Saturday, June 27, 2009

Remembering John Callaway


I will remember John Callaway, a quality journalist

I was saddened by the news of the death of John Callaway, one of Chicago's finest journalists.  He leaves behind an enviable legacy. He was a good and decent man who excelled at the profession he loved, which allowed him to touch countless lives of people in all walks of life. I am privileged to have been one of them.

I remember when I met him. It was during his final year of hosting Chicago Tonight, which showcases newsmakers and various and often contrasting views of issues. On March 11, 1999, I was part of an invited panel, among former mayors — Dick Benson of Peotone, and Ed Palmer of University Park as well as former Illinois Transportation Secretary Kirk Brown. The subject was Chicago's "third" airport near Peotone. It was a fair fight — two for and two against. Benson and I opposed the project while Palmer and Brown promoted it.

I recall being a bit star-struck. It was a surreal experience — as Benson and I rode the train from the southernmost stop on the Metra Electric Line at University Park to what is now Millennium Station at Chicago, a lengthy cab ride to the north side, and finally onto the show's set at WTTW. Chicago Tonight was as familiar to me as my own living room, yet being there was like seeing it for the first time through a new pair of eyes. Being interviewed by the likes of John Callaway was pretty impressive in itself. Hearing him introduce me was certainly a personal high point. But it was also the pinnacle of the early anti-airport movement. After twelve years, our voices were finally being heard.

So much about those days is locked in my mind, but remains close to the surface. That was ten years ago, and I no longer live in Illinois. And while there is no reason for me to care about what happens, I still do. Revisiting the subject not only brings back the recollection, but remains powerful enough to revive the emotion.

I remember enjoying the confrontation with Kirk Brown, instigated by Callaway.

When I learned of Callaway's death, I wanted to watch a video tape of the show, something I haven't seen since around the time it was recorded. What a fascinating historical perspective. Nothing has changed except the players!

Chicago Tonight's discussion was inspired by then newly-elected Gov. George Ryan who announced downsizing the proposed airport — from 23,000 acres to a mere 4,100 acres. Brown remarked that a scaled-down mini version was Gov. Ryan's idea because "he is a practical man, a doer, who wants results."

Callaway observed that to him Ryan's gesture was the sign of cooperation between the Republican Governor and Democratic Mayor of Chicago. Mayor Richard Daley opposes another airport.

Callaway made mention that "Peotone seems a long way (from Chicago)." He mentioned that he had recently been to the Gary Airport, remarking that it really looked like a "nice facility at Gary."

"We looked at that," Brown said. "From an environmental standpoint, you can't do it." He added that there wasn't enough acreage available. "Gary has no future. There is nothing useable for a major air carrier airport."

I became angry all over again, as I heard Brown misrepresent the potential for the Gary/Chicago International Airport again. During those days, he said it often. It all came back to me; I recall the feeling of helpless injustice that comes when representatives of the government blatantly lie to get what they want.

This might be a good time to point out that George Ryan is absolutely a doer that gets results. And, his efforts have landed him in a federal penitentiary. Kirk Brown now works for the company — Hanson Professional Services, Inc — that he hired when he was secretary — to manage the state-owned land in the airport site. Coincidence? Brown no longer holds the title of secretary. U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., has replaced him as chief airport booster with his own brand of airport rhetoric. He not only repeats Brown's lies, but has added a few of his own.

During the interview, Brown went on about how the airport could be completed in five years — which by my calculations — would have been 2004. He claimed that all that was needed was for the FAA to complete an environmental impact statement. That wasn't quite accurate either. Brown said the Peotone site had no environmental issues that couldn't be mitigated. When a government bureaucrat talks about mitigation, it isn't about a permanent solution to a problem. It is a more likely a temporary fix, accompanied by glowing press releases that cover up problems, usually creating new ones in the process.

So, during our discussion, Callaway asked me if I thought there were environmental concerns at the airport site. I shot back that yes, flooding was a major issue, with all of the many creeks and streams that flow through the airport site. I suggested that when it rains, the flow pattern is obvious. Today, the soil absorbs and drains the water, but that wouldn't happen if the land was paved with concrete and asphalt.

