Orland Opposes Mask, Vaccine Mandates: 'Actions Of A Dictator'

ORLAND PARK, IL — The Village Board of Orland Park voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve a resolution that opposes Gov. J.B. Pritzker's mask mandate and any vaccine mandate against COVID-19.

"The Village President and Board of Trustees of the Village hereby call for the Illinois General Assembly to end its abdication of responsibility and reconvene to address the health, safety and welfare of Illinois residents in light of COVID-19 by exercising their valid authority to legislate in those areas," the resolution states. "The Village President and Board of Trustees of the Village call for the General Assembly to reexamine the governor’s mandate to require universal masking regardless of vaccination status."

The board asked the general assembly to reexamine and appeal any mandated vaccination requirements for “those who are eligible for accommodation” and said it will not enforce the governor's executive orders.

"The Village President and Board of Trustees of the Village re-state that it is the policy of the Village not to take enforcement action in furtherance of the mitigations set forth in the Governor's Executive Orders, because the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act provides for enforcement of Orders promulgated under that Act by Emergency Management and/or disaster agencies organized under that Act, and because the provisions of the Orders violate the rights of Village residents and employees without being fact-based, necessary mitigations," the resolution states.

Mayor Keith Pekau gave a presentation providing COVID-19 case statistics, stating cases have gone up, but deaths related to the virus have not.

Deaths have risen in recent weeks, from a daily death count in the single digits in mid-July to an average of nearly 30 deaths per day this week. State health officials reported 62 deaths on Wednesday, the latest day for which data was available.

"We're talking about emergency orders here because our legislature has not acted, and the way that our constitution works, our legislature is supposed to act," Pekau said. "I know a lot of places decide to stay silent, they just don't enforce. We're bringing this to the public because the public deserves to hear us discuss the policy and vote on the policy, because that's the way our form of government works. It's not a policy that's set behind closed doors and we just do it; we discuss it."

Pekau went on to state that Illinois has been under a state of emergency for 600 days, during which time the governor had issued 97 executive orders. "These are the actions of a dictator," the mayor said.

"We're ruling by fiat and by one man, we're not ruling the way of legislative action," Pekau said. "There's no excuse for the legislature to not act; none. They've abdicated their responsibility."

The mayor criticized mandatory masking in schools, claiming that the state-wide mandate gives the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health "power that it does not have."

"If state legislatures want to give ISBE and IDPH that power, they should do so," Pekau said. "But when they choose not to do so, and actually vote and choose not to do so — then the governor just says, 'Well I don't like your ruling, so I'm going to do what I feel like,' that's not the way it works. I don't think our board here would appreciate if I did something like that."

Pekau then dove into the vaccine, stating he is "thrilled" the state had an emergency use authorization so quickly, adding, "I'm sure it saved lives, particularly those people who are in the vulnerable population."

"We've been ridiculed, and told that we don't care about people," Pekau said. "The Constitution is particularly important at times like this. It should be leaned on, not ignored in a crisis. It moderates our actions and reminds you of the principles of America. I have personally fought to protect and defend the Constitution, and what I've seen now should not be happening in America. You see these actions in Cuba, Iraq, Russia, Venezuela, Iran, China, Afghanistan and other dictatorships throughout history. The processes of our republic are being ignored."

The mayor proposed a series of questions to those who disagree with him: "Do you want one person rule, or do you want debate and discussion and legislative action?" and "Do you want to force chemicals into people's arms, or give them the facts and let them make the choices that are best for them?" he asked, among other questions.

He went on to list reasons why he supports this resolution.

"I will be supporting this resolution because it is high time for the legislature to do their job and legislate. It is also time for them to rein in a governor that is drunk with power and demand that the facts behind his decisions are shared," Pekau said.

"I will be supporting this resolution because there's a lot of data that IDPH should be collecting for each case, if this information is not being collected, like I said, it demonstrates in competence. If it is being collected but not being shared, then it demonstrates corruption. Either is bad, and it's time for to stop.

"I will be supporting this resolution, because the facts that are available, do not support the decisions being made," the mayor said. "I will be supporting this resolution because it's time for the state to stop violating people's constitutional rights by circumventing the procedures required by our Constitution, and our laws."