HP City Council Holds First In-Person Meeting In Over 15 Months

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Fifteen and a half months after the last time the Highland Park City Council gathered at City Hall, councilmembers joined one another on the dais Monday for an in-person meeting.

"We are transitioning all of our public meetings back to live for our elected and appointed officials," City Manager Ghida Neukirch said. "So individuals can join us for these public meetings at City Hall."

The City Council first voted to authorize a local state of emergency in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Illinois at an emergency meeting on March 14, 2020, five days after Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued the first in a series of ongoing disaster declarations.

According to City Council minutes, the local emergency declaration was extended through last month, when it expired May 25.

Mayor Nancy Rotering said she, councilmembers and city staff are all pleased to be able to be back meeting in person at City Hall.

"This last year-and-a-half has taught us all so much about leadership, resilience and strength," Rotering said. "We should each be proud to live in a community where everyone stepped up to do their part to slow the spread of the virus, to find solutions to assist neighbors in need and to support our local businesses."

Monday marked the first in-person meeting for the two new members of the council elected in April, Annette Lidawer and Andrés Tapia.

Also at the meeting, Rotering appointed one of the other candidates in the race, Lori Flores Weisskopf, to the city's Human Relations Advisory Group.

"I could share so many inspiring stories of our community coming together during this pandemic," Rotering added. "We organized food drives and donated masks. We drove seniors to medical appointments, volunteered to check in on neighbors and more."

Following Rotering's prepared remarks, the City Council observed a moment of silence for the more than 1,000 Lake County residents and more than 600,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 during the pandemic.

No statistics that would show how many Highland Park residents have died from the coronavirus have been released by state or county public health officials.