2010: Reality debunks early airport predictions

It is now 2010. This was was supposed to have been an aviation milestone, according to long-ago predictions.

By 2010 the number of people traveling by air was supposed to be equal in all parts of the Chicagoland region. That prediction was made in 1987 and was known as the equal propensity to travel theory.

Equal Propensity to Travel Theory

This illusive theory appeared with no explanation of its origin, yet was alluded to throughout the pages of the Chicago Airport Capacity Study, by Illinois Department of Transportation consultants Peat, Marwick and Main.

The theory was derived by sub-consultants, the al Chalabi Group, Ltd., the husband and wife consulting team – Margery and Suhail al Chalabi – who have worked for the State of Illinois on the 'third airport' project since its inception.

The equal propensity to travel theory was used to exaggerate a trend of population, income, and jobs south of the city which contributed to a justification that a new airport should be built south of Chicago.

One asssumption, then another, and another, ...

The initial assumption that there would be an equal propensity to travel throughout the Chicago region by 2010 was merely a planning tool, one of many assumptions built into the computer model from which other predictions were generated. That assumption helped generate other forecasts, such as:  the number of passengers that would use a new airport; the number of aircraft operations that would be served; as well as how many direct, indirect, or induced jobs the project would create. It just so happened that the first crystal ball was aimed at 2010.

The equal propensity to travel theory did generate some controversy. One of the members of the technical committee, which might be considered a 'stakeholder,' in today's terms, called the theory, "false."

Members of the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry, which later became the Chicago Chamber of Commerce explained, "The recent growth patterns in the Chicago region have increased travel propensity in the areas closer to O'Hare, not led to equal travel propensity."

The irony

The equal propsensity to travel theory was a prediction that is very different from today's reality, where some south suburban communities are considered to be among the poorest in the state.

It is ironic that the state's early prognostications that point to a need for a new airport to serve a burgeoning south suburban population stand in stark contrast to both the reality and the claims being made today by south suburban leaders. They claim that what is needed are the jobs and economic development that a new airport would provide.

The loudest voice of support for an airport near Peotone has come from U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. who may have never even heard of the equal propensity to travel theory. After all, when it was being written into the fabric of 'third' airport history, Jackson was in college in North Carolina. It wasn't until long after, around 1993, that Jackson became interested in the project. It wasn't until two years later that he was elected to Congress.

Your tax dollars at work 

The al Chalabi Group, Ltd. who first derived the 2010 prediction, remains on the state's payroll as they have for the past 23 years. They have a contract with the state transportation department at least until December 2011.  The consultants continue to make predictions for the Peotone project. Their latest, done in 2007, extrapolates figures into 2030.

They state that by 2030 there will be 4.5 million passengers using the South Suburban Airport. That prediction doesn't seem possible either, since the project is not yet approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The late State Sen. Aldo DeAngelis explained at the time, that the main goal in getting the report approved was so the process could move forward to the next study. DeAngelis, who was once considered the Godfather of the third airport, was one of the decision-makers that approved the report despite its criticisms.

The equal propensity to travel theory was never discussed again in subsequent airport studies.

Settlement gives O'Hare freedom to expand

There may be no wall to tear down; no gate to unlock, but the out-of-court settlement between  Chicago and Bensenville is huge for the Chicago area.

The City of Chicago is now free to expand O'Hare International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world.

Suburban leaders have put roadblocks in the path of O'Hare improvements, possibly since O'Hare opened in the early 1960's. But now, they have decided to step aside.

The Village of Bensenville and its new Village President Frank Soto, who defeated longtime O'Hare expansion foe John Geils last April, settled with Chicago for $16 million.

On Monday, Nov. 16, the City agreed to pay the village of Bensenville in exchange for dropping long-standing legal challenges against O'Hare. The city is now free to raze an estimated 500 homes in the path of new runways.

Peotone held to a different standard

When land was purchased for new runways, the City of Chicago honored a court order that prohibited buying property and demolishing homes until expansion plans were approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

That has not been the case in nearby Peotone. In 2001, ex-Gov. George Ryan made a deal with a campaign contributor, who sold the state the first piece of land for what he and his IDOT cronies called a "protective land buy." The parcels were the undeveloped lots in an upscale housing development outside the airport boundaries. When Ryan left office, the parcels were released from the project.

