'Unreachable Goal' Set, Businesses Should Open: Tinley Officials

TINLEY PARK, IL — Two elected officials in Tinley Park have asked for significant revisions in Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's "Restore Illinois" plan to reopen the state's economy, holding that small businesses in the village are ready to open now and that the governor's plan includes "unreachable goals."

"The people and businesses of Tinley Park have followed the governor’s directives for the past 60 days without question," Trustee Michael Glotz said. "Their sacrifice has come at a great personal and financial expense. We now ask the governor to hear us on their behalf and allow them the opportunity to responsibly open."

Glotz said "we were told day after day that the goal was to flatten the curve—and victory would not require a complete eradication of the COVID-19 virus."

"The goal of flattening the curve was to make certain that the health care system was not overwhelmed. We have achieved this and the health care system has been shielded. The governor’s Reopen Illinois plan has effectively created an unreachable finish line.

"We join the litany of requests from elected officials from across the state to urge the governor to reexamine his plan and to allow industry experts and local municipalities to play a much larger role in how we reopen our state."

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Clerk Kristin Thirion says current data shows "the businesses in Tinley Park are ready to open today."

"They can do so responsibly with common sense regulations and safeguards," she said. "If social distancing is working at big box stores, then why can’t the same social distancing measures be safely applied to all businesses?"

"Every day that goes by where a business remains shuttered vastly increases the likelihood that said business will never be able to open its doors again. That is the reality which we face, and the decision-making process needs to occur as soon as possible."

Specifically, Glotz and Thirion are asking Pritzker to remap the regions in the state's plan, grouping them into more than just four regions.

"In addition to relaxing restrictions on small businesses, we feel that a one-size-fits-all set of restrictions isn’t feasible for the entire state of Illinois. The coronavirus pandemic isn’t affecting all parts of Illinois the same way," Thirion said.

Watch Glotz' and Thirion's full message here: