Business owners cooperate as mayor calls for downtown shutdown
By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
The Elmhurst Independent recently caught up with a very busy City Manager Jim Grabowski to discuss the events that took place during the peaceful protest held in Elmhurst on Tuesday, June 2.
“It went very well,” Grabowski told the Independent. “The group that organized it was able to express themselves and that was wonderful. One of our core functions [in City government] is to provide for the safety of our residents as well as all of our visitors and we were able to do so.
“We were able to provide that safety with support from surrounding communities.”
There were actually two protests planned for that day, Grabowski said–one at York Street and North Avenue, and another at Palmer Drive and Schiller Street. He was grateful that everyone who was part of the demonstration behaved peacefully.
Only a dozen or so people came out to Palmer and Schiller; eventually, they walked down to join the group at York and North.
“It was a very fluid situation so we had to assess what was going on and what our resources were,” he said.
Asked if any downtown business owners were upset about the mayor’s announcement to shut down City Centre in the mid-afternoon of June 2, Grabowski said no, that people were very understanding.
“The lone complaint we heard was that people would have liked to know earlier, but beyond that, everyone cooperated,” he said. “Once we made that call, we did not mandate a shutdown, but highly recommended it so businesses could really make their own decision. We were happy most agreed to close up their doors.”
He was thankful that everyone who took part in the demonstration behaved peacefully.
“We certainly don’t want to paint the protesters as if they came in looking for trouble,” Grabowski said. “Overall, things were very peaceful and contained.”
Asked about any crime or vandalism, Grabowski said there were no reports.
“The night before, NuCara Pharmacy had their front windows broken, but as far as we know, that incident was unrelated to any protest demonstration,” he said.
“[Mayor Steve Morley] and I have been on the phone at least twice a week with [the DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference] and we were able to see what other communities were doing,” Grabowski said. “After watching what happened in Naperville, we were able to ask what they thought went right and maybe what went wrong or could have been done differently. That was one of the reasons we closed traffic to City Centre to prevent anything from happening, if there was going to be any trouble.”
Grabowski said he was proud of the residents of Elmhurst when he heard from some of the police and fire personnel who came to help from other communities.
“They said, ‘Your residents are so nice,’” he said. “They said they were offered water, Gatorade, people were thanking them. You know, they just don’t hear that very often.
“That’s what the outsiders had to say about us. It says a lot about our community.”
