I haven't written updates about the Peotone Airport (South Suburban Airport) for some time. I just couldn't help but respond to an editorial in the Chicago Sun Times by U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, entitled "Still Waiting on 3rd Airport" that was touted by the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, (SSMMA).
My opposition to the state building a new international airport began in 1987 as part of a small protest outside the IDOT offices on Michigan Avenue. That led to the formation of RURAL, Residents United to Retain Agricultural Land, which I helped get off the ground officially on Aug. 2, 1988. RURAL was the predecessor of the present anti-airport group STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down).
More than 10 years ago I moved out of the area, so I was no longer confronted with the day-to-day assault of my senses in the form of the deteriorating landscape at the hand of the State of Illinois. Much of the land has been sold or taken by the state through eminent domain scattering the inhabitants of the rural community. Perfectly good homes have been razed, homesteads destroyed. I've kept in touch with some of those who remain, despite communications that continue to break my heart. Even now, with each headline, Facebook post, or random thought, I still find myself annoyed. I said in those early days that this airport will never be built. I'd like to stand behind that premise, although who could predict the lengths the state has and will continue to go to try to get this airport built despite its lack of support and lack of need.
That brings me to the editorial written by U.S. Rep. Kelly.
She attempts to paint a dismal picture of O'Hare International Airport, which incidentally has recently reclaimed its rank of the #1 busiest airport in the world. At one point it was third. Ms. Kelly, O'Hare is doing just fine, thank you very much. She goes so far as to call domestic hub operations and cargo potential as in a "decline." Oh really!!!
She touted the increased capacity of a new airport as being roughly 100,000 flights per year at a cost of $1 billion. All that tells me is she has bought into without question, the wildly-inflated numbers the state has used since the project was first envisioned in 1985. What they have done is write, revise, write, revise until their numbers are close to acceptable. Then, even though inflated, they build from there. The foundation of the study of this project is faulty, which logically, all else built upon it merely teeters. The state has gone to great lengths to control the study process, so all of it has been bought and paid for by them. They have had ultimate control. Since the beginning, IDOT has used every trick in the book to paint a rosy picture of this project. It just never really stuck. But they are relentless. They will try anything.
Take the new jobs figures Kelly touts--pie-in-the-sky. I hate to tell her, but the jobs figures have always been overstated. Thanks to the late Suhail al Chalabi and his wife Margery, who have long manipulated the numbers. Suhail is gone now. I wonder who the state will get to produce the salable numbers now?
When an elected official tells you "dollar for dollar, the third airport is a better deal for taxpayers," you better start asking questions. Better yet, you better start electing better officials. Kelly is the replacement for Jesse Jackson, Jr., who is currently finishing his sentence for corruption in a half-way house. He was a big promoter of this airport along with Gov. Pat Quinn, who just lost the election to new Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Building on projections is not wise. Wouldn't it be better to build on past experience? Look at what the state has already done. Mid-America Airport in downstate Illinois is an example of an airport the state had to build to relieve St. Louis' Lambert Field. Trouble is, Mid-America has no air traffic, no airline tenants, and little hope. It does have funding--from the taxpayers.
Kelly suggests that it would be smart for American and United Air Lines to reinvest in Illinois to ensure Illinois as a premier aviation hub. Sorry Ms. Kelly, but Illinois is already a premium aviation hub. It is called O'Hare International Airport. Furthermore, American and United Air Lines have already stated their opposition to a new airport near Peotone. Had you been at all informed about this project and its history, you would know that American and United hate the idea of another new airport. So do all the other air lines that have been on the record for decades opposing this project.
There are far better ways to create jobs for the beleaguered south suburban region of Chicago. An airport 40 miles away is not the answer. The only thing that should be done with the South Suburban Airport is drop it and move on! This project started in 1968. It is about as innovative as transistor radios and 45 rpm records.
As far as the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, they tout this editorial in their website. "Editorial: South Suburban Airport needed to regain aviation market." This group has been the lead voice for three decades. At least they are consistent, but isn't that a long time to beat the same dead horse?
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Welcome to CHBlog.ozarkattitude.com News and commentary by Carol Henrichs, retired journalist and Peotone Airport historian
Showing posts with label Peotone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peotone. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. should appologize to eastern Will County
Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s original congressional photo (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Jackson had been virtually missing from view for weeks until it was finally learned that he had a serious medical condition that required him to stay in the hospital.
According to news accounts., he has had visits, not only from members of his family, but also former Congressman Patrick Kennedy and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Each indicated that Jackson has a ways to go before returning to work, if he does return to work.
For what is now adding up to months, Jackson has been absent from the U.S. Congress. For the first several weeks, it was unknown just where and why he was gone. Wild speculation about rehab from drugs and alcohol, running off to a mistress, and other sordid explanations were rampant; they were all denied by family members.
Apparently Jackson is suffering from severe depression associated with his condition.
Illinois State Capitol (Photo credit: J. Stephen Conn) |
I can only wonder. Does Jackson's depression have anything to do with guilt about his behavior toward the innocent landowners in eastern Will County--the same folks which he has targeted for years. Following in a path laid out by his predecessors, Jackson tread on the people of eastern Will County as he pursued a pathetic idea--a third Chicagoland airport--that had been rattling around the Illinois General Assembly, in real estate circles, and in the leadership of the south suburbs since the 1960's. Jackson made it his own. It is unclear whether he believed the things he said about the vast economic potential of the project or if he simply was playing a role similar to that of a used car salesman or sleazy televangelist.
Either way, Jackson placed his own potential political spotlight far above the innocent people forced to deal with his political games. He wasn't even accountable to them until he convinced the Illinois General Assembly to right the wrong he did. When the legislative maps were redrawn, Jackson finally became the congressman of the district that included the airport footprint. Even before he got that done, Jackson played with the innocent people of eastern Will County as though they were merely the pawns in his life-altering chess game.
Most people would be conflicted by trying to better themselves at the expense of hundreds and perhaps thousands of innocent people. Perhaps Jackson really knows that his efforts to build a South Suburban Airport are futile and that the project itself is unnecessary.
I'd like to think that what he has done to people that were completely undeserving of his assault, has caused him angst. His accountability would humanize him.
Jackson has staked his entire political career on this one big issue. Who knows what might have occurred, had he pursued other, perhaps smaller, but more achievable projects?
An airport is the ultimate. The model of O'Hare International Airport, if duplicated, could be the one big development that would satisfy any politician's dreams. Starry-eyed at best, any objective view will show that O'Hare in the 1960's will not / can not be duplicated. That was a one-time bonanza, never to be repeated.
I'm sorry. I don't want to see anyone suffer. I feel empathy for my fellow human beings. Perhaps that explains why I got involved in the State of Illinois' battle to take private land for an unproven publics works project in the first place. The more I became educated about the lunacy of pursuing the building of another airport in the 1980's, the more suffering I have seen at the hand of state and local government. There has been untold suffering.
