Lake County Gazette

Libertyville Mayor Terry Weppler has announced the village will not enforce any executive orders against restaurants who keep their dining rooms open in opposition of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s orders.

“I had a conference call with all of our Libertyville restaurants this afternoon and after consulting without trustees, we have decided are not going to take any enforcement action against the restaurants that stay open,” Weppler posted on Facebook.

Weppler’s announcement comes in the wake of orders by Pritzker to lockdown certain sectors of the economy again, including Lake County.

“I know the COVID virus is dangerous, and I am as concerned as many of you that we protect people’s health,” Weppler said. “However, there has been no issue of Libertyville restaurants causing spreading of COVID.”

Libertyville did have confirmed cases of Covid in restaurants, but Weppler said they were closed for cleaning and re-opened without an issue. 

Weppler called out Pritzker out for unfairly targeting one type of business and not another. 

“The governor’s order is self-serving since he allows customers to go into restaurants with gambling machines and gamble since the state gets 30% of the gambling money.” 

Illinois is in the top five states for permanent business closures due to Covid regulations.

Weppler said he was concerned about more business closures. 

“I know that many people do not feel comfortable going into restaurants and doing indoor dinging, and I respect that position,” Weppler said. “However, I do believe the restaurants are being made scapegoats in this issue do not want to stand by and see us lose our local businesses.” 

Pritzker also announced Chicago restaurants would be operating under increased restrictions. 

Weppler has been mayor since 2017. He is a practicing attorney.