Belleville mayor apologizes for eating inside St. Louis restaurant
Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert has apologized for dining inside a St. Louis restaurant on Saturday while restaurants in Illinois are banned from serving customers inside because of coronavirus restrictions.
Eckert, who said Belleville recently sent warning letters to three restaurants telling them to stop offering indoor dining in violation of COVID-19 restrictions, posted his apology on Facebook on Sunday after picture of him wearing a mask inside Rigazzi’s on The Hill was posted on the social media site.
The image was shared widely and commenters criticized Eckert as a hypocrite.
In his response, Eckert explained that he and his wife went to the popular Italian restaurant after viewing Christmas lights together. He said they were prepared to take their order to go, but elected to eat in since the wait was short and they were seated at a table against a wall.
It’s a decision he says he has come to regret.
“...I apologize for this mistake,” Eckert said in his post. “Especially to those in the service industry who are struggling at this time and the health care workers who are dealing with this crisis.
“I frequent restaurants throughout our city, I prioritize supporting Belleville businesses, and I encourage my family to do the same,” Eckert said in the post. “However, I realize that in my position optics are everything, and I regret my decision to eat in a restaurant at this time.
“I take these warnings very seriously, and I should not have taken the risk to dine out.”
On Monday morning, Eckert was at City Hall to file his petitions to seek reelection in the April 6 municipal election. After turning in his petitions, Eckert reiterated what he said in his Facebook post.
“It was a mistake,” he said in an interview. “I take the whole thing very seriously.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has banned all Illinois bars and restaurants to stop serving customers indoors since Nov. 20 in an effort to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 cases. Similar bans have been in place for much of the year since the first one was issued in March.
Some bar and restaurant owners have defied Pritzker’s most recent order and have continued to serve customers indoors while others have resorted to serving customers on patios or in tents. St. Clair County recently ordered seven bar and restaurant owners to close for violation coronavirus restrictions.
In October, St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons was criticized for gathering with a group of people and not wearing a mask during a wrestling event in Tennessee. But Simmons denied his actions were hypocritical because the site in Tennessee was not under the same orders that Illinois has.
Government officials in other states also have been criticized for dining at restaurants in violation of coronavirus rules. Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom apologized for dining at a restaurant with a group of people.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 11:18 AM.
