Mayor Mike McCormick has issued this statement regarding the County Resolution to reopen ahead of schedule outlined in the Illinois Governors executive order:
My personal opinion of the county resolution to restart local businesses that was passed earlier this week was that its intent was designed to give small businesses “hope.” The resolution was passed with bi-partisan effort, and I wish more branches of government would look at resolving critical issues in same manner as what we saw earlier this week with the county board.
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The legality of the resolution will be decided by the courts, and I am advising businesses that are considering reopening to first check with their attorneys, accountants and insurance companies and be aware that any state licenses they hold (like liquor, gaming or even individual professional licenses) could be in peril of losing them. With that in mind, as long as things are done safely, I believe these decisions should be a “freedom of choice” - as one of the basic principles to which our wonderful country was founded on.
I also believe the state and county’s recovery plan goals appear to be structured on preventing the spread of the virus – which should be everyone’s goal, and it appears the difference between the two plans is primarily the difference of time (either 14 or 28 days) needed to move between phase two and three (and further on in the recovery).
As far as we know, it appears that as of May 14th Godfrey has not had any residents who have perished from COVID-19, and I thank God for that. There are more businesses in Godfrey dying a “slow death” from the economic impact of the virus than are residents dying from the actual virus. Our residents clearly understand the seriousness of COVID-19 and are practicing the frequent advice regularly given to us every day. Godfrey currently only has a total of 18 confirmed cases (be awarethat’s a “running total”) which is still 18 cases too many; however, many HAVE recovered. When compared to other neighboring communities that is extremely low but it really shows our community’s commitment to fighting the virus. While the majority of businesses’ in our community are honoring the state executive order it seems to be the wise thing to do in order for them to protect their interests.
Please keep practicing those protective actions, social distancing, sanitizing surfaces, wearing a mask in public areas, handwashing, etc. as it appears to be working in Godfrey!
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