ANTHONY B. CAMERON
ATTORNEY AT LAW
535 MAINE STREET * SUITE 12
QUINCY, ILLINOIS 62301
https://www.tonycameronlaw.com/
Telephone: (217) 228-8669
Telefax: (217) 228-2225 IL
Attorney No. 0374555
E-mail: dacamara@adams.net AR
Attorney No. 73137
May 13, 2020
Hon.
Jay Robert Pritzker, Governor
401
S. Second Street
Capitol
Building, room 207
Springfield,
IL 62706-1150
Hon.
Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General
500
S. 2nd Street
Springfield,
IL 62706
Dr.
Ngozi Ezike, Director, Illinois Department of Public Health
535
West Jefferson Street
Springfield,
IL 62761
Re: Variances as a tool in COVID 19
positioning
Dear Governor Pritzker,
General Raoul and Dr. Ezike:
First, thank you all for keeping the safety of Illinois
citizens preeminent.
As counties and regions “clear,” I am reminded of another
health and safety protocol adopted by our State and how its very flexibility
made it successful.
When I was a very young lawyer, the Illinois Environmental Protection Act was
in its infancy. I had the privilege to steward it as an Assistant Attorney General
and later as Division Chief.
There were, of course,
resistors, naysayers and those claiming “hoax.” But those opponents were proven
wrong, precisely because the Act included in its toolkit a “variance”
for people who were substantially complying or for whom compliance was
technologically or financially going to take longer. The existence of this tool
prevented those opposed to the Act from saying it was oppressive and offered no
“less burdensome alternative.”
One might ask, “how would this apply to the current
emergency measure?” Two food operators I know independently of one another recently
proposed, on sunny days, placing outdoor tables at a safe social distance,
allowing families to do curbside pickup, then sit, as families, in the sun,
distanced from others. I’m sure, encouraged by the opportunity for a “variance,”
many food operators would develop other, creative, effective, and healthy
formations.
Just in terms of the
mental health aspect of all this, if families could dine outdoors while
maintaining social distance, it could contribute to more content, societal
acceptance of the current Executive Order.
As I am confident you all know, elements of the Executive Order are
becoming increasingly unpopular downstate. Speaking plainly, that makes
compliance less likely.
. In each of the
“family dining” cases I referenced above, the local health department correctly
told these operators their plan was not permitted under the Executive Order.
Under your current protocol, that is true.
But what if the local
health department had the authority to perform a due process analysis and issue
a variance?. The limitations in
time and configuration would be detailed on the variance document.
The engine that drives
Illinois’ economy is the creativity of its entrepreneurs. The reasonable
possibility of a variance would turn many restaurant operators into
creators of constructive social and commercial experiments, many of which might
benefit the citizens of Illinois and also limit economic damage.
There is no time to
draft detailed standards for the variance. It would have to be a simple set of
principles that would allow the delivery of food and assure against
cross-contamination. Such a balance is a calculus that every sanitarian
in every county’s health department is trained to make. The availability
of the variance remedy would cast a ray of hope to many operators
who want to keep people safe but also want to feed the citizens of their region
and county.
As we found so many
years ago, the availability of relief in the form of a variance built
support for the environmental effort in our State
Time is of the essence. By its
nature, the Executive Branch, can act quickly.
Please enable the capable people of county health departments to
issue tight variances to operators with good-faith plans. Variances would promote safety
innovation. We would also find much more
enthusiastic distancing, particularly in counties where the incidence of COVID
19 is relatively slight per capita.
I do not lobby. I represent no client with this letter. I write as one experienced in regulatory
schemes and with a simple modification that I believe would benefit all
Illinoisans in promoting more enthusiastic cooperation with the balance of the Executive
Order.
My contact information
is on the letterhead. I would be pleased and proud to discuss this with
representatives of any of your offices at your relatively early convenience.
This approach can only succeed if it is adopted relatively quickly.
Thank you for your kind
attention. I wish you all the best of health and every success.
Sincerely,
/s/
Anthony B. Cameron
ABC:lm
cc: Hon.
Kyle Moore, Mayor, City of Quincy, 730 Maine Street, Quincy, IL 62301
Hon. Gary Farha,
State’s Attorney, Adams County, 521 Vermont Street,
Quincy, IL 62301
Hon. Brian Vanderhaar,
Sheriff, Adams County, 521 Vermont Street,
Quincy, IL 62301
Chief Robert Copley, Quincy Police Department,
110 S. 8th Street,
Quincy, IL 62301
Jerod Welch, Administrator, Adams County Health
Department,
330 Vermont Street, Quincy, IL 62301
Hon. Jil Tracy, 3701 East Lake Centre Drive Suite 3 Quincy, IL 62305
Hon. Randy Frese, 3701 East Lake Centre Drive Suite 3 Quincy, IL 62305
Hon. Kent
Snider, Chair, Adams County Board, 507 Vermont St. Quincy, IL 62301