Restore Illinois: Baldermann To Host Discussion With Mayors

NEW LENOX, IL — New Lenox Mayor Baldermann will host a meeting with six local mayors and infectious disease experts to discuss the Restore Illinois plan released by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday. The 5-phase regional plan puts New Lenox (and Will County) in the northeast region of the plan, the same region as the city of Chicago and Cook County.

One of the local mayors asked Baldermann to host the discussion, but Baldermann did not release which mayors will attend or when the meeting will happen.

"I have always stated that we would base our decisions not only on the Governor's orders, but on the advice of our local infectious disease doctors," Baldermann said on Facebook. These doctors are the ones we count on locally if the people from our region get infected. If we trust them with our lives when ill, we should listen to their advice on potential risks regarding any action we might take as a government and as residents/businesses."

Baldermann said the meeting's outcomes will be discussed at the New Lenox village board meeting on May 11. At that meeting, the board will determine what course of action to take next.

Illinois is currently in phase 2 of the plan, and Pritzker said the earliest any region could move to phase 3 would be May 29.

"The health and welfare of not only our residents, but those that work in our area businesses will always come first," Baldermann said. "For those of you wanting everything reopened immediately, I understand your frustration and also want our businesses to be able to thrive again. Being a consumer is one thing; making sure businesses have enough employees to serve you is another. Many employees are concerned about working in certain environments at this point."

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"We have an obligation to the business community to represent them," Baldermann told Patch Thrusday.

Baldermann said he has concerns about the phasing of the latest plan, but said he has kept politics out of the discussions "in order to remain calm, factual and focused on medical science."

"That being said, [Pritzker's] job is extremely difficult and calling him derogatory names isn't going to do anything to help us get to where we need to be. Instead, I'll continue to consult with other local leaders, my board of trustees and our area medical experts to make the best decisions for our community. I'll continue to keep you informed and we'll always make sure your health and safety come first," Baldermann said.

Baldermann said the goal is to reopen as much of the community "as quickly as we can logically and legally."

"We not only have to address the health concerns of reopening, we also have to address the legal authority and liability of doing so. I can assure you we'll be aggressive in reopening as soon as it's in all of our best interests," Baldermann said.

The northeast region has the highest number of cases in the state, with the city of Chicago itself having 27,440 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The rest of Cook County has 19,249 cases, followed by Lake County with 4,529, DuPage County with 4,056 and Will County with 3,363.

Read more:

• Illinois Coronavirus Update May 7: 68,232 Cases, 2,974 Deaths
• New Lenox, IL Coronavirus Updates & News