The following is letter sent to governor JB Pritzker from Aurora mayor Richard C. Irvin on behalf of restaurants and bars in the State’s second-largest city.

“Dear Governor Pritzker:

“I am writing to you on behalf of the small businesses in the Aurora community. Aurora is the second largest city in the State of Illinois, and sits in four counties, Kane, DuPage, Kendall, and Will. Currently, three of the four counties are on the list for enhanced COVID-19 mitigation measures.
Please know I appreciate your administration’s goal of reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the State of Illinois. As mayor, I have supported these efforts through increased communication with our business community by encouraging them to follow the guidelines and communicating the consequences for non-compliance. We’ve also work closely with our area hospitals and health departments, as I believe we are at our best when we work together, particularly at this difficult time.

“In spite of our efforts here locally, we find ourselves in the unenviable position of increased positivity numbers, which is a tremendous blow to our local business community, specifically our bars and restaurants. Aurora relies on the County Health Department and County Sheriff from each of our three counties to enforce the enhanced measures, which has resulted in varying degrees of enforcement. It is particularly difficult given the fact that the data which has been released by our local health departments does not support bars and restaurants as significant sources contributing to the spread, yet they are being singled out if, and only if, their establishment resides in a county that is enforcing the measures. Moreover, other businesses and settings that the data reflects are contributing to the spread are not subject to the enhanced mitigation measures. This has led to misinformation and opposition to the mitigation measures taken.

As mayor I would like to support your orders, but it is difficult as a leader for me to stand by and watch the enforcement vary as my business community suffers. Again, I certainly appreciate your efforts and support doing our part to reduce the spread, but I do not believe the current mitigation efforts will assist us in moving that direction without more consistent and uniform enforcement.”

Sincerely,
Richard C. Irvin
Mayor, City of Aurora