Perhaps this hospital stay is a good time for Jackson to take account--to consider all of the things he could have done--rather than pursuing the development of an unneeded airport. He should think about the harm he has caused to innocent people, their families, and their neighborhoods. Most of the damage was done before Jackson even represented the people of eastern Will County. Now he is their congressman. He should make amends, apologize to them. He should leave them alone, and stop beating the dead horse that is the Peotone Airport.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
House Ethics Committee needs to dig deep into Jackson dealings
Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. |
Jackson claims that
neither he nor his emissaries ever offered money to ex-Illinois Gov. Rod
Blagojevich for the appointment.
Can we believe Jesse
Jackson, Jr. and his less than monogamous relationship with the truth?
If the House members
believe that Jackson’s role in allegedly trying to buy a U.S. Senate seat is an
isolated incident, I certainly hope they probe just a little deeper.
Jackson not only
tried to coerce Blagojevich into handing over a seat in the United States
Senate, but Jackson also tried to get Blagojevich to hand over land to his
self-established airport authority for his pet project, the Peotone Airport.
Jackson has devoted
his entire congressional career toward the State of Illinois’ ill-fated effort
to build a new airport outside the 2nd congressional district. The latest
redistricting, would finally place the Peotone area into Jackson’s grasp. That
is, if he wins re-election, which only time and ultimately an election can
determine.
Jackson’s campaign
website once blatantly included Peotone in a list of communities in the second
congressional district. After much criticism, he later corrected it.
In 2007, I was
tuned-in to C-Span to watch Jackson’s performance as he sought an earmark of
$231,000 in the Financial Services Appropriations bill for “minority and small
business development and procurement opportunities.” Jackson painted his usual
rosy picture of the proposed airport, which Jackson has dubbed the Abraham
Lincoln National Airport. He began talking about how beneficial the project
would be to the poorest people of Illinois.
I was angered when I
heard Jackson tell his colleagues the airport would abut Ford Heights, one of the poorest
community in Illinois. Ford Heights is in Jackson’s district. It is a poor,
urban, predominantly black community. It has long been a high crime, blighted
area, with high unemployment. In stark contrast, the area where the airport is
proposed, is a relatively affluent, predominantly white farming community with
low crime and virtually no unemployment. Its economy centers on agriculture.
Not only are the two regions geographically far apart, but they might as well
be worlds apart politically, socially, and economically. The people who live in
the Peotone area are adamantly opposed to the airport Jackson touts. I know. I
helped organize an opposition group against the project in 1988.
One of the critics of
Jackson’s request earmark was, Congressman John Campbell, R-CA who introduced
an amendment to the bill to ban Jackson’s earmark, calling Jackson’s request
“federal funding for a phantom airport.”
Campbell’s bill would
have stripped taxpayer funding for the Abraham Lincoln National Airport
Commission because, as he stated the Abraham Lincoln National Airport doesn’t
exist.
He pointed out that
in a Jackson press release in Nov. 2006, Jackson said he would not seek federal
funds for the airport.
Campbell also
questioned the potential conflict in the dual role of Jackson’s Deputy District
Administrator Richard Bryant, who is now Jackson’s Chief of Staff. Bryant is
also the Executive Director for the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission
(ALNAC) that Jackson established.
Back in Illinois,
ex-Congressman Jerry Weller, R-Morris, in whose district the proposed project
would be located, called ALNAC into question when it raised $267,000 to lobby
Blagojevich. Weller called the campaign “self-promotion,” because Jackson was
eyeing a possible run for the Chicago Mayor’s office. Weller suggested the
money be returned “to the impoverished communities.”
Jackson had
envisioned that state-owned land, about half of what the state needs for the
airport, could be simply turned over to Jackson’s airport commission. An
opinion by Attorney General Lisa Madigan, however, issued an opinion that under
Illinois law, the state cannot convey property at no cost or for less than fair
market value.
These issues are
likely just the tip of the iceberg, which is why an intense investigation is
warranted.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Gary Airport to get commercial service; Peotone still a field of dreams
Soon to be flying over the skies at Gary/Chicago Airport |
The Gary/Chicago International Airport has once again made
an announcement that commercial air service will begin at Gary. This time, the
announcement was made by Keith Hanson, who represents the airline. He announced
that two flights per week, destined to Orlando, FL will fly out of the Gary
airport, starting in February 2012.
Last
September, it was rumored that Allegiant would begin service at Gary, but
apparently the announcement was premature. The day before a press conference
was scheduled, several news sources reported that a big announcement by an
unnamed airline would be forthcoming. The marketing firm—Diversified Marketing
Strategies of Crown Point, IN, identified the airline as Allegiant. The
announcement was cancelled by the airlines .
That
isn’t the case presently, as the latest proclamation that Allegiant Air will
begin service at Gary, this time, comes from the airline itself. Hanson added
that service to Florida may be just the beginning. He added that If it proves
to be successful, additional destinations can be added.
While
commercial airline service at the Gary airport has been on-again-off-again
proposition, it is not for a lack of trying. Indiana officials have long committed
to the success of the northwest Indiana airport.
The
last commercial airline to utilize the Gary/Chicago airport was Skybus which
ceased operation just one week after it began in the spring of 2008. A year
prior, SkyValue ceased operation at Gary due to financial difficulties. Other
airlines have come and gone over the years, but a subscription for success has
yet to be achieved. That certainly isn’t for a lack of trying. The Gary/Chicago
airport has had financial help from the federal, state, and local agencies,
including the City of Chicago, in an attempt to land long term commercial
service there.
Meanwhile,
on the other side of the border, Illinois officials continue to: 1) ignore the ready aviation
facility at Gary, which is just miles from the south suburbs they claim to be
trying to help; 2) try every way possible to coerce support for a new airport
in the farm fields near Peotone, IL, almost 50 miles south of Chicago.
The
project has been talked about for almost a half-century with little forward
progress except to shrink it to about the size of Gary’s airport.
The
only real step toward fruition came when the incarcerated ex-Illinois Gov.
George Ryan, made a deal with a campaign contributor to buy the first piece of
land outside the airport footprint. Since that first parcel in an
under-developed upscale subdivision became state-owned, Illinois officials have
used scare tactics and threats of eminent domain to scare landowners into
selling their property to the state. They have taken full advantage of
artificially reduced land prices due to the threat of an airport nearby, and
most recently the country’s economy and housing bubble to entice willing
sellers who feel they have no other options but to sell to the state. Even
still, the state has now obtained only about half of the land it would need for
a new airport. Landowners that remain are unwilling sellers who vow to fight
the state from taking their property, especially for a project that hasn’t even
been approved.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
South Suburban Airport is all about 'spin'
What a wonderful world
this would be if all things could be viewed through the rose-colored glasses of
the proponents of the Peotone Airport.
