McLean County Times

After a video came forward showing Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner dancing at a local establishment without a protective face mask on, the mayor apologized to the city and said the incident had taken place "a few weeks ago."

“I was at a Bloomington restaurant and they had a jazz band start to play live music,” he told the Pantagraph. “I danced for a couple of minutes without putting my mask back on. I had taken it off to eat. I want to apologize and pledge to do better. This is not acceptable practice in light of our recent [COVID-19] spikes. Let’s all try to work together to ensure better practices across the board throughout this pandemic.”

After the video was released, Renner issued a video in which he, City Manager Tim Gleason, and acting Police Chief Greg Scott reminded local businesses of the importance of following public health rules and guidelines set by the Illinois Department of Public Health. If the rules aren't followed, businesses can face fines and possibly lose their liquor licenses. 

"If we have institutions, establishments that are not abiding by the law, I will not only give them hefty fines but in some cases, if necessary, I will revoke their liquor licenses," Renner said. "This is very serious. This behavior is unacceptable, and we've got to band together to move forward."

Public health officials are allowed to issue fines if anyone is found not following rules in put in place by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in any business. Both employees and customers are required to wear face masks, but if they fail to do so, a fine of $75 to $2,500 can be issued. 

As of Oct. 7, Illinois reported 305,011 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 8,836 deaths. McLean County has reported 3,455 of those confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 23 deaths.