Callaway then asked if perhaps there was a need for an airport to service the southern portion of the region some time in the future. I answered that I didn't think so. I saw future technology as more likely to move toward shorter runways, not longer ones.

Benson talked about high speed rail and how it had begun making headlines. That has begun again with the election of President Barack Obama, but this time with the leadership necessary to move forward on this exciting new mode of transportation, it could become a reality. Kirk Brown's position, though he didn't discuss it on the show, was dismissive of high speed rail. Today's state decision-makers have continued Brown's notion that high speed rail should be built to connect Peotone to downtown Chicago. He refused to accept that high speed rail would serve as competition to aviation,  further negating a need for a new airport.

Callaway tried to engage Palmer in a conversation about the people who would be dislocated. Instead, he presented a scripted message about economic development for the south suburbs.

"It is coming. It is a fact that it will be here," he said. "For those dislocated, stop thinking in the past," he said.

Palmer's remarks insulted our intelligence. As a representative of the grass-roots organization Residents United to Retain Agricultural Land (RURAL), my role was to represent the views of our members, many of whom would be displaced by a new airport.  To me, thinking in the past was Palmer and Brown trying to push an idea conceived more than 40 years ago.

Watching the tape reminded me that the kind of nonsense which is still being spewed by Jackson and others, still retains the power to annoy me.

Before our introduction on Chicago Tonight, reporter Rich Samuels traveled to the Peotone area to talk to the folks most affected. Providing the balanced view was former Chicago Heights Mayor Angelo Ciambrone.

I felt a pang of homesickness as I watched the tape, remembering the frustration that was displayed on the faces of the people who I felt very close to in those days — people I am no longer in contact with since I retired and left the area.

Warren Gottwald, who years later has since moved away as well, talked about his 40-acre farm that he loved. He said that when he was a young man he thought the American Dream was to own a place with a little creek on it.

"I have that now and they want to take it away from me," he said, admitting, "I'm bitter about this unnecessary airport."

"We need an infusion of an economic giant," Ciambrone said, as he and Samuels toured the urban decay in and around Chicago Heights, a once vibrant, bustling community, rich with jobs, shopping, theaters, and clubs. Someone should have repeated to Ciambrone before he spoke, that the airport he was talking about was scaled down to just one runway and one terminal. Even if it was a smashing success, it wouldn't be an economic giant. The reality is that the airlines who oppose the project would likely continue to oppose it. Instead of a boon, it likely could be an economic drain like Illinois' other boondoggle airport, Mid-America near downstate Mascoutah which has been virtually a ghost town since it was built a decade ago.

A scaled-down airport would duplicate what is now in Gary, accessible by only tar and chip roads instead of highways that serve Gary. How has Gary's airport provided an economic benefit? For that matter, where is the economic benefit in Maywood, that isn't far from one of the busiest airports in the world — O'Hare? Sadly, an airport more than 20 miles away would likely change nothing in the south suburbs. And, it is time to admit that economic development cannot in itself change generational illiteracy, poor schools, gang crime, high murder rate, crooked cops, drug dealing, and a pathetic political structure that does nothing but make excuses.

The video portrayed the rich farm fields and wide open spaces where the airport is actually proposed. The contrast was startling. Samuels went to Peotone — which remains a quaint, little Rockwellian town with a viable downtown where people still gather to talk, shop, and frequent restaurants and saloons. While there, Samuels talked to people who said what they have been saying for the past 20 years when the project was revived by Ryan's predecessor, Gov. Jim Edgar. And they are still saying them. They want to keep their way of life, free of the airport 'dangling here,' as Mary Ann Talamontez, who works in the local doctor's office, put it.

Judi Austell, who owns the local beauty shop, said she wished the state would just make up its mind.

"Let's be fair. The people will be compensated fairly," Ciambrone said. Glenn Ginder, who farms for a living, was concerned about the cavalier attitude that folks in the path of runways can simply relocate.

