Orland Park mayor calls new Cook County COVID-19 restrictions 'unlawful'
ORLAND PARK, Ill. - Cook County will be requiring proof of vaccination for customers age five and older at indoor settings where food and drink are served and 16 and older in indoor entertainment settings and fitness centers starting Jan. 3.
The mandate is in response to the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Illinois.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau released a statement Thursday saying that this new mandate is unlawful.
"If this is such an emergency, why are they waiting until January 3rd to impose these new mandates?" Pekau said in a statement.
Pekau says that he questions the intentions of the politicians who are making these decisions.
"Cook County is taking unlawful measures by mandating these requirements be enforced and followed. There is a process in place that lawmakers must legally follow to enforce mandates like this, but instead they prefer to overreach and play politics," said Pekau.
The Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees will hold a Special Meeting at 6 p.m. on Dec. 28 to address this matter.
Mayor Pekau's full statement can be read below:
"A news dump of this magnitude just days before Christmas is Cook County sending a clear message that they are on the side of politics instead of common sense. If this is such an emergency, why are they waiting until January 3rd to impose these new mandates?
I highly question the intentions of the politicians making these decisions when they have yet to provide any data indicating that restaurants, indoor entertainment facilities, or gyms are the source of covid. Why are we, once again, targeting these businesses with mandates and not the many other places where people congregate indoors?
Beyond providing no data, Cook County is taking unlawful measures by mandating these requirements be enforced and followed. There is a process in place that lawmakers must legally follow to enforce mandates like this, but instead they prefer to overreach and play politics. And now they’re expecting us to expend resources to enforce their mandates instead of using those resources to fight the crime perpetrated by criminals that they keep releasing back onto our streets.
My message in response is clear: Orland Park will continue to do what’s best for our residents rather than playing politics. We have followed the data and taken common sense measures to protect our residents and businesses without interfering with their rights. And it’s worked.
I have a village of nearly 60,000 residents to answer to, I don’t need extreme politicians in Cook County government telling me what is best for Orland Park."