Chicago Restaurants Coalition Announcement • Dec. 27, 2021 • www.chicagorestaurants.org
Today at Noon: CRC Coordinator Brings Letter (See Attached) to Mayor's Office & Available for Press Interviews
Today at 2pm: CRC Virtual Press Conference
Phone: 312-626-6799, Code 869-2529-1794
Press Release
Chicago Restaurants & Voters Call for Jan. 15 Start Date to Check Vax Papers Like Boston & Washington DC, Oppose Sudden Order by Mayor Lightfoot to Start Jan. 3
Coalition Wants Mayor to Require Vax-Checks at All Government Buildings, Support $60 More Federal Funds for Restaurant Grants and Use Federal COVID Funds to Prevent COVID & Halt Crime
Press Release Contacts
Roger Romanelli, Coordinator/Chicago Restaurants Coalition & Executive Director/Fulton Market Association, 773-531-6370
Len DeFranco/Hawkeyes Bar & Grill, 815-341-2380
Kim DiPofi/Pompei Restaurant, 630-336-6190
Symeon Stavrakas/Kleen Teem Group, 312-805-3205
Mary Kay Tuzi/Twin Anchors Restaurant, 312-296-6740
Chicago IL – Stunned by Mayor Lori Lightfoot's sudden Dec. 21 order that 7,000 restaurants must start demanding proof of COVID vaccines from indoor-dining customers starting Jan. 3, Chicago voters and businesses in the Chicago Restaurants Coalition (CRC) are pushing back.
CRC is asking Lightfoot to follow the mayors of Boston and Washington DC who are giving restaurants until Jan. 15 to start vax checks. Restaurants need proper time to modify operations, train and possibly hire new staff, install security cameras to record interactions with guests and set new emergency protocols if customers object and get angry.
Shown by this YouTube video from Sept. 16, 2021 (Caught on Camera: NYC Hostess Attacked Over Vaccine Mandate by Texas Tourists - YouTube), customers in New York City attacked a restaurant hostess who stopped them from dining because they lacked vaccine cards and IDs. Now, every Chicago restaurant must prepare for this worst-case scenario, and they need until Jan. 15 to do so. In the future, any new mandates from Mayor Lightfoot should have 30-days notice, not 13 days.
Also, CRC wants Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown to post written instructions on his website telling restaurants what to do if they have angry customers. Chicago's 911 emergency system must be prepared to take restaurants' calls.
Further, CRC wants Lightfoot to require vax-checks at all Chicago government buildings (city, county, state and federal) if she's demanding this from restaurants. There's no government evidence to prove that restaurants are COVID hot spots, so it's unacceptable - - again - - for City Hall to uniquely and falsely demonize restaurants like this, scare away customers and cost them lost sales. If Lightfoot wants vax-checks at restaurants to encourage more people to get vaxxed, vax-checks at government buildings should be required too.
Also, CRC is asking Lightfoot to write letters to U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin to allocate $60 billion more federal funds for Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) grants to thousands of Chicago restaurants struggling to survive and needing funds to cover costs related to Lightfoot's new vax-checks policy. Most RRF applicants received $0.
Finally, CRC wants Lightfoot and the 50 aldermen to - - finally - - use Chicago's $1.9 billion federal COVID funds to fight the COVID crisis and stop Chicago’s crime crisis. Unacceptably, Lightfoot and the aldermen want to use over $1 billion to cover up irresponsible City Hall spending in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Instead, City Hall spending cuts should happen, and federal funds should be reallocated. For example, cash lotteries can be held in vax-lagging neighborhoods like Austin and Englewood to boost vaccinations, and disadvantaged Chicagoans can be paid to enroll in job-training and job-placement programs, as well as substance-abuse programs, to prevent crime and violence and help people transform their lives away from crime.
Further, Lightfoot and the aldermen can increase city fines and jail times for criminals, collaborating with Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx to enforce these fines and jail times.
CRC urges everyone to get vaccinated and boosted. CRC honors the outstanding efforts of most of Chicago's 7,000 restaurants to follow CDC safety guidelines to keep people away from the virus.
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