If you are a business owner in Clinton and you want to open up - open up.

That is the message from City Administrator Tim Followell who says it wasn't the City of Clinton that shut down the businesses that closed after Governor Pritzker enacted the stay at home order. He believes business owners don't need the blessing of the City to reopen.

The City has received criticism regarding not putting a plan together for reopening. Followell says not only does the City not have the authority to tell businesses to reopen but they also do not have access to experts to help guide them in good policy to reopen.

Followell says the City is also tied up because they do not want to face the wrath of anything the Governor and his office can do to the City. He wants DeWitt County on the Governor's radar for something other than the wrong reasons.

Many have criticized the City for not taking action to protect sales tax dollars that come to the City. Followell points out, the State of Illinois does not have pass along sales tax dollars to the City. He emphasizes that is an unwritten law and those revenues to stop at any time.