News continues to be
manufactured by the Illinois Department of Transportation in its push for
Peotone, or South Suburban Airport, (SSA). Funny, it is always positive.
Imagine that! Since I began studying this proposal in 1988, ‘spinning’ the news
has been IDOT’s long held practice.
Take IDOT’s latest
press release, dated Nov. 10, touting the approval of its Facility Requirements
Report of the SSA Master Plan.
“Approval of the
Facility Requirements Report is a critical step in the SSA Master Plan
process,” says Susan Shea, director of the Illinois Division of Aeronautics.
Shea continued, “FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has now agreed to what should be built at SSA and this
further demonstrates FAA’s continued support of the South Suburban Airport.”
That is like saying
finding your car keys is a critical step in driving your car. But to hear IDOT
tell the story, it would be as if this one document was the precursor to a
Record of Decision on Peotone. Nothing could be farther from the truth. IDOT
never tells the whole story, but rather their hand-picked version to showcase
their project in the best possible light.
For example the
Facilities Requirements Report, which outlines the basics of the facility is
just one of so many documents needed to develop a master plan. I recall the
talk about a master plan in 1987 when the first airport study was approved. It
is all a part of a process that must occur before the FAA can determine whether
or not Peotone is worth doing or not. The latest submission doesn’t even
include the airport’s official layout.
The reality is that
IDOT is playing catch-up in readying for its new and improved airport layout
plan, which is yet to be submitted. I wonder how many different plans IDOT has
submitted to the FAA over all these years.
In this instance, it
seems they finally hit on something the FAA can agree with. Honestly, this is like
an annoying kid who accompanies his mother to the grocery store. You know that
kid. He kicks his hands and feet from his perch in the grocery cart. He
screams, causes a real ruckus and embarrasses his mother. He wants candy. She
finally gives in just to shut him up.
Mundane or not, this
submission results in another glowing press release by IDOT. It was apparently
enough to inspire yet another over-zealous editorial by the Southtown
Star, Tuesday, Nov. 29, a long time advocate for a new airport at Peotone. The
paper quoted IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell, a former editorial writer for
the Southtown Star before he was recruited by IDOT, who called
the FAA approval “a huge step.”
The latest approval by
IDOT is not really that big of a deal, since it is required to be submitted
before the airport layout plan, which has yet to be submitted, let alone
approved.
Remember the last time
IDOT submitted an airport layout plan in 2008—well actually two plans. IDOT
officials thought they were being clever trying to entice the FAA into doing
its dirty work. IDOT expected the agency to solve the bickering between
Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Will County officials in their dueling
airport plans. Each had a different idea about how the airport should be
designed and run. So, IDOT submitted both plans to the agency.
Apparently the FAA’s
purview doesn’t include solving petty political squabbles, so they returned the
documents to IDOT telling them to submit just one preferred plan.
But that isn’t all.
Another example of IDOT’s ‘spin’ came earlier this year with the FAA’s approval
of airport activity forecasts. In March, IDOT issued a press release stating
the FAA approved its aeronautical forecasts. Using the same crystal ball that
IDOT has been carrying around since the late 1980’s IDOT’s numbers finally fit
the margin of acceptance for the FAA.
“This is truly a
significant accomplishment,” says Susan Shea…”FAA’s approval of our forecasts
validates the need to develop airport facilities that will serve the south
suburban greater Chicagoland area.”
Oh please, the reality
of the FAA’s position was outlined in a letter to Susan Shea, dated March 23,
2011.
In the letter signed
by James G. Keefer, Manager of the Chicago Airports District Office, Keefer
wrote, “We believe these levels project passenger, cargo and general aviation
demand and aviation activity at reasonable levels and outline the risk
associated with a proposed new airport such as SSA.”
Keefer referred to the
following levels of operations:
--Low-case for
passenger operations
--Low-case for cargo
operations
--High-case for
general aviation operations.
It has been stated, but is
worth reiterating that Bult Field, a privately operated general aviation
facility which IDOT initially tried to prevent from becoming operational, must
be incorporated into SSA to make it viable.
If passenger and cargo
operations at SSA are projected to be low, general aviation operations are
projected to be high, and Bult Field already handles general aviation—isn’t
that further evidence that another new airport is simply not needed?
It seems to me that
Bult Field is not for sale, and if it were, could IDOT afford it?
I guess that too would
depend on IDOT’s ‘spin.’
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Illinois farmers greet Jesse Jackson Jr.
Interestingly
Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. finally came to Peotone, the place he has been
talking about for 18 years, the place that has been the focal point of his
congressional tenure, the place he wants to decimate and urbanize.
Now that Jackson’s
new congressional district has been redrawn, it includes the land where the
proposed Peotone Airport has been tentatively sited. The remap is a victory in
itself for Jackson, who has long tried to mislead people into believing it has
always been in his district. See Jesse
Jackson needs a geography lesson.
It is almost
laughable how Jackson has tried to schmooze the farmers whose land he wants for
his pet project, into thinking he gives a damn about them, the land they work,
or their rural way of life. He doesn’t. They are only a mean to his end. He
wants only to use them to get what he wants—political power over jobs,
contracts and ultimately campaign cash.
Jesse Jackson, Jr.
had to talk hard and fast to get this audience of eastern Will County farmers
to listen to what he had to say; he carefully crafted his words to try to reach
them. Yet what he actually said might have the same effect as that which these
farmers spread on their fields to help the crops grow. Jackson probably decided
prior to the visit, that the best way to reach them was to emulate his
conservative colleagues which he loathes, since most of these farmers
traditionally cast a Republican ballot. I’m sure he did his homework and
learned that many of them sympathize with the tea party movement. Jackson is
too arrogant to consider that he has little chance of winning them over.
As a longtime advocate
for these folks keeping their land out of Jackson’s hands, I resent Jackson’s
inference that he understands their lifestyle. His talk of praying for sun and
rain, joking about driving a combine, and drawing first a comparison with his
African-American ancestors who picked cotton in the south and later with the
people of Iowa he met along the campaign trail, was insincere and likely
ineffectual. Try as he might to get into their good graces, I doubt it worked.
It is offensive that
Jackson would try to take advantage of religion and culture to worm his way
into the hearts and minds of the local farmers in eastern Will County. These
are good people, with too much dignity to tell the congressman what they really
feel. I can almost guarantee they will never vote for him, no matter how many
stories he tells them about how he understands their plight.
The one thing he did
offer that might give them pause was his promise of a “fair market exchange”
for those who are willing to sell their land to the state. Closer evaluation
will show this to be a ruse as well.
First, Jackson
promised that if they became willing sellers, they would receive fair market
value. Anyone could make that promise since that is the law. But he also said
they could farm the land for free until the land is needed. On one hand,
Jackson claims construction could begin by June. Even Jackson knows that isn’t
doable. So he is dangling the carrot on the end of the free farming stick. It
was an interesting ploy, given that farmers are businessmen like everyone else
in this faltering economy. Jackson also knows that for some the fight might be
out of them after all these years since the Peotone Airport was first proposed
in the 1960’s but heavily marketed since the 1980’s.
