After 20 years of watching the state try to build a new airport, the misrepresentation of facts, the cherry-picked information that justified an unending study process, and outright lies connected with the state’s effort to push an ill-conceived airport into eastern Will County, I still find the sight of a very nice country home being ripped to pieces, appalls me.
George Ochsenfeld of STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down) called this “another IDOT rampage.) In a recent press release, Ochsenfeld said the people of eastern Will County are angry and distraught. Who can blame them?
It would be one thing to see the state tear down an old dilapidated building that no longer has a use, but to see a perfectly livable home destroyed for no good purpose, is reprehensible.
If this action were perpetuated by an individual, he would be labeled a madman. But it is not an individual. It is a group of them who claim to represent the sovereign State of Illinois. What a disgrace!
Where is the public accountability?
It isn’t just the devastation of a community, even local officials were slapped in the face by this recent action.
Last spring, 11 units of local government, including those in Beecher, Monee, and Peotone signed resolutions stating their opposition to further land acquisition, demolition of property, and the use of eminent domain until and if an airport is authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Where is the proof that deemed this house not livable? Whatever happened to the state providing rental income to the local taxing bodies when state-owned property is taken off the tax rolls? Where is the proof that a new airport, for which land is being cleared, is needed? Where is the FAA certificate deeming the airport imminent?
At the very least, where was any effort on the state’s part to recoup the loss of $516,000 paid for this house just a little over a year ago? Did anyone consider trying to sell the appliances, fixtures, carriage lights on either side of the garage door, or recycle the windows and doors, or pricey items that add to the cost of a home? Isn’t it ironic that while people are losing their homes and are unable to pay their bills, while the country faces an economic downturn that the State of Illinois simply knocks down perfectly good houses?
It seems as though with every new year comes a resurgence in the waste of Illinois officials who are unable to balance their own budget in a timely manner, unwilling to do the people’s business, except for spending, and are totally incapable of anything that resembles accountability.
