The owner of Chicago's only Chick-fil-A location has requested a meeting with Mayor Rahm Emanuel after he said this week the chain's values and views on gay marriage "are not Chicago values."
"We are a family of deep Chicago roots," said Lauren Silich, owner of Chick-fil-A Water Tower, at 30 E. Chicago Ave., in a statement. "My husband and I both came from city worker families (teachers, police, laborers) and Steve is a city worker."
Silich asked Emanuel to meet her family and staff at the restaurant, noting her business is independently owned and operated.
Ald. Joe "Proco" Moreno (1st) said Wednesday he plans to block Chick-fil-A from opening shop in his ward's Logan Square neighborhood after the chain's President Dan Cathy vocalized his stance last week against gay marriage.
"I think it's irresponsible to have discriminatory policies from the top down," Moreno told NBC Chicago. "They're not coming in."
Emanuel said in a statement circulated to media this week that a second Chick-fil-A location would be a bad investment.
"Chick-Fil-A's values are not Chicago values," he said. "They're not respectful of our residents, our neighbors and our family members, and if you're going to be part of the Chicago community, you should reflect the Chicago values."
Silich argued Thursday that her business supports the entire community with fundraisers for schools and hospitals, and donations "to a wide variety of causes, including everything from churches to gay and lesbian organizations."
Chick-fil-A spokesman Donald Perry issued a statement Wednesday saying the company's "culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect -regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.
"Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena."