“An airport will be
built on that land,” Jackson said, speaking of the needed state-owned land
which represents less than half of what is needed. No doubt, that is as he sees
it, yet his view seems to be shared by less people every year as support for
the airport dwindles.
His flim-flam
guarantee for the opportunity to farm the land for free is simply not his to
make. While Jackson acts as though he and his self-appointed airport authority,
ALNAC (Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission) owns this project. It does
not. It hasn’t even been approved by the FAA at this point. No decision will be
made for years since the perpetual studies continue. Jackson is a U.S.
Congressman unaffiliated with the State of Illinois, yet he continues to behave
as though he has the right to negotiation with landowners for the State of
Illinois. He has no such right.
The bottom line is
that if Jackson thinks he is going to convince farmers in eastern Will County
that they should voluntarily sell their land for an airport they don’t want for
the sake of jobs in the south suburbs, Jackson is delusional.
I will at least give
Jackson credit for finally coming face-to-face with Peotone-area farmers.
Because his adversaries appear polite, easy-going, reserved, and all the other
attributes the good people of the Peotone area possess, Jackson probably thinks
winning them over will be a cake walk. That shows how little he really knows
about the farm community.
Jackson’s
visit can be viewed thanks to willcountynews.com.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Father of Peotone Airport dies
Everett Klipp dies at 84
Another pilot steering the decades-old saga of the Peotone
Airport has passed away.
Everett Edward Klipp, the man credited with devising the
Peotone site as the location for Chicago's third airport, has died of natural
causes at age 84. While I never knew him, he
was iconic to me. I never even laid eyes on the man until one day, he
appeared at a meeting, out of the blue. In 1991, seeing Everett Klipp for the
first time was to me, like coming face-to-face with a ghost.
Under different circumstances, I may have liked him. He
was a farmer from Manteno, one of eight children. He married his childhood
sweetheart. He had planned to be a machinist, the same profession as my father.
Instead, Klipp became legendary as a trader with the
Chicago Board of Trade. He is also credited with serving on the (Chicago) Cook
County Transit Board, as an officer in the Cook County Republican Party,
President of the Lions Club of Matteson Il., and as the inspiration and driving
force behind development of the Third Airport of Chicago to be located on the
south side of that city.
It was this last statement that is bothersome. Klipp
proposed the airport to be located, not just south side of that city as his
obituary notes, but between Beecher and Peotone, some forty miles south of the
city. In the late 1960's, Klipp paid for a study to determine the benefits of
the site he proposed. I suspect it may have been an innovative and
forward-thinking idea back then. Times change. But Klipp's initial airport plan
didn't change. What the state proposes today is the much the same as Klipp
proposed fifty years ago. Granted, the state's plan has been tweaked, though
not enough to make it work. It is far from innovative today. It is simply
another idea whose time has come and gone.
I had heard early on in my own battle against the
proposed airport which began in 1988, about Klipp's involvement. He proposed
the site when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley considered building Chicago's third
airport.
The state's moniker--third airport--is a misnomer, since
there are far more than two airports serving the region. Additionally, Chicago
has bought into the Gary/Chicago International Airport, which legitimately
makes it Chicago's third airport.
In 1991, I came face-to-face with Everett Klipp during a
congressional subcommittee on aviation hearing of the 101st U.S. Congress. It
convened in Chicago, at the Mann Park Fieldhouse, on the city's south side. I
was asked by the late U.S. Rep. George Sangmeister, D-Frankfort to participate,
to testify in opposition to the Kankakee site. I made it clear in my remarks
that my opposition was to any rural location for a new airport, especially the
Peotone site.
As I sat through the long proceedings, the focus was
clearly on the Lake Calumet site proposed by the City of Chicago. The rural
sites were included, but were far less newsworthy, as evidenced by the clearing
of cameras, reporters, and even some of the nine congressmen, once the Lake
Calumet portion of the hearing concluded. I, and a group of airport opponents
and supporters scheduled to speak about the three rural sites--Bi-state,
Peotone, and Kankakee--patiently waited our turn. When it came time to discuss
Peotone, I was shocked when I heard his name called. Everett Klipp was to speak
on behalf of the Peotone site.
Just hearing his name gave me chills--not because of his
wealth or power--but because his involvement had been so long ago. I had been
involved for four years and he had played no part. It was strangely comforting
to know this elderly man was the only voice to speak on behalf of the Peotone
site.
Looking back, I realize I am nearly the same age today
that Klipp was when he testified, which is far from elderly. His testimony was meant to impress decision-makers
because of his stature in financial circles. It had nothing to do with
transportation expertise.
Klipp's testimony in 1991 didn't revolve around what
Klipp knew best--finances. It was just general support, strangely similar to
what had been reported in the newspaper nearly three decades before.
It was then that I realized, it was Klipp's proposal that
the state has been using, despite decades of changes in technology,
demographics, and aviation itself. My early instincts were correct--this was
nothing more than a boondoggle--that had little to do with transportation need.
Preceding Everett Klipp in death is the Godfather of the
Peotone Airport, State Sen. Aldo DeAngelis, U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, and State
Sen. Martin Butler. Klipp is survived by ex-Secretary of Transportation Kirk
Brown, ex-Illinois Gov. George Ryan, ex-Executive Director of the South
Suburban Mayors and Managers Beth Ruyle, ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, as
well as Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Illinois contingency asks Gov. Quinn to abandon South Suburban Airport
U.S. Congressman calls South Suburban Airport plans 'wasteful'
U.S. Congressman, Don Manzullo, (R-IL) along with several Illinois state senators and representatives wrote a letter to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday, urging him to stop wasting state funds on a new airport at Peotone in eastern Will County.
Advocating for a new airport has been long and costly for Illinois taxpayers
Despite Illinois' budget crisis, Quinn recently allocated another $100 million to the Peotone project.
Illinois taxpayers have shouldered the burden for ongoing feasilibity studies for a new airport since 1985 when a concept plan from twenty years prior, were envisioned. The latest allocation of taxpayer funds would include just the purchase of additional land. The state owns only about half of what would be needed to build a new airfield.
The estimated $5 billion project does not include any of the infrastructure that would be needed to turn a farming community into a metropolis, what would be needed to make an airport viable. The present landscape of the area proposed to house the Peotone airport contains farmsteads and historic farmsteads, which use well and septic systems. Tar and chip roads are far from that which could accommodate airport traffic or even heavy construction traffic.
Nearby towns and townships have long been on-the-record as being opposed to the construction of a new airport. Residents have fought the proposal since 1987.
In addition to opposition from the people who would live with a new airport, all of the major airlines have said they would not use an airport at Peotone.
