Mask mandate lawsuits, and the GOP strategy of insanity as substitute for rationality.
In April, 2020, Darren Bailey filed suit against the mask mandate imposed by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.
In July, 2020, a downstate Judge upheld Bailey’s and issued an order voiding the mask mandate. That decision was appealed by Illinois AG Kwame Raoul.
In June, 2020, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau filed essentially the same lawsuits as were earlier filed by State lawmaker Darren Bailey and a restaurant in Geneva.
In October, 2020, after a closed session of the Village Board, Keith Pekau voluntarily dropped the lawsuit that the Village had filed. Was the closed session necessary so that taxpayers could not hear the discussion?
In December, 2020, Judge Raylene Grischow of the Sangamon County Circuit Court voided the earlier July 2 Court order.
Regarding the claim that Pritzker’s emergency powers ended on April 8, Grischow found that the state law in question — the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act — allows the governor to issue more than one 30-day disaster proclamation.
Judge Grischow wrote that her interpretation of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act is consistent with a 2nd District Appellate Court decision from November, in FoxFire Tavern LLC v. Pritzker, et al. In that case, a Kane County restaurant sued the governor for exceeding his authority under the law by imposing a ban on indoor dining and the appellate court ruled in favor of Pritzker.
“The Appellate Court expressly found that the IEMAA authorizes the Governor to issue successive disaster proclamations stemming from one ongoing disaster,” Grischow’s opinion states.
So why in June of 2020 did Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau file the same lawsuit. Why did the Mayor, then preparing for his re-election campaign, use taxpayer money to file another lawsuit? Was it done for publicity purposes?
During an Orland Park Chamber of Commerce Town Hall in February, 2021, Pekau said the village “didn’t have the money” to help small businesses recover from the pandemic.
But he filed essentially a “me too” lawsuit, using taxpayer money, and the Village held concerts, a food festival, and kept the pool open. And at the beginning of the pandemic, he even attacked a fellow village board member for advocating that the village should support small businesses.
Now, Keith Pekau has decided that his talents can better be applied on the national stage as he has filed to run for Congress in the GOP primary next year in the newly drawn Illinois 6th District. Will he speak of fiscal responsibility? Will he speak of his record of raising taxes in the village? Will he defend his fiscally disastrous decision to waste over $70,000 of taxpayer money on a frivolous, publicity seeking lawsuit?
The whole point of these lawsuits, and similar strategies, has been pointed out here before.
It is to increase tension, and anger, and chaos, and hope that the resultant social and economic instability will favor the GOP in 2022 and 2024.
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