Peotone Airport advocates, adversaries converge

Peotone Airport anti-airport rally participants--photo by D. Rodeghiero

Like an alcoholic, who can never touch the stuff again for fear of reawakening destructive tendencies that threaten inner peace, such is my addiction to the Peotone Airport debate. Compounded by obsessive leanings, I may never be free.

Pro, Anti-Peotone Airport forces plan separate events

Residents of eastern Will County are planning a celebration of their rural life, agriculture, and Mother Earth on the day before the designated Earth Day, on April 21.

It will be at the site of the proposed Peotone Airport. Their celebration will include a 'stop the airport rally' and a parade.

Coincidentally, that just so happens to be the same day that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. is planning what local residents deem a "fake groundbreaking," on the site of what Jackson hopes will one day be the Abraham Lincoln National Airport.

Will County Illinois has its own version of the "Bridge to Nowhere"

Fund request includes local version of 'Bridge to Nowhere'

As part of its $26 million federal request for roads, infrastructure, and safety projects, in advance of President Barack Obama's potential stimulus bill, Will County included a request for funding for planning for a proposed Peotone airport.

The government throwing money at this ill-conceived, unlikely-to-be-completed project might be described as Will County's own version of the 'Bridge to Nowhere.'

Perhaps the project might be more aptly named, 'Flight to Nowhere.'

While there are some very worthwhile and even perhaps critical projects included in the funding request, funds for the 'Flight to Nowhere' is not among them. And perhaps the project should enjoy the same fate as the bridge.

In 2005, the U.S. Congress nixed the $398 million 'Bridge to Nowhere'. It would have served only 50 residents. The bridge was to connect Ketchikan, Alaska to the sparsely populated Gravina Island.
The project, which caused ample embarrassment to the U.S. Congress, was considered the epitome of wasteful spending.

It became the proverbial poster child for congressional earmarks, those eleventh-hour additions tacked-on to federal spending bills by individual congressmen, seeking perks for their districts, usually as a means for getting re-elected. Ever since earmarks became a household word, they have been scrutinized, even though some of those too, represented worthwhile projects. The problem is that many were not.

As is customary, Will County sends its annual request for funding to the federal government. And almost habitually, the request includes funding for the 'Flight to Nowhere.'

Not all habits are good. And this may be one case where change is needed.

With the exception of some political maneuvering, there has been no forward movement on 'Flight to Nowhere' since yet another new map was submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration last March. Who can count all the maps that have been submitted over the past 20 years that the project has been in its perpetual planning phase?

No maps, no matter how skillfully drawn; tax dollars from every level of government; or lofty rhetoric from boosters; has been able to accomplish what a successful airport requires — a federal declaration of need, airlines who will use it, and passengers who want it.

According to a Will County press release, the portion of the $26 million request includes nearly half a million dollars for airport planning. Is continued planning for this boondoggle really the best use of $500,000 of Will County funds?
The Will County release claims that funds would develop a multi-jurisdictional land-use plan that would ensure regional benefits of growth while minimizing any adverse impacts.

This habitual language in Will County's request fails to consider that legislation to establish a development district for which a multi-jurisdictional land use plan would consider, does not exist. It languishes in the rules committee of the Illinois House.

The release states that the development plan was devised by Will County along with the Villages of Beecher, Crete, Peotone, Monee, and University Park.

How long ago was that plan written? How many changes have taken place in the affected communities that have not been incorporated into the plan? Is Will County even aware that these five communities that once held regular meetings may no longer share common concerns?

The planning funds include a 6-township multi-jurisdictional land-use plan. Is that even feasible? It wasn't according to former Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin, who said the ultimate build-out of an airport larger than O'Hare would not happen in his lifetime. Even a scaled-down version looks like an impossibility.
The press release says the federally-funded plan would take into account all types of developments based on the future growth of the communities and airport.

Too bad this funding request failed to consider reality.

• There is no airport project;
• There is no enabling legislation for a development district;
• The five towns that once worked together no longer speak to one another;
• Will County, like the rest of the country, is in the midst of a recession;
• And, air travel is lower than it has been for 15 years, due to the negative economy.

So, is requesting another $500,000 to plan for an unneeded project that has failed to advance from the drawing board in its 20-year existence, a wise use of funds?

Perhaps Will County should realize its perennial request for funding is sorely outdated and represents nothing more than a 'Flight to Nowhere.'

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.

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.

History shows Ryan hurt eastern Will County

Ex-Illinois Gov.
George Ryan

The actions of convicted ex-governor George Ryan have directly impacted eastern Will County.

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.