Congressman Manzullo tells it like it is
"We believe it is unconscionable for the State of Illinois to continue to waste precious taxpayer resources on this unnecessary project as the state struggles with record budget deficits and debt," Manzullo wrote.
Citing last week's agreement between the major airlines and the City of Chicago to move forward on the O'Hare Modernization Program, the Rockford congressman said, "it is even more egregious and unnecessary for the state of Illinois to continue to spend scare taxpayer dollars on the South Suburban Airport (Peotone Airport) that the airlines have said they do not want or need."
Manzullo named Rockford as an alternative airport to Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports. He reiterated the statement by the Illinois Department of Transportation, the same agency pushing the Peotone project, that the Chicago-Rockford International Airport, "RFD is the airport with the greatest potential for development of passenger service and the ability to maintain passenger service."
The existing RFD is the alternative to development at Peotone, he said, pointing out that RFD offers passenger air service now handles one million passengers. It can easily serve five million passengers per year.
While Peotone remains in the study phase, unapproved by the federal government , RFD has made more than $150 million in federally-funded capital improvements, including the construction of a 10,000-foot runway, net international terminal, and Category-III Instrument Landing System capable of accommodating any plan that flies.
In conclusion, Manzullo and state signatories—Sens. Dave Syverson, Tim Bivins, and Christine Johnson, along with State Reps. Jim Sacia, Joe Sosnowski, Dave Winters, and Robert Pritchard—asked Gov. Quinn to "abandon these wasteful plans at Peotone." They invited Quinn and Illinois Secretary of Transportation Gary Hannig to meet with them at RFD to see first-hand the potential that exists there.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Illinois to go for a Cargo Airport?
Are Illinois officials serious about turning the incredible shrinking airport planned in eastern Will County, Illinois, just 40 miles south of Chicago, into a cargo airport?
IDOT's latest metamorphosis that went from an initial plan to build a mega-airport more than 3 times the size of O'Hare International Airport, to a one-runway commercial facility has now shifted toward a cargo airport. At least that was the gist of a recent news story in DC Velocity Magazine.
The magazine reported, that Will County and the State of Illinois would develop a cargo airport as part of an ambitious multimodal transport complex that would include up to four intermodal rail yards, access to three interstate highways, and up to 135 million square feet of industrial warehousing and distribution space.
This must be IDOT's latest we'll do anything, draw-at-straws option. A cargo airport would be risky, and costly. Only one such airport exists in the world.
Alliance Airport in Ft. Worth, Texas
Alliance Airport in Ft. Worth, Texas, is not just an airport. It is an entire one-of-a kind devel-opment built by Ross Perot, Jr. The airport is owned by the City of Fort Worth, but managed by Alliance Air Services.
The airport is a small part of the development plan which includes 17,000 acres of industrial warehousing, residential communities, corporate living, apartments, hotels, shopping, and even proximity to NASCAR's Texas International Speedway. The plan was so meticulous that it has even inventoried the 36,166 trees on the site. This is the world's first and presently the only in-dustrial airport.
The 5,900-acre airport opened in 1989. Since that time, it has become home to a collection of government, national, and international corporations. There are presently between 60 and 756,000 square feet of vacant industrial properties available for sale or rent within five minutes of the airport, according to the company's website.
Cargo-only airport eyed in Pennsylvania
In 2007, the FAA approved a $1.6 billion cargo-only airport in the Hazleton area of Pennsyl-vania, but it is in the very preliminary stages. By Peotone standards of development, the PA project would be at about the same stage that Peotone was in 1986.
According to the Pennsylvania State Legislative Budget and Finance Committee Report High-lights, "The proposed Hazleton cargo airport could follow a successful track, such as Alliance Fort Worth, or be unsuccessful, such as the North Carolina Global TransPark and MidAmerica Airport near St. Louis."
Peotone Airport opponents are well versed on IDOT's other pet project — the MidAmerica Air-port, calling it Peotone's "poster child." Mid-America has been virtually void of activity for nearly its entire 11-year existence.
Market Watch.com reported that John D. Kasarda, Ph.D., director of the Kenan Institute of North Carolina, Chapel Hill questioned the wisdom of trying to build a cargo-only airport.
Calling a cargo-only airport a "challenge," Kasarda said it would especially be a challenge in a greenfield site. He said getting regular air cargo service is difficult, even in a dynamic area.
First proposed in 2003, but still just talk
Illinois officials first discussed a cargo airport at Peotone in 2003 though it never got farther than the talking stage.
Susan Shea, IDOT's Director of Aeronautics Division, whose job description now includes five bureaus including The Bureau of the South Suburban Airport, may have missed those discus-sions since they took place prior to her appointment to the transportation department by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Shea was an Illinois bureaucrat, but rather than transportation, Shea worked in the education department.
The question of a cargo-only facility had been posed for many years, though it was given little credence. Because of a lack of interest by the airline industry, the state acknowledged that it could consider cargo, not passengers.
“Nothing has been ruled out,” said the 2003 IDOT Spokesman, Mike Monseur, at the time.
Monseur added that no decision had been made as to what kind of facility the Peotone airport would be. He indicated, however, that there had been discussion on just how to use the airport.
“Regarding making it solely a cargo or mixture of both hasn’t been determined,” he said.
Cargo industry suffers economic woes
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global airlines are reporting just this week, losses in the range of $11 billion in 2009.
This far exceeds what was reported last year when the first gloomy predictions of $2.5 billion losses were made in March 2008. Revisions throughout the year were revised to as high as $9 billion in losses, but were still exceeded by economic reality.
Giovanni Bisignani, the chief executive of the IATA says such falling yields have never before been seen. And the IATA has been tracking yields for 64 years.
"North American carriers are expected to post losses of $2.6 billion, more than double the pre-viously forecast loss of $1 billion."
IDOT continues long-held patterns
IDOT officials and another in a long line of Illinois governors continue the Peotone mantra de-spite current economic realities and grim predictions for recovery. As is customary, IDOT is remiss in seeing the big, and/or entire picture as it relates to Peotone.
Officials fail to consider the new cargo facility at the Chicago/Rockford International Airport, improvements and influx of cash to the Gary/Chicago International Airport, and the ongoing cargo operation at O'Hare.
Not only do officials ignore the unlikelyhood of success in developing a cargo-only facility when it has only been done once before, and by a man with seeming very deep pockets, but they gloss over the current chaos within the industry, borne out by real numbers, and the state's own budget shortfalls.
When it comes to the 40-year old discussion to build a new airport in the cornfields of eastern Will County, IDOT is disingenuous at best as it continues its pattern of unbelieveability and lack of credibility.
Friday, September 4, 2009
South Suburban Airport fits pay-to-play system
Chicago and Wilmette (Photo credit: Frank Kehren) |
Since the late 1980’s, Illinois officials and their agents have
tried every available means to push a huge public works project to fruition, with
a keen eye toward ensuring their own political futures and continuing cycle of
self-enrichment.