"How do you put a price on food, family, or our church," he said.
Callaway wisely commented that the debate would likely continue.

I had been interviewed many times over the years. But, I was most impressed with John Callaway — for his knowledge on the subject, the questions he posed, and the understanding he held for the victims who still live with the uncertainty of this 40-year old project. His calm demeanor was capped by his keen sense of the politics involved, which was a hallmark of his stature as a journalist. Chicago has lost one of its brightest and best.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Campaign contributions and lobbying efforts influence policy


Since the late 1980's, Illinois officials 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. A successful airport can be a huge generator of economic development, bringing its sponsor untold benefits in the way of controlling jobs, concessions, and other revenue.

The project, a 23,000-acre airport three times the size of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one of the busiest in the world, would, if approved, be located in a small farming community north of the Village of Peotone, about forty miles south of downtown Chicago. The people most affected, including the local governments of three of the surrounding towns, several adjacent townships, and many varied organizations, have resisted the development for more than two decades. Unfortunately, their small populations and limited cash flow result in an unsophisticated political base, which has little influence on Illinois' well-funded, long-entrenched political pay-to-play power structure.

Tax dollars have funded a multitude of government lobbyists over the years that 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. It is no coincidence that the names of supporters regularly show up on campaign contribution lists and at political fundraisers. Beyond lobbyists and campaign contributors, numerous longtime supporters have landed well-paying government jobs.

Business as usual in Illinois, which includes spending money on the Peotone effort, has landed ex-Governor George Ryan in a federal penitentiary, resulted in the recent indictment of ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich by a federal grand jury, and spurred federal and congressional investigations of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Chicago. Despite these statistics, replacement-governor Patrick Quinn promises to clean up government, as did his predecessor. Yet, in his first budget speech, the former Lt. Governor under Blagojevich, Quinn proposed $100 million to buy land for the airport. Land acquisition has been ongoing, thanks to Ryan who paved the way for the state to buy numerous unsold lots in an upscale subdivision belonging to a Ryan contributor. The housing development was located just outside the airport's proposed boundaries, but was close enough to cause a selling frenzy.

Together with years of badgering by threats of eminent domain, a doomed real estate market long-manipulated by the threat of an airport nearby, and the fear of what might happen, has been more than some folks, especially the elderly, could take. So they sold their land to the state. They simply gave up and moved on with their lives. After all, the first talk of an airport in the Peotone area was a headline in the local newspaper more than forty years ago, in 1968.

Many of the remaining families today 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 of the landowners have farmed the land 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 them. In some cases huge state-created signs marking "Illinois centennial farm" are down the road from signs that read, "State Property No Trespassing." Many believe the only reason the state hasn't used eminent domain to take the remaining land is because a need has never been proven and the project has never been authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration. They could lose in court without a proven project.

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. The full-scaled project would include six parallel runways. The "starter airport" would have a similar effect as buying land outside the site. It would be the first foot in the door to the ultimate field of dreams. And despite approval to expand O'Hare, the economic decline, and letters by the airlines stating they would not support a Peotone airport, the state persists.

With unending funds, tied directly to the pockets of Illinois taxpayers, the public relations work remains ongoing. 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 shreds of data and inaccurate assumptions, tied together in a report designed to defend the sponsor's outcome. With few exceptions, officials, consultants, lobbyists, and campaign contributors form a closed circle of airport backers.

Will County government wants jurisdiction over the airport if it is ever built. They have long been on the state's bandwagon, despite a majority of residents opposed to the project as shown through political survey questions and other means. County officials recently hired a consultant. They also employ a lobbyist.
Will County officials in more populated regions, which make up the majority of the 27-member board, support an effort to write a new law to establish governance for an airport that does not exist and would take effect before one could exist. Their aim is to thwart the efforts of Congressman Jackson who started an airport authority of his own. It consists of south suburban communities but the impetus and the funding comes from northwest suburbs of Bensenville and Elk Grove Village, neighboring communities of O'Hare. The two have long been opposed to O'Hare's expansion. The opposition was tied to building Peotone. Recent elections have brought new leadership to Bensenville. And Elk Grove Village's Mayor vowed to stop the fight against O'Hare. But that has not stopped Quinn, who still wants to spend $100 million to take land for a new airport.

