Elmhurst Mayor Keeps Emergency Powers

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst Mayor Steve Morley, who has become a critic of the governor's stay-at-home order, still wants to keep his emergency powers. And he got his wish.

On Monday, the City Council voted 11-1 for another two-week extension to the mayor's emergency powers. Aldermen have been regularly granting such extensions since March 21, one day after Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his order.

The one dissenter was Ward 3 Alderman Michael Bram. He said the mayor no longer needed such power. Most of the actions that Morley has taken under his emergency powers, Bram said, could have gone through the normal process during a council meeting. One of the few exceptions was the mayor's granting of authority for Elmhurst Hospital to set up a day care in a local school for the children of hospital employees, Bram said.

At the same time, Bram said he applauded Morley for handling the emergency powers as he has.

"We have a good handle on the direction we're going," Bram said. "The typical process that is in place should be sufficient."

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Last Monday, Morley attracted publicity when he released a public letter to Pritzker, calling the governor's plan to reopen the state economy "unacceptable." He objected to DuPage County being lumped in with Chicago as part of the same region, saying the city would hold back the suburbs in reopening. Such delays could last months, he said.

"To be clear, this is unacceptable. What will you say to the residents of DuPage County once we meet your criteria but you continue to mandate we remain closed?" Morley said in the letter to Prizker. "A more surgical approach must be applied as we continue to plan and push toward reopening."

According to the DuPage County Health Department, Elmhurst had 193 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of Sunday. This is up from 162 a week earlier, a 19 percent increase.

Morley has used his emergency powers in a few ways. He suspended delinquent charges and discontinuation of utility services. And he extended the payment of vehicle license fees for city stickers until June 1.

As have other area towns, Morley is temporarily allowing for off-premises consumption of originally packaged beer, wine and liquor related to certain restaurant liquor licenses.

Additionally, Morley has suspended the issuance of solicitor permits and those that already exist. "Any resident or business owner who encounters a solicitor should immediately contact Elmhurst police," the city said in a news release.