DeKalb Times

Dixon Mayor Liandro “Li” Arenallo thinks a reintroduction to the state may be in order for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“Some of his COVID-19 orders have been so broad based it’s like he’s only in tune with certain parts of the state,” Arellano told the DeKalb Times. “What he does affects the economy of this state as a whole and he needs to remember that.”

Citing rising coronavirus infection rates, Pritzker recently warned that he could soon move to reimpose stricter reopening guidelines for all of Illinois as at least 11 counties are now at “warning levels” for the spread of the virus. Cass, Gallatin, Jackson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Perry, Randolph, Saline, Sangamon, St. Clair and White counties have all been identified as potential hotspots.

Arellano is sounding the alarm about a one-size-fits-all approach he argues will cause every area of the state to needlessly struggle and suffer.

“We’ve already got businesses closing for good because of the first forced shutdown,” he added. “That didn’t have to be, and it’s why any restrictions enacted by government going forward need to be as localized as possible. There’s speculation that taking that kind of approach may mean a little more work, but it’s be well worth the effort.”

Arenallo argues the state can hardly afford another shutdown on the level of the first one, and the thought that it likely was not necessary to begin with only makes the thought of it harder to stomach.

“We can’t just keep losing our small businesses,” he said. “It’s only going to make it that much harder to recover. Many small business owners already feel like they’re being targeted in favor of bigger corporations and something like that may add to that.”

In the end, Arenallo said preserving small businesses whenever possible boils down to being about a lot more than just dollars and cents.

“It’s a way for people to lift themselves up, especially in a rural community like mine,” he said. “That’s just one more reason why we need to make any economic shutdown as localized to the area of the hotspot as we can.”