Through his extensive public relations work, Jackson has convinced leaders in the beleaguered south suburbs, desperate for jobs and economic development, that that they would benefit by a one-runway airfield far from their towns. Yet, he dismisses the same benefits from the existing Gary/Chicago International Airport that already exists just minutes from the south suburbs. More than a year ago, Jackson raised money from some of the poorest towns to lobby ex-Gov. Blagojevich. He wrote op-ed pieces. He erected billboards. He demanded, albeit unsucessfully that Blagojevich turn over state-owned land to his airport authority.

Jackson came under fire from U.S. Rep. John Campbell, R-CA in 2007 when Jackson sought an earmark of $231,000 attached to a spending bill, to study the benefits of the airport. Campbell's criticism centered on the recipient - Jackson's airport authority - headed by Jackson's own congressional staffer, Rick Bryant. But what Campbell didn't know was that when Jackson argued for the funds, he lied about the location of the airport. He said it "abuts Ford Heights," one of the poorest suburbs in the country. Though that might have made a compelling argument for such a project, it just isn't true. Ford Heights is more than twenty miles from the site and is in a different county and a different congressional district. Ford Heights is a poor black urban suburb. The airport location is a white rural farming community.

Jackson has a history of misrepresenting the location of the Peotone airport. He initially listed Peotone with the other towns in his district on his campaign website. When called on it, he added a disclaimer, but to someone unfamiliar with the Illinois' landscape, it remains misleading. Jackson's claim that the airport would benefit his constituents is unproven, but that hasn't stopped him from making the claim. It may be his only justification to them for backing a public works project outside his congressional district.
For more than twenty years, an organized grass-roots 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, built-in lobbyists, and campaign contributors. It is a never-ending cycle that must be broken.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

STAND sets the record straight on Peotone Airport

Reprinted from the Park Forest eNews, STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down) sets the record straight on the Peotone Airport.

Read it here .

Community leaders invite Gov. Pat Quinn to Eastern Will County

Current headlines scream "economic decline." The airline industry reports projected losses at $4.7 billion this year. They face losses greater than those experienced after Sept. 11, 2001. Fewer people and less cargo are filling Chicago airport terminals.

So why then would Gov. Patrick Quinn choose to pour another $100 million into buying land for a new airport in eastern Will County, near Peotone? The state has already spent millions of Illinois tax dollars on public relations work, coercing local governments into diluting their opposition and spreading misinformation, all in the name of a planning process to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

Local governments in eastern Will County have signed a resolution calling for the state to cease all land acquisition and threats of eminent domain until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues a final record of decision on the necessity and viability of the proposed Peotone airport. There is a regional consensus that land should not be purchased for a project that has not received federal approval, as was done with O'Hare expansion.

 "We demand no less than what was afforded O'Hare neighbors by the City of Chicago," said Brian Cann Supervisor of Will Township. "Those of us who live in eastern Will County demand to know why the state persists in this folly," Cann said. "For decades, our lives have been disrupted. We have undergone harassment and intimidation by the state and its agents. Nearly every governor since Richard Ogilvie in 1968 has chattered about building a new airport south of Chicago. But it hasn't happened because it just isn't a good idea."

"Enough is enough. It is time for Gov. Pat Quinn to finally Shut This Airport Nightmare Down," says George Ochsenfeld, president of STAND, a citizen’s group of over 5000 members. Ochsenfeld and Cann want Quinn to visit eastern Will County — to see why building another airport is a bad idea. They would like to show Quinn that an airport just doesn't fit into eastern Will County's rural landscape.

