Editorial: Elk Grove Village sets an example about looking after your own
There will be many horrors to relate when the story of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic is eventually fully told. The painful death toll, mistakes made at critical junctures, a broken economy, ruined lives and businesses and delayed retirements will be among them.
But there will also be acts of true heroism to tell. As well, we will come to appreciate the leaders who stepped forward to take bold, decisive actions and convince others to follow them. Some of them will be national figures, others will certainly be governors.
Some will be local mayors and village boards.
On Monday, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson signed a proclamation establishing a $2.8 million coronavirus relief package that gives water bill credits to residents and waives various licensing fees for businesses. The village board has informally agreed, and will sign off on the expenditures in mid-April.
"We know this outbreak has placed plenty of economic stress on our families and our businesses, so if there's something we can do as a village to make things just a little bit easier, we're going to do it," Johnson said in a video message.
Johnson says the village will pay for the relief package out of its financial surplus from last year.
Elk Grove Village, with Johnson at the helm, has always been a little bit ahead of the curve and willing to try different things. Maybe it can afford that better than some other communities can, but the real point of pride here is that it is willing to.
It's no secret that municipal revenues are uncertain. Suburbs struggle with budgets every year, deciding which roads they can afford to fix, which sewer lines can wait another year, which retiring police and firefighters they can afford to replace.
No one would blame any of them for hoarding a $2.8 million surplus, because who knows what tomorrow will bring? Who knows what the coronavirus will bring?
By itself, the relief package may not have a huge impact on individual Elk Grove Village residents and businesses. But Johnson and Elk Grove Village are willing to try to mitigate the impact of this terrible virus on their people.
Brad Cole, executive director of the Illinois Municipal League and former Carbondale mayor, said it's the first he's heard of a town providing direct funds to residents in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
He's surprised and a little impressed, but stresses he doesn't expect other Illinois communities to do the same thing.
Neither do we. But let's let Elk Grove Village's example encourage other suburbs to look for their own ways to lesson the blow on the public and on local businesses that are facing serious financial difficulties during this unusual time.