The sale of that first piece gave Ryan his intended result. It was enough to scare some property owners into selling their land to the state. They employed additional techniques, such as threats of condemnation to coerce additional sales of family homes and farms. IDOT wasted no time in calling out the bulldozers to demolish what appeared to be perfectly livable homes and barns, speculating that one day they would build the South Suburban Airport.

But to this day, the Federal Aviation Administration has not approved the Peotone Airport. As far as that agency is concerned, the Peotone airport is not officially a project. That is likely why the state has not used its powers of condemnation. To do so would require proof that an airport project is imminent.

Resolutions signed by several towns and townships adjacent to the airport project as well as organizations against further land acquisition until a project is approved,  have been largely ignored by county and  legislative leaders, IDOT officials, and several governors.

All the folks of eastern Will County want are the same protections that Chicago afforded suburban O'Hare residents in the path of O'Hare expansion.

 O'Hare foes tied to Peotone

The Peotone project has been tied with O'Hare foes since funds were first awarded in the amount of $500,000 to the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association for airport capacity studies in '85.

Powerful legislators endorsed the Peotone plan as a means of cutting off O'Hare. Bensenville's former president, Geils had been one of the voices that have remained steadfast since those early days of the push for Peotone. He was involved in the once-powerful Suburban O'Hare Commission that was made up of several towns in the northwest suburbs, who saw a new airport as the remedy to their noise and pollution problems.

Over the years, the towns around O'Hare realized that continual lawsuits against Chicago and its airport were costly and not in their best interests. O'Hare was an economic engine that affected far more than Chicago. It was a benefit to their towns as well. As they saw that O'Hare was an asset they eventually dropped out of the Suburban O'Hare Commission. Soon, the only ones left were Bensenville and Elk Grove Village.

Immediately following last April's election when Geils was ousted by voters, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson dropped plans to continue the fight against O'Hare.

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.

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.

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.

Why Peotone Airport won't go away

Here are two reasons the Peotone Airport won't go away.

The following is an excerpt taken from the board meeting minutes from an April village board meeting in Beecher, one of the communities adjacent to the project's proposed location.

Anthony DeLuca, theState Representative who replaced George Scully, ... answered  questions from  President (Paul) Lohmann  about the  third  airport legislation  being proposed by SenatorToi Hutchinson. Mr. DeLuca stated that he supports a third airport. The Board reiterated that Beecher does not want Jesse Jackson’s plan for control of the airport. The Village wants local control if the airport is to be in our back yard.

First, why would Anthony DeLuca, the former Mayor of Chicago Heights who has just been appointed State Representative, support a third airport? Does he know that what he refers to is really a sixth airport in the region — O'Hare International, Midway, Gary/Chicago, Chicago/Rockford, and Milwaukee International? It might even be a seventh airport if the Greater Kankakee Airport has its way. Does he know any of the history of this project?

DeLuca is the Mayor of Chicago Heights — ground zero for airport support. It started with the late State Sen. Aldo DeAngelis, the godfather of the project. But he has been gone for many years.

Does DeLuca know the history of this project, or is he simply relying on what he has heard from the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association. This is not real people, it is an organization that speaks for real people.That was proven years ago when a survey of some of the community's mayors were polled. They admitted never even talking about the project. Yet, because theywere members of the SSMMA, they were "considered" supporters.

Secondly, the above minutes reflect the statement by Beecher Village President Paul Lohmann, The Village wants local control if the airport is to be in our back yard.

Though at first glance, this doesn't appear so, but this is by far one of the most damning statements that could be made to an elected official by another. Instead of the passive statement — if the airport is to be in our back yard— should have been an aggressive statement — it will never be in our backyard.

If the three communities opposed to the airport would take that simple step, communicate that to their state representatives and senators, the airport would have gone away long ago.

Another thing that could harm, and perhaps kill the airport, if they really want to, is to counteract the trick played on them years ago. The villagesfell into IDOT's trap to satisfy federal regulations when they included the airportinto their comprehensive plans. The trick was to write two different plans. Theno airport plan was real. The other plan was IDOT's fantasy. Is that like  keeping two sets of books?

To make the airport go away - the villages should write the airport right out of their future. Take it out of comprehensive plans. Present the FAA with future plans for communities without an airport. Make it disappear on the paper  and it might just disappear in reality.

Happy 21st RURAL, a personal reflection

Happy 21st Birthday RURAL, a personal reflection

Twenty-one years ago, my life took a little jog in the road. I haven't been the same since. My daughter Jenny was only 8; my son Chris was 7. I'm a grandmother now. I have found peace in retirement, in the State ofArkansas where my husband John and I moved almost five years ago. But as much as my life has changed, the steadfast resolve that grew out of that day remains unyielding.