The project is a 23,000-acre airport three times the size of Chicago ’s O’Hare
International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world. The state’s desired
location is a small farming community north of the Village
of Peotone , in eastern Will County, about
40 miles south of downtown Chicago .
The project is often called the Peotone Airport.
Airport boosters have dismissed the long-standing practice of
producing crops in eastern Will County. Instead, they view the prime farmland
as vacant and prime for development. The people most affected, including the
local governments of three of the surrounding communities and several adjacent
townships, have resisted the development for more than two decades. But, the
efforts of this sparsely-populated, politically-innocent region has fallen prey
to Illinois ’ well-funded,
long-entrenched political "pay-to-play" scheme, one that rewards supporters
and contributors with lucrative jobs and contracts.
Tax dollars have funded a multitude of government lobbyists
who make regular trips to Washington , D.C. and Illinois ’
capital of Springfield
to guarantee that despite its inability to gain traction on its own; this is the
project that will not die. Airport supporters have left tracks on campaign
contribution lists and at political fundraisers for years.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) |
Instead of following through
on his promise to clean up government, Gov. Patrick Quinn is following in the
footsteps of his predecessors on the Peotone project. Ex-Illinois Governor
George Ryan now resides in a federal penitentiary, convicted on numerous
charges of corruption.
CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 7: Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (C) holds hands with wife Patti Blagojevich (R) as they get in an elevator in the Dirksen Federal Building December 7, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison after he was found guilty of 17 public corruption charges. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) |
Ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich
was roused from his bed in the early morning hours last winter by FBI agents
who took him into custody. He was later impeached by the Illinois legislature. Among
other things, he was accused of trying to sell a seat in the U.S. Senate,
formerly held by President Barack Obama, to the highest bidder.
One of those bidders was identified as Congressman Jesse
Jackson, Jr., D-Chicago, one of the airport's biggest proponents. He too is
being investigated.
English: Former Illinois Governor George Ryan (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Despite numerous factors that threaten to shelf the
decades-old project, the former Lt. Governor under Blagojevich, Quinn pushed
for another $100 million to buy land for the airport. Land acquisition, started
in 2001 when Ex-Gov. Ryan paved the way. The state bought numerous unsold lots
in an upscale subdivision belonging to one of his campaign contributors. The housing
development was located just outside the airport boundaries, but was close
enough to initiate a selling frenzy.
Together with threats of eminent domain, an inability to sell property
in the doomed real estate market long-manipulated by the threat of an airport
nearby, and the fear of the future; some landowners sold to the state. They
simply gave up and moved on with their lives. The first talk of an airport in
the Peotone area was a headline in the local newspaper forty years ago, in
1968.
Many of the remaining families who live in the airport
footprint are what the state calls, "unwilling sellers." They have dug
in their heels, refusing to be intimidated. Undaunted, the state continues its
efforts to coerce real estate sales. Some landowners have farmed there for
generations.
Several farms have been in the same family for more than 100
years, honored as centennial farms; by the same state that now wants to take it
from them. In some cases huge signs marking “Illinois Centennial Farm” is down the road
from signs that read, “State Property No Trespassing.” Many believe the only
reason the state hasn’t used eminent domain is because they would have a tough
time proving there is a project in a court of law. No need has ever been proven
for the project nor has it been authorized by the Federal Aviation
Administration.
The state owns about one-third of the land needed to build a scaled-down
“starter airport,” with only one runway and a terminal building. Ryan decided
that the only way to gain approval for the mega airport was to start small. He
decided to propose building the "inaugural airport," reducing the
size from 23,000 acres to 4,000.
With unending funds, tied directly to the pockets of Illinois taxpayers, the
public relations work continues. Upwards of $100 million has been spent on what
the state has called ‘studies.’ In actuality, the ‘studies’ are a set of organized
reports, containing cherry-picked pieces of data tied together to induce a favored
outcome. Since the beginning, and to this day, consultants, lobbyists, and
other campaign contributors form a closed circle of airport backers.
Will County government, which would have jurisdiction over the
airport if it was ever built, has long been on the state’s bandwagon, despite a
majority of residents opposed to the project. County officials recently hired a
consultant. They also employ a lobbyist.
Will County supports an effort to write a new law to establish
an airport authority which would take effect even before an airport is built. Their
aim is to thwart the efforts of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Chicago who
started an airport authority of his own.
For more than twenty years, an organized group opposed to the
airport, has found it difficult to gain traction against the systemic political
machine in Illinois with its 'pay-to-play' structure heavy with lobbyists and
campaign contributors. It is a never-ending cycle that must be broken.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Will County State's Attorney sued for doing his job
Attorneys for Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow will return to federal court Monday, June 30 to defend him against charges of malicious prosecution.
A suit was filed this spring by former airport contractor Rocquin VanGuilder following an acquittal of him and his son Lee on charges of misdemeanor criminal trespassing and criminal damage to property. VanGuilder, the ex-vice president of Hanson Professional Services, which is contracted by the State of Illinois to manage the state-owned property purchased for the proposed Peotone airport, is asking for $200,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000 in punitive damages.
Glasgow’s attorney Martin W. McMannaman of Lowis & Gellen LLP, Chicago, filed a motion last Friday to dismiss the case because as a public official and a prosecutor, Glasgow is immune from prosecution.
It is Glasgow’s duty as the Will County State’s Attorney to meet with witnesses and to prosecute violators of the law.
Glasgow charged the VanGuilders after the Dec. 1, 2006 incident when, in defiance of landowner Mark Baugh, a subcontractor for the State of Illinois hired by Hanson, drove heavy equipment across Baugh’s farm field.
VanGuilder claims that Glasgow publicly stated there was insufficient evidence against him, until after meeting with representatives of the Will County Board, Will Township, and the organization STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down), which caused Glasgow to have a “change of heart.”
VanGuilder claims that Glasgow initiated the charges against him and his son for political motives and for public relations purposes so as to bolster his standing with his constituents.
But this isn’t the first time that VanGuilder has been taken to task on behalf of local landowners in the proposed airport site.
In June 2003, members of STAND met with Timothy Martin, the former transportation secretary. Also in attendance were VanGuilder and Christine Cochrane, ex-airport project manager. Residents confronted the two about what they considered unfair treatment. And they complained to Martin about the treatment they had received at the hands of Hanson employees. Particularly at issue were letters threatening condemnation of their property through eminent domain.
Judy Ogalla, whose family owns a 160-acre farm in the airport site, told Martin that she was appalled that Hansen would call her the day before Christmas Eve. Ogalla said a message was left on her answering machine, so that her three young children could hear it, stating that this is her last chance to sell before the state takes their home.
Martin told the landowners that condemnation would be a last resort. He was visibly angry as he looked directly at Cochrane and VanGuilder. He scolded them as he ordered them to refrain from contact with landowners for 60 days. Further, he said that all issues related to the project must cross his desk.