The truth is there are far better alternatives and less costly solutions. Use what already exists before building what would amount to a sixth (not third) Chicago area airport. Studies have never examined the efficiency of using a combination of O'Hare and Midway, with the region's three under-used supplemental airports that already exist — Gary/Chicago, Chicago/Rockford, and Mitchell in Milwaukee. Another alternative to a new airport that hasn't been studied was recently articulated by President Barack Obama — high speed rail — which would offer a competitive alternative to flying.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Locals answer Governors support for Peotone airport development

English: Illinois Governor Pat Quinn addresses...Illinois Governor Pat Quinn 


Current headlines scream "economic decline." The airline industry reports projected losses at $4.7 billion this year. They face losses greater than those experienced after Sept. 11, 2001. Fewer people and less cargo are filling Chicago airport terminals.

So why then would Gov. Patrick Quinn choose to pour another $100 million into buying land for a new airport in eastern Will County, near Peotone? The state has already spent millions of Illinois tax dollars on public relations work, coercing local governments into diluting their opposition and spreading misinformation, all in the name of a planning process to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.

Local governments in eastern Will County have signed a resolution calling for the state to cease all land acquisition and threats of eminent domain until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues a final record of decision on the necessity and viability of the proposed Peotone airport. There is a regional consensus that land should not be purchased for a project that has not received federal approval, as was done with O'Hare expansion.

 "We demand no less than what was afforded O'Hare neighbors by the City of Chicago," said Brian Cann Supervisor of Will Township. "Those of us who live in eastern Will County demand to know why the state persists in this folly," Cann said. "For decades, our lives have been disrupted. We have undergone harassment and intimidation by the state and its agents. Nearly every governor since Richard Ogilvie in 1968 has chattered about building a new airport south of Chicago. But it hasn't happened because it just isn't a good idea."

"Enough is enough. It is time for Gov. Pat Quinn to finally Shut This Airport Nightmare Down," says George Ochsenfeld, president of STAND, a citizen’s group of over 5000 members. Ochsenfeld and Cann want Quinn to visit eastern Will County — to see why building another airport is a bad idea. They would like to show Quinn that an airport just doesn't fit into eastern Will County's rural landscape.
The truth is there are far better alternatives and less costly solutions. Use what already exists before building what would amount to a sixth (not third) Chicago area airport. Studies have never examined the efficiency of using a combination of O'Hare and Midway, with the region's three under-used supplemental airports that already exist — Gary/Chicago, Chicago/Rockford, and Mitchell in Milwaukee. Another alternative to a new airport that hasn't been studied was recently articulated by President Barack Obama — high speed rail — which would offer a competitive alternative to flying. Current headlines scream "economic decline." The airline industry reports projected losses at $4.7 billion this year. They face losses greater than what was experienced after Sept. 11, 2001. Less people and goods are filling Chicago airport terminals.
So why then, would Gov. Patrick Quinn choose to pour another $100 million into buying land for a new airport in eastern Will County near Peotone? The state has spent tens of millions of Illinois tax dollars already for public relations work, coercing local governments into diluting their opposition, and cherry-picking information in the name of a planning process in an attempt to justify a need that doesn't exist and isn't proven.
"We refuse to sell," says Will Township Supervisor Brian Cann, the township that contains the entire airport footprint. Cann promises a fight if the state tries to condemn land. The consensus from eastern Will County governments and organizations is that land should not be purchased until nd if  new airport receives federal approval, s was done with O'Hare expansion plans.
"We demand no less than what was afforded O'Hare neighbors by the City of Chicago," Cann said. "Local governments have signed a resolution calling for the state to cease and desist all land acquisition and threats of eminent domain in eastern Will County until after the Federal Aviation Administration issues a final record of decision on the necessity and viability of the proposed Peotone Airport.
"Those of us who live in eastern Will County demand to know why the state persists in this folly," Cann said. "For decades, our lives have been disrupted. We have undergone harassment and intimidation by the state and its agents. Nearly every governor since Richard Ogilvie in 1968 has chattered about building a new airport south of Chicago. But it hasn't happened because it just isn't a good idea."
"Enough is enough. It is time for Gov. Pat Quinn to finally Shut This Airport Nightmare Down," says George Ochsenfeld, president of an organized group of the same name, consisting of 5000 members. Ochsenfeld and Cann have written to Gov. Quinn inviting him to visit eastern Will County. They want Quinn to see and hear why building another airport is a bad idea. They would like to show Quinn that an airport just doesn't fit into eastern Will County's rural landscape.
In his recent budget address, Gov. Quinn uttered support for a new airport, but he also told his audience, "Saying no is not enough... unless you are willing to speak the truth and offer real alternatives."
The truth is there are far better alternatives to a new airport. The most obvious is to use what already exists before building what would amount to a sixth (not third) Chicago area airport. Studies never examined the efficiency of using a combination of: O'Hare and Midway, with the region's three under-used supplemental airports that already exist — Gary/Chicago, Chicago/Rockford, and Mitchell in Milwaukee. Another alternative to a new airport that hasn't been studied was recently articulated by President Barack Obama — high speed rail — which would offer competition to flying.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Pat Quinn says he supports Peotone

