago was saying the same thing. I’m not mad at him; there are just other things to consider.”
Commissioner Mark Hill remarked while the city, unlike other municipalities, has kept its facilities open, it has still taken the virus seriously.
“I want to build on what people do not see. All they see is East Peoria is not running around, fining every business making decisions on their own,” he said.
“We’ve changed cleaning protocols, we’ve provided sanitation stations, [and] there’s also social distancing quite often.
“You want to talk about science and data, pick out one of these restaurants and prove they are the source of the problem. It’s going to be very difficult.”
Kahl said Saturday night’s Parade of Lights would go on as planned.