A July 27, 2005 headline in the Joliet Herald News told a similar story. It read, State to address Peotone airport complaints – Footprint residents: Agents use deception, threats, intimidation to get owners to sell land.
VanGuilder was also at the center of the controversy that erupted in Aug. 7, 2006 when 14 structures were demolished in Will Township. Even State Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson suggested there was a conflict of interest when one company was expected to negotiate and buy properties, rent them, maintain them, and want to destroy them to make way for an airport.
VanGuilder was roundly criticized to the point that his firing was discussed, as he attempted to defend the decision to demolish houses he claimed were not cost effective to rent.
The case in point was the demolition of the Krygsheld house at Eagle Lake and Kedzie roads which was purchased by IDOT for $416,000, just two years after it was built. Two years later, the four-year old house was deemed uninhabitable and torn down. Such demolition flies in the face of statutes governing IDOT’s land acquisition for future rights of way, which states land acquired should be rented.
State Rep. Lisa Dugan was also incensed when VanGuilder attempted to discuss deficient electrical problems with the house. As a former licensed electrician she bristled at his comments. She said the Will County Building Department, with its tough building inspection codes, would not have approved the house for occupancy, had it not been up to code.
Prior to VanGuilder’s employment with Hanson, he was the Project Manager for TAMS, the consultant almost solely responsible for 20 years of airport study. Controversial reports produced by TAMS have been under scrutiny since the project began in 1985.
A suit was filed this spring by former airport contractor Rocquin VanGuilder following an acquittal of him and his son Lee on charges of misdemeanor criminal trespassing and criminal damage to property. VanGuilder, the ex-vice president of Hanson Professional Services, which is contracted by the State of Illinois to manage the state-owned property purchased for the proposed Peotone airport, is asking for $200,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000 in punitive damages.
Glasgow’s attorney Martin W. McMannaman of Lowis & Gellen LLP, Chicago, filed a motion last Friday to dismiss the case because as a public official and a prosecutor, Glasgow is immune from prosecution.
It is Glasgow’s duty as the Will County State’s Attorney to meet with witnesses and to prosecute violators of the law.
Glasgow charged the VanGuilders after the Dec. 1, 2006 incident when, in defiance of landowner Mark Baugh, a subcontractor for the State of Illinois hired by Hanson, drove heavy equipment across Baugh’s farm field.
VanGuilder claims that Glasgow publicly stated there was insufficient evidence against him, until after meeting with representatives of the Will County Board, Will Township, and the organization STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down), which caused Glasgow to have a “change of heart.”
VanGuilder claims that Glasgow initiated the charges against him and his son for political motives and for public relations purposes so as to bolster his standing with his constituents.
But this isn’t the first time that VanGuilder has been taken to task on behalf of local landowners in the proposed airport site.
In June 2003, members of STAND met with Timothy Martin, the former transportation secretary. Also in attendance were VanGuilder and Christine Cochrane, ex-airport project manager. Residents confronted the two about what they considered unfair treatment. And they complained to Martin about the treatment they had received at the hands of Hanson employees. Particularly at issue were letters threatening condemnation of their property through eminent domain.
Judy Ogalla, whose family owns a 160-acre farm in the airport site, told Martin that she was appalled that Hansen would call her the day before Christmas Eve. Ogalla said a message was left on her answering machine, so that her three young children could hear it, stating that this is her last chance to sell before the state takes their home.
Martin told the landowners that condemnation would be a last resort. He was visibly angry as he looked directly at Cochrane and VanGuilder. He scolded them as he ordered them to refrain from contact with landowners for 60 days. Further, he said that all issues related to the project must cross his desk.
A July 27, 2005 headline in the Joliet Herald News told a similar story. It read, State to address Peotone airport complaints – Footprint residents: Agents use deception, threats, intimidation to get owners to sell land.
VanGuilder was also at the center of the controversy that erupted in Aug. 7, 2006 when 14 structures were demolished in Will Township. Even State Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson suggested there was a conflict of interest when one company was expected to negotiate and buy properties, rent them, maintain them, and want to destroy them to make way for an airport.
VanGuilder was roundly criticized to the point that his firing was discussed, as he attempted to defend the decision to demolish houses he claimed were not cost effective to rent.
The case in point was the demolition of the Krygsheld house at Eagle Lake and Kedzie roads which was purchased by IDOT for $416,000, just two years after it was built. Two years later, the four-year old house was deemed uninhabitable and torn down. Such demolition flies in the face of statutes governing IDOT’s land acquisition for future rights of way, which states land acquired should be rented.
State Rep. Lisa Dugan was also incensed when VanGuilder attempted to discuss deficient electrical problems with the house. As a former licensed electrician she bristled at his comments. She said the Will County Building Department, with its tough building inspection codes, would not have approved the house for occupancy, had it not been up to code.
Prior to VanGuilder’s employment with Hanson, he was the Project Manager for TAMS, the consultant almost solely responsible for 20 years of airport study. Controversial reports produced by TAMS have been under scrutiny since the project began in 1985.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Still affected by IDOT behavior
IDOT’s antics do not pale by time or distance. Despite my home address being more than 500 miles away, I find that some things back home still gall me.
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.
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.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Rep. Jackson needs a geography lesson
Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. |
Does Congressman Jackson even know where Peotone is located?
Ford Heights
is now a neighbor of Peotone.
At least that
is what U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., (D-Il) said on the floor of the U.S. House
of Representatives Thursday when he attempted to defend a Republican attack
against funding for the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission (ALNAC).
House
Republicans were unsuccessful in their effort to try to limit pork barrel
spending they blame on Democrats.
The national
debate targeting ‘earmarks’, which is loosely defined as a request for a
specific amount of money to a particular organization or project in a
congressman’s home state or district, got personal and close to home Thursday
when it was learned that Jackson was asking for $231,000 for ALNAC, as an
earmark added to the Financial Services Appropriation Bill.
By a wide
margin, the House approved the bill with the earmarks intact.
Jackson will
get the funding.
But it was
during his defense of the spending request that Jackson said, “Ford Heights,
one of the poorest suburbs in the country abuts the airport.”
Perhaps the
federal tax dollars ALNAC will receive can provide a little geography lesson
for Jackson.
This marks the
second instance where the public has been mislead about the airport’s location,
which does not lie within his congressional district.
A few years ago, on his website, Peotone was listed under the heading “My Home District.” All of the communities in Jackson’s district were listed there, including Peotone, which was between Park Forest and Phoenix. Peotone remains in the list, but a new header has been added that reads, “Municipalities on the South Side and South Suburbs including the future Home of Chicago's Third Airport in Will County Illinois Peotone.”
Jackson’s spending proposal was criticized Thursday, by U.S. Rep. John Campbell, (R-Ca), who offered an amendment to the legislation to ban earmarks. The confrontation was shown live on C-Span.