So, in his budget address, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says he supports Peotone. I can tell you, that for me, the speech was pretty surreal.


The birds were singing their frenzied mating songs and scurrying to build nests to hold their eggs. The sweet fragrance of the hyacinths danced on the swift breezes, toward me. The sound of last year's red oak leaves rustled, in their last clinging grasp to the branches before new buds swelled beneath them, setting them free. Amid all that peace and tranquility that is my front yard, here in Arkansas, the voice of  Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn nearly drowned it all out, via Windows Media Player on my laptop computer. 


I heard him speak honestly about the situation Illinois faces economically. He talked of solutions. They all made great sense until he spoke of the $1 billion for economic development, the smallest amount by the way, behind the billions allocated to concerns of the environment and education, and other more pressing initiatives. 


Then he said, "We will build a third airport in the south suburbs of Chicago, and we will build it as fast as humanly possible." The camera panned over to a corner of the room where the black men whose faces I could not make out in the sun-drenched resolution of my computer screen. But, I can only assume they were members of the black caucus, cronies of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., who were applauding wildly. Others were applauding too. The biggest surprise applause to me, came from Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, who has traditionally been an opponent of Peotone. 


I can't help but think that at least some of the members of the General Assembly could have been applauding the fact that Quinn's giving verbal support to Peotone would finally shut Jackson up for a while, though probably not for long. 


I'll give Jackson credit — another Illinois Governor said he supports Peotone. But is that really a big deal? Every governor since Richard Ogilvie, back when Jackson was three yeas old has said those words, with the possible exception of Dan Walker. But, none of them have done it.


Perhaps the reason it hasn't been done is because building another airport, some 40 miles from the city center is a stupid idea. Saying it means nothing. Doing it would count. But, I can't help but think this meritless scheme from 1968 just can't pass muster. There are so many better ideas.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

NY Times continues one-sided campaign for Peotone

Amazingly, another op-ed column has been written in the New York Times today about the Peotone Airport from a perspective that mirrors that of Jesse Jackson, Jr., by columnist Bob Herbert. This makes two in the last four days This one was entitled "Stifling an opportunity." You can read it here .

I have had a few emails alerting me to this story, but the first was from Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s e-mail distribution list at http://www.jessejacksonjr.org/distlist.htm   This is the link, just in case you would like to become a subscriber. The email said the following:

Today Bob Herbert writes, “An airport is a very different public works project than a bridge or a road,” he said. “The jobs that come with the development of an airport range from construction to taxicab drivers, to the hotel and motel industry, to Avis and Hertz, which buy cars by the fleet, to Federal Express and DHL, and all those others who staff and manage the airport. Corporate head-quarters frequently locate near an airport. In terms of employment, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

"The goal from the beginning has been to keep the proposed airport out of the clutches of Chicago’s notorious “pay-to-play” tradition.

That is the most likely reason that this project, with its potential to unleash so many jobs, has taken so long to get off the ground."

