Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau calls for reopening village ahead of Gov. Pritzker's stay-at-home-order timeline

ORLAND PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau has called for his community to reopen faster than is outlined as part of Governor JB Pritzker's plan.

He says it just can't wait.

"The governor's plan would not allow restaurants to reopen until at least June 26. Frankly, most of our small, family-owned restaurants will not survive that long," Mayor Pekau said.

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Mayor Pekau posted video on social media Thursday. The village said that it may lose $2.7 million this year in sales tax revenue because of COVID-19 restrictions, so it has laid out its own plan to reopen businesses at a faster pace.

"When we embarked on the stay-at-home order, the goal was to flatten the curve in order to avoid overwhelming our hospital system. This has clearly been accomplished. In fact, hospitals have been furloughing medical staff because of the lack of utilization in their system."

During his daily briefing Thursday, Governor Pritzker said he expects local authorities to make sure businesses follow the state's stay-at-home order.

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"Everybody has the right to take a case to court to file a lawsuit, but the fact is the goal here is to keep everyone healthy and safe in every community," Pritzker said.

The Orland Park Mall is one of several area malls scheduled to reopen on May 31, when the current stay-at-home order ends if it is not extended. Mayor Pekau said safety measures will be in place at the mall.