Aug. 2, 1988 was the day RURAL (Residents United to Retain Agricultural Land) was born. That was the official day, yet the real change had taken place weeks earlier — in the spring — when John and I attended our first airport meeting. John was so angry he rarely attended another one. I on the other hand can't count the number of meetings I have attended over the years. John's anger turned into pure hatred. Mine started that way too but was tempered, unbeknownst to me at the time, by a strong desire to mother a movement.

John was incensed when state consultants Marjorie and Suhailal Chalabi, who are still with the project painting a rosy picture of a successful airport with thousands of jobs and thousands of passengers eager to shun Chicago airports just to fly out of Peotone, argued that planes would not make noise in the future. That was the first time I ever laid eyes on Aldo DeAngelis, the late state senator, the beloved Italian who charmed everyone around him, as long as you agreed with him. I didn't.

There were 13 of us at that first meeting, who were all appalled at what we had heard. We stood in the parking lot at the Beecher Community Hall where we held our own little 'after the meeting' meeting. I later learned these were necessary to de-program after such a meeting where there was always a purposeful assault to our intelligence.

On this night, I suggested we pass our phone numbers around. Brenda Thunhurst., of Crete, whipped out a tablet and pen where we all scribbled our names and numbers. She typed the list at work and sent it to all of us. I wonder where that piece of paper is now? I had all that information on another computer—on a 5 1/4" floppy disk—which is no longer compatible with today's systems. If only technology hadn't moved so quickly, I could just search my computer for it.

Hah, if only transportation technology had advanced at a similar rate we'd be taking bullet trains to get from one point to another.

Or if Illinois politics would have matured past its historical pay-to-play mentality, eastern Will County would be a very different place today.

RURAL's guiding principles, formed during those early days of the opposition to build a new airpor never wavered. Still in tact, they were transferred to STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down). The overlying fact is that if something already exists — airports in Gary on the east, Milwaukee on the north, Rockford on the west, and Kankakee on the south — why build a new one?

If a farm economy is working and contributing to the region, why destroy it for an airport that could turn out like the state's white elephant Mid-America at Mascoutah? To be fair, we didn't know about Mid-America then. But once we learned about it, what a great poster child it turned out to be for what not todo.

The Peotone airport project has seen countless promoters over the years, all state-sponsored, paid by tax dollars, who have come and gone. They have taken as much from the taxpayers as they could get before they moved on, probably for more steady work or bigger paychecks. They have never looked back at the chaos they helped create or the people, property, community, and more that they have destroyed.

Even the project has changed. It has changed boundaries, size and focus. The state is searching for a winnable solution and so far, has not found one. I doubt it ever will. I have said for 21 years that an airport will not be built. I'd like to stand by that statement. But I can't. I have learned that all things are possible when the equation includes greed, power, corruption, dishonesty, and lack of responsibility, integrity, and morality. There is money and power to be amassed, so they continue.

Not only was RURAL life-changing in itself, but it also sparked my career. On Sept. 2, 1988, after never writing any more than letters to the editor, I achieved my first byline on a story published in Kankakee's Daily Journal. I was a correspondent until 1997 when I went to work full time there. That was when I convinced George Ochsenfeld to take over RURAL. I entrusted him with something I considered very special, but I had been a volunteer long enough. My kids were getting older. Money was an issue, so I voluntarily gave up RURAL to work as a journalist. My association with the Journal continued for two years. In '99 I went to work for Russell Publications, the weekly paper that covers several towns. Because of Russell's stance against the airport, I was more able to write about what I knew about the project without having to kow-tow to the multitude of official press releases that touted unsubstantiated claims about the project. I continued to report the facts.

One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was walk that fine line. But to the best of my ability I never compromised my integrity as a journalist based on my personal feelings. I did however; inject facts I knew into stories. Over time, reporters went to other papers or other jobs and the real meat of the airport story became lost in all those press releases with a few quotes thrown in from our side. The knowledge of past events that shaped today's happenings had all been lost. At that point, I became an advocacy journalist, reporting from a historical perspective.

Laid off now, I continue to write on-line and in this and other blogs. I still consult with George and STAND. And I have a lot of time for reflection. Perhaps one day I will announce a new book in this very blog.