Chicago fails to answer FOIA request on restaurant shutdowns

A FOIA request asking the City of Chicago for data that justify restaurant restrictions, has yet to be honored.

On September 29, a FOIA request was made to the City of Chicago requesting data pertaining to COVID cases related to the restaurant industry. The requesting party requested the following:

1: Number of restaurants in Chicago 2. Number of Total employees at all Chicago restaurants 3. Number of new COVID cases among restaurant employees since June 1, 2020 (names not requested.) 4. Number of new COVID cases among restaurant customers since June 1, 2020 (names not requested.) 5. Number of restaurants fined for non- compliance with city regulations 6. Number of restaurants closed for non- compliance with city regulations.

On October 27th, the Illinois Attorney General drafted a letter to the City indicating that they received a request for review under FOIA, alleging the city has not responded to a FOIA request.

What the requestors really sought was the data to justify restrictions on restaurants.

The city by doing nothing seems to be denying the request to show any data related to restaurant restrictions

As many restaurant owners are going through tough times, communications with them is paramount.

Whether the FOIA request will be honored is anyone’s guess, what we do know is transparency has not been at the top of the list