A Call for Leadership

Commissioner Morrison calls on Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot to stop the political sniping and start providing steady leadership

Orland Park, IL – It started last week with the controversial decision to move forward with the March 17 primary election directly in the face of the coronavirus pandemic which led to a nasty exchange between Governor Pritzker and the Chicago Board of Elections (CBOE). The exchange occurred
after the CBOE contended the Governor refused their urging to seek relief from the courts to reschedule the election because of public health concerns.

The governor’s dispute with the CBOE was followed by a volley of combative and sarcastic tweets from Governor Pritzker aimed at President Trump accusing the President of not providing federal assistance to Illinois with Mayor Lightfoot also joining in on the nasty twitter exchange. Do the governor and mayor honestly believe their incendiary public behavior will create positive results for our state? Creating a public fight with the President and the federal government at this critical moment is nothing short of foolish.

“I’ve heard from constituents who feel there’s too much negativity coming from the governor and mayor right now. The public bickering is not reassuring our residents, it’s actually providing an element of fear and it’s quite concerning,” added Commissioner Morrison.

At a time when cases and fatalities from this pandemic are on the rise across Illinois, this kind of petulant behavior from our leaders does not instill confidence in their ability to lead. Residents from across our state - and across the country for that matter - have made it quite clear that this is not the time for playing politics, especially publicly.

“Finger-pointing and name calling by Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot solves absolutely nothing except for trying to score some cheap political points. We need steady, effective and focused leadership and they’re not providing it,” said Commissioner Morrison.

Tackling this monumental crisis will take cooperation from everyone. From all levels of the public sector, private sector as well as all residents. But the hands-on leadership and execution starts at the local and state levels of our government. The state and city were already facing a litany of disastrous fiscal issues before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and now those issues (and others) will undoubtedly worsen. Finger-pointing and name calling will not solve these massive problems nor will it expedite assistance from the federal government.

Moving forward, we hope our leaders will engage in a productive manner with the federal government, the private sector, and all other vital entities in this unprecedented public health and economic battle. Now is not the time for political grandstanding. It’s time for leadership.