Jackson’s spending proposal was criticized Thursday, by U.S. Rep. John Campbell, (R-Ca), who offered an amendment to the legislation to ban earmarks. The confrontation was shown live on C-Span.
Jackson asked
for the funds for what the Republicans are calling “the invisible airport.”
“This earmark
would direct $231,000 – taken from taxpayers’ pockets across America – for
“Minority and Small Business Development and Procurement Opportunities,”
according to the Republican Study Committee.
Not only does
the Republican organization recognize that an airport does not exist, but they
protest that Rick Bryant is the Executive Director of ALNAC, which was
spearheaded by Jackson. Bryant is also Jackson’s paid staff member. Bryant is
Jackson’s Deputy District Administrator, who earned $23,999.99 in 2006,
according to Jackson’s website.
Republicans
charge that Jackson said he wouldn’t pursue federal funds for the airport. They
claim that Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been enthusiastic about the new airport
only because it would not use public funds.
During
Thursday’s confrontation, Jackson played a clip of the governor’s 2005 State of
the State address offering support for Peotone. Jackson claims the only thing
standing in the way of the airport is Blagojevich’s agreement to lease
state-owned land to ALNAC.
Yet, he failed
to mention that only a percentage of the land is owned by the state and the
remainder is in the hands of unwilling sellers.
Campbell
questioned the use of small business and procurement opportunities for an
airport that doesn’t exist.
“How can that
be?” he asked, since even if it were approved today, it wouldn’t exist for many
years.
Jackson argued
that he is not seeking federal funds for the airport, but rather for small
business opportunities to maximize the benefits of women and minorities to work
in all aspects of job training.
When Campbell
tried to enlist Jackson in a debate on the House floor, Jackson refused to
speak, saying he would allow Campbell to continue, but that he would give
closing remarks.
He took the
balance of his time to turn the debate into a pro-airport commercial, complete
with an easel and posters showing the airport layout plan.
Jackson said
IDOT is now in the process of submitting ALNAC’s plan to the FAA for approval.
And, he added that a Record of Decision could come in six months.
He denounced
Campbell’s two terms in congress by criticizing Campbell for jumped into a
three-decade old discussion first advanced by (former Gov.) Jim Edgar.
Jackson
pointed out facts as he sees them, such as Midway’s runways are too short,
O’Hare reached capacity two years ago, and ALNAC is a legitimate airport authority
who plans to build Chicago’s third airport with public-private funds.
“I have been
almost solely responsible for leading the effort,” he said, “for the last 12
years to attempt to solve the airport capacity crisis.
“Now is the time for planning,” Jackson said,
without the usual preface, that this airport is purported to be the most
studied airport in history.
Monday, May 1, 2006
History shows Ryan hurt eastern Will County
Ex-Illinois Gov. George Ryan |
Let us not forget that it was Ryan who started landbanking for the Peotone Airport.
Who would have predicted that Ryan would be indicted, let alone convicted, of multiple felonies, including racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, making false statements, extortion, money laundering, structuring money, tax fraud and filing false tax returns?
The fall of George Ryan began with the tragic death of six innocent children belonging to the Rev. Scott and Janet Willis. The events began a probe into Ryan’s conduct in public office.
Though Ryan did not directly cause the accident, it was later learned that the driver of the truck that caused the accident illegally obtained a drivers license when Ryan was Secretary of State. And Ryan pals who now sit in jail, tried to cover up the investigation of the accident.
George Ryan’s downfall was his arrogance, rooted in the belief that he was above the law.
Many say that Ryan was a nice guy, a kindly grandfather. Well, that may be the case, but the test of a person’s character cannot be accurately measured by how he plays with his grandchildren.
A true test of character is evident by how a man behaves under adversity and how he reacts to problems.
Ryan handled problems like a bully on the playground, scornfully dismissing anyone who disagreed with him.
Had it not been for a hardnosed prosecutor with a keen sense of right and wrong, Ryan would be just another ex-governor who hurt people without a sense of remorse.
Ryan never flinched when he hurt people with his decisions.
In eastern Will County, Ryan certainly hurt people. Had it not been for his actions as Governor, the Peotone airport project would have died in 1992. At that time, Ryan did the right thing -- voting appropriately -- against locating an airport near Peotone. As a member of the Bi-State Policy Committee that was charged with selecting the right site for a new airport, Ryan cast the deciding “no” vote for the Peotone site.
Once in the top political spot in Illinois however, Ryan followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Jim Edgar, who threw the first Illinois tax dollars at the proposal to build an airport at Peotone.
Not to be outdone, Ryan took it a few steps further. While Edgar threw money into additional studies, Ryan, for the first time, put money into the state’s budget for land acquisition.
Ten years after Ryan did the right thing by voting against Peotone, he did the wrong thing by boldly deciding to buy the first piece of property.
Apparently it didn’t matter that the first piece – a vacant parcel in Heatherbrook Estates in Monee Township -- was outside the state’s downsized airport plan.
Nor did it matter that officially, there was no project, since the Federal Aviation Administration had not identified a site for a new airport. The Phase I Environmental Impact Statement was not even completed at the time.
When the Tier I EIS was finally completed, it was after the fact. While the agency’s determination that buying land for an airport would not endanger the environment, in a letter to Ryan pal Kirk Brown, who headed the Department of Transportation, the agency wrote that Illinois was buying land at its own risk.
That action caused many to wonder about the political motivations behind the deal.
Land acquisition fell under the influence of the Airport Project Office in Matteson, run by former Monee Township Supervisor Christine Cochrane, who was named by Edgar.
Later, Cochrane became an assistant to Ryan political pal Brad Roseberry who then headed the project office.
Roseberry quit the post when he testified in court against Ryan. He admitted that he campaigned for Ryan on state time and shredded documents during Ryan’s tenure as Secretary of State. Roseberry escaped indictment, however, when he agreed to testify against Ryan and Ryan pal Scott Fawell.
Ryan’s first land deal netted one vacant lot in Heatherbrook Estates, but the token piece was all it took to inspire near panic sales by other landowners, already worn down by years of uncertainty.
The $47,000 price tag was a cheap price to pay to get the real estate door opened for the Peotone project. Never mind that it wasn’t even a part of the state’s 4,000 acres needed for its “starter” airport.
Another 27 parcels in Heatherbrook Estates were purchased by the state, totally relieving owner/developer Bob Bonnema from having to sell lots in his upscale subdivision. Another 65 acres has been purchased by the state to date.
Ironically, under the Blagojevich administration, Ryan’s actions were undone. It was decided to sell the Heatherbrook properties, since they weren’t needed. Residents there cried hardship, earning little sympathy from other eastern Will County landowners that have suffered since long before Heatherbrook was built.
An entire region has faced a hellish existence because George Ryan made a deal.
Despite the fact that Ryan was not directly responsible for the death of the Willis kids, he is responsible for destruction of peace and pleasure in eastern Will County.
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