Village Drops Lawsuit Against Governor, Mayor: 'I'd Do It Again'

ORLAND PARK, IL — The federal lawsuit filed by the Village of Orland Park against Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been dropped, records show.

After months of discussion and investigations, the dismissal of the case on Tuesday did not give an explanation as to why the village decided to voluntarily drop the lawsuit. Mayor Keith Pekau, reached by phone Friday morning, said "it doesn't matter anymore."

"It was pretty clear that [the judge] was going to say that we don't have standing in a federal court and take it back to a state court, which obviously costs a ton of money... when it doesn't matter anymore. We're open," Pekau said, adding that from August to now, the village has spent "almost no money" on the case.

The lawsuit was initially filed in June by the village, Brass Tap owner Tom McMullen, and residents Gregory Buban and Joe Solek. The lawsuit stated the governor's orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic violated the U.S. Constitution, Illinois Constitution and the Public Health Act.

Judge Andrea R. Wood denied the Village's motion on Aug. 1. Wood wrote that the "plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of any of their federal claims based on traditional constitutional analyses."

Records show attorneys representing Pritzker, filed a "motion for leave" in response to the village’s request, on Sept. 3.

Orland Park was initially given a deadline of Sept. 2 to respond to the governor’s motion, dropping the lawsuit. The village in return, filed a plan for Wood’s approval of the amended complaint.

Wood granted permission for the plaintiffs to file their amended complaint by Oct. 8, giving Pritzker a response deadline of Nov. 5. A phone hearing was set for Nov. 13, according to records.

When asked if the village regrets the lawsuit being filed in the first place, Pekau said "absolutely not," adding that the village has been fully opened since July 20.

"Our businesses had opened sooner because of the pressure that was put on the governor, and it was our lawsuit [along with] others that caused that to happen," Pekau said. "The amount of economic activity we've had has probably saved many of our businesses... the sales tax and taxes that we've generated from being open sooner are much greater than anything we spent on a lawsuit. So I'd do it again if there was a similar circumstance, based on the information we had at the time. I don't regret it at all and I don't regret dragging it."

On an Aug. 3 Board of Trustees meeting, Trustee Daniel Calandriello publicly commented on the lawsuit.

"The judge thinks this lawsuit has no merit and that's why our taxpayers spent, I want to say $66,000 on getting laughed at by the judge. So I thought it was appropriate that this is public knowledge that I bring to the public today," Calandriello said.