Berwyn's Big Guys owner, mayoral hopeful blasts Lovero's 'wink and nod' restaurant policy

BERWYN – A Berwyn restaurant owner and mayoral hopeful is blasting Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero's "wink and a nod" policy permitting restaurants to remain open for indoor dining contrary to the governor's restrictions and is calling for more "creative governance" in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brendan O'Connor, owner of Big Guys Sausage Stand on Roosevelt Road, criticized Lovero's decision in a Facebook post on the YOUR Berwyn page and was one of several residents to offer public comment at the city council meeting Nov. 10.

Lovero on Nov. 4 said the city will not take enforcement action against restaurants that do not comply with Gov. JB Pritzker's order banning indoor dining announced in response to an increase in COVID-19 positivity rates and hospitalizations in suburban Cook County.

Lovero, while refusing to enforce the restrictions, is urging restaurant owners to at minimum follow the Illinois Department of Public Health's Phase 4 guidelines of the Restore Illinois plan. He also has said the city of Berwyn will not be held liable if someone contracts COVID-19 as a result of patronizing one of these establishments.

"This is one of those times where we need real leadership," O'Connor said. "Telling restaurants that they have your blessing to open against state orders is not a solution. A wink and a nod is not responsible public policy. Placing all liability on those you are elected to protect is negligent. Putting more essential workers in harm’s way is cruel."

According to the Northwestern University COVID-19 dashboard, the Berwyn ZIP code's seven-day rolling positivity rate as of Nov. 10 is 22.40%, nearly double the statewide average and the average in suburban Cook County.

O'Connor, noting the 50th Berwyn resident died of COVID-19 this week and that 266 new cases in town were reported Nov. 10, asked at the council meeting "what is the plan ... and what are we doing for business owners, servers and food insecure families?"

O'Connor has released his 10-point COVID-19 response plan, which includes using Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money for essentials that Berwyn residents need during a pandemic; activating city hall administrative staff to head public/private collaboration to keep Berwyn residents fed, housed and healthy; using city resources and communication tools to rally the community to support Berwyn businesses for carryout and delivery; implementing vouchers for food-insecure families; and reducing or temporarily suspending licensing fees for bars and restaurants.

"We need actions beyond performative acts – real solutions that don't risk the health and liability of business owners and restaurants," O'Connor said.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released in September said adults with positive COVID-19 tests were about twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant in the two weeks prior to illness than those with negative test results.

Lovero in his Facebook post Nov. 4 claimed that Pritzker had made his order "without having concrete data pointing directly to the food service industry, but rather general warnings such as that of the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] stating that on-site dining both indoor and outdoor is a higher risk factor due to people not wearing masks while consuming food and beverage."

"Without specific information showing a direct link to rising COVID-19 numbers to restaurants, we find it unjust to local restaurants who are barely maintaining themselves open after the last shutdown," Lovero said.

O'Connor said he knows there are restaurants not in compliance, and that Lovero has emboldened more to do the same.

"First of all, I believe in science. I'm not a fan of going against medical experts' advice," O'Connor said. "We have a town which in November has seen positivity rates as high as 30%. We know the virus disproportionately affects essential workers, Black and indigenous and people of color more than white people. We know what our town looks like. This requires creative government and motivational leadership to rally people together right now.

"For this mayor to take this stance and speak out on both sides of his mouth is really poor timing and could result in people dying. The stakes couldn't be higher."

O'Connor said his heart goes out to businesses that rely on dine-in orders. His business has not opened its doors for eight months, continuing to keep the policy of curbside pickup and delivery.

He said Big Guys is fortunate that the shutdown didn't affect it as much as some businesses, but the restaurant did have to completely change its business model. Big Guys lost half its catering business. It's catering parties of six rather than 200.

With that in mind, O'Connor said this isn't a "theoretical issue" for me, and he understands it is a complex problem, but it "deserves real attention, not reality-denying cop-outs."

"Our kids are not going to school, people are working remotely, everybody is making sacrifices right now and no doubt restaurants are hit the hardest," O'Connor said. "There has to be creative solutions. You have to dig into the budget and keep them open. You want a budget, well you better keep these guys open."

O'Connor was one of two residents to speak at the council meeting, with 12 more emailing comments. A handful of restaurants, including the owner of Guadalajara Grill and Bar, emailed thanks and appreciation for Lovero's decision to support the town's small businesses by not enforcing the order.

Many more were critical, one referring to Lovero's policy as "irresponsible and inhumane."

Joe Policastro, a 13-year Berwyn resident and professional jazz musician who said he's been "essentially furloughed" during the pandemic, said he was "shocked" as he drove past El Nuevo Vallarta on Cermak Road last week and saw about 30 people inside, unmasked.

"I wholly don't understand the strategy of taking a stance of noncompliance," Policastro said. "We are ensuring that the bad actors will have cart blanche to do what they want. It puts responsible business owners at a conundrum with what to do with their livelihood.

"Just yesterday that restaurant had 40 people in there unmasked with a mariachi band. That's hardly what I had in mind when they came out with these restrictions."

"This is so flagrant and so shortsighted. It's going to bite us all," said Policastro's wife, Marie Clark-Doane. "At the end of the day, when you look at the thousands of kids in Berwyn who haven't seen the inside of a classroom since March, to prioritize bars and restaurants over education, that is a bridge too far for me."