 Perhaps Mr. Jackson is trying to show support for his plan to coerce Gov. Pat Quinn. He is probably seeking an agreement to let ALANC become a co-sponsor with Illinois for the airport.

I have often been accused of being one-sided, though what I wrote was always to the best of my ability, based on facts. So, I thought I might enlighten Mr. Herbert about some of the facts he left out of his column:


Mr. Herbert,


Endling a 40-year old nightmare is hardly stifling an opportunity. Please stop doing a disservice to your readers. There is far more to the airport story than the one Jesse Jackson, Jr. tells. 


As a local reporter/editor I was writing about the proposal to build an airport near Peotone since long before Jesse Jackson, Jr. went to Washington. I have written countless stories for the local paper for more than 20 years. The paper is officially opposed to the project and for years has displayed a 'no airport' logo on its masthead.


Prior to that I was a young wife and mother who had hoped to raise my two children in the beaucolic rural eastern Will County. When I heard about how building an airport larger than O'Hare, just a few miles from where I grew up, was to be a panacea for the region, I had questions. I joined with several others following an FAA meeting in our small town. We wanted answers, but were not given any. We formed a group to oppose the airport. It was 1988. Though I no longer live there, the opposition remains organized.


I'm glad you realize the proposed third airport is outside Jackson's district. By the way, it would actually be the Chicago area's sixth airport sharing with — O'Hare, Midway, Gary, Milwaukee, and Rockford. But, so is the Gary/Chicago International Airport, which is closer to Jackson's constituency than Peotone. Different county/different state – what's the difference to people who need jobs? Jackson is a U.S. Congressman who should concern himself with jobs in the country, not just the south side of Chicago, and at others' expense. If airport jobs were available, Jackson's constituents could get jobs at Gary much easier than at Peotone. But perhaps jobs really aren't his concern. 


Jackson's association with the late Henry Hyde, shocked everyone because the two had opposite philosophical and political views. Yet they found one common thread, hostility toward Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago, via O'Hare International Airport. Jackson was attracted to the northwest suburbs and Hyde's long fight against Chicago's control of O'Hare. The northwest suburban officials, who have fought O'Hare expansion endlessly, simply fit Jackson's criteria. Daley was forced into the 'third airport' fray because Hyde's GOP cronies in the Illinois General Assembly tried to exclude Chicago, which has title to one of the busiest airports in the world, from studies of Chicago airport capacity, in 1985. It was ludicrous to exclude the primary airport sponsor from such a study, but like many things related to this project, Illinois officials tried. 


I readily admit that O'Hare was an economic engine and magnet for jobs because it replaced Midway during a booming post-war economy, a time when aviation was growing exponentially. But O'Hare was the primary airport for the growing region. Only a fool would predict similar growth with a redundant sixth airport, especially during the current economy and condition of aviation. 


Had Jackson used all the wasted energy he has devoted to this ill-conceived project, outside his congressional district, perhaps he would have been able to develop some of the brown field areas and create jobs in his own district. Or perhaps he could have put efforts into redeveloping the site of the long-defunct Dixie Square Shopping Mall in Harvey, the one destroyed during the filming of the Blue Brothers movie in 1980. Though the shopping center has been demolished, the land has yet to be redeveloped. 


Or perhaps instead of trying to obliterate some of the best farmland in the country, Jackson could have examined the rail and intermodal freight potential in his own backyard. Because he ignored the obvious, that dynamic has begun moving and taking jobs with it, to the hinterlands as well. And why should another working region supported by a good farm economy suffer because of Jackson's lack of vision. 


If transportation was really Jackson's focus, why did he not pursue high speed rail, which is far less invasive, cleaner, and would also produce jobs?

It is a given that airports are economic growth magnets, but only if they are successful. Mid-America Airport is another Illinois airport in the cornfields studied by the same IDOT consultants that wrote reports on Peotone. But they built it and nobody came. Billed as a reliever to St. Louis' Lambert Field, Mid