Quincy Reporter

Conservative Quincy activist Mecki Kosin wants small business owners to take a stand against Gov. J.B. Pritzker about what she believes are policies hurting those operations.

"Right now, we have a governor who is drunk with power," told the Quincy Reporter. "It's the only way to save yourself and everything you've worked to build up your business."

In part, Kosin's comments are based on a study from Alignable released recently about December's rent payments. 

The small business referral network reported that in December, 56% of all the state's bar and restaurant owners unable to pay their full rent as the governor's ban on indoor dining had a more significant impact. 

The number of restaurants unable to make full rent payments has more than doubled between September and December.

"The same thing is happening to small business owners all over the state," Kosin said. "We're all in the same boat where you have to hope the landlord will work with you to keep your establishment open because what the governor is doing is crippling all of us."

Kosin said dreads change may not come soon enough for small businesses waiting for the governor to reverse or relax COVID-19 orders.

"I really don't think he cares about the pain and damage he's causing," she said. "He doesn't see the little people and only things about what it is he wants in that moment. We will see even more businesses lost if they don't start to defy him."

Kosin suggested an "uprising" against the governor's policies as a method to force him to address small businesses' financial concerns. 

"We need an uprising of defiance," she said. "More people have to take a stand by reopening their businesses and fighting for what they've built. We have to remember that our constitution establishes that he works for we the people and not the other way around."