BREAKING: Orland Park to move forward with federal lawsuit against Gov. J.B. Pritzker after ‘new information’ brought forward
Alleged encounter with Cook County Department of Public Health employee at the center of Village’s decision
By Jon DePaolis
ORLAND PARK, Ill. – An alleged mid-August encounter with a Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) employee is being cited as a reason why the Village of Orland Park will be continuing its legal battle with Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
After a closed session discussion following the Monday, Aug. 17 Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees meeting, Mayor Keith Pekau informed Richard Free Press that the trustees had directed Village staff and attorneys to move forward with the federal lawsuit against Pritzker despite an Aug. 1 ruling by Judge Andrea R. Wood denying the Village’s motion, stating the “plaintiffs have a negligible likelihood of success on the merits of those claims.”
While there was no formal action taken after the Aug. 17 closed session, Pekau said more trustees voted for it to move forward than the last time it was discussed by the board members – previously reported by Richard Free Press to have been a 5-2 vote.
Pekau said there was “new information that caused us to take a different approach.”
“We have not made a decision to drop the lawsuit,” Pekau said. “We are continuing to move forward.”
The new information that Pekau was referring to is an email that was sent by a Village of Orland Park employee to Village Manager George Koczwara on Aug. 13. Obtained by Richard Free Press through a Freedom of Information Act request, the email details an alleged encounter at a South Suburban Environmental Health Council meeting the day prior.
In the email, the staff member and another co-worker attended the monthly meeting and observed the following, per the email:
“The topic was brought up of the new enforcement legislation for COVID-19 regarding masks and large gatherings. The representative from the Cook County Department of Public Health specifically pointed out that they are aware of Orland Park’s lack of enforcement of the state guidelines and insinuated that the County and State are coordinating stepping into Orland Park for possible enforcement of this new legislation at businesses and/or events. [The representative] did not give a timeline or plan of action, just stated they had been waiting for the mayor’s pending lawsuit to be resolved before moving forward with any enforcement efforts.”
Pekau, who was reached by phone Aug. 21 after Richard Free Press obtained the email, said the Village needs to protect its businesses and business owners.
“This information indicates that what has been protecting our businesses is the fact that we had this lawsuit filed,” Pekau said. “It shows that filing a lawsuit was appropriate to begin with.
“Clearly, the reason why the State and the County haven’t come in here – according to this – is that we had this lawsuit pending. Interestingly, we provide our own health inspections. Most towns rely on Cook County to do it. We’re pretty thankful right now that we do it, because they are going to use that to attack our businesses, and that is not appropriate.”
Pekau confirmed that after receiving this information, a majority of the board members voted to continue the federal legal proceedings “while we try to collect more information to see exactly what is going on.”
While Pekau said he has not heard directly from the State or County if what was alleged in the email was true, he said the Village is investigating the matter.
Koczwara, who also was reached by phone on Aug. 21, said the Village is in the process of gathering information before formally reaching out to the State and County to ask if the claims made in the email were true. However, no formal attempt had been made as of 1 p.m. on Aug. 21 to contact those departments.
“We are putting together our documentation to attempt to get that verification,” Koczwara said.
Kimberley Conrad Junius, a spokesperson for the CCDPH, issued the following statement in response to questions from Richard Free Press about the veracity of what was alleged in the Aug. 13 email.
“CCDPH continues to provide public guidance within our jurisdiction, which includes Orland Park,” Junius stated. “As COVID-19 continues to circulate in our communities, adherence to guidelines will slow the spread and save lives.
“If we become aware of a business that is not adhering to the guidelines within our jurisdiction, we prefer to work with them – but, if necessary, we have the ability to issue an order specific to that business. Likewise, if we become aware that a municipality is holding municipal events that violate the rules, we have the ability to also issue an order.
“Neither of these situations have occurred at this time.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health had not responded to requests for comment regarding the allegations made in the Aug. 13 email as of presstime.
Meanwhile, Pekau said the cost of continuing the federal lawsuit will be less than what has already been spent to this point – approximately $66,000.
“Continuing the lawsuit at this particular juncture for the next couple of months is relatively inexpensive – almost no money,” Pekau said. “And what was spent already, in my mind, is certainly justified, because had they shut down all of these businesses, we would have lost far more than $66,000 in revenues.
“So, this was money well-spent to not have the heavy-handed government coming in and making criminals out of our business owners, which the governor has basically declared that they will be.”
Pekau also said the Village has no intention of reducing the size or scope of any upcoming events, with the Village intending to move forward with a free concert at Centennial Park West on Aug. 22.
“We will absolutely not scale back on these events,” Pekau said. “We’ve hosted these events – Memorial Day, July 4, Concerts in the Park, Markets in the Park – and we’ve had no increase in cases. There is absolutely no reason to not to do them. We’ve been doing them safely. So, we won’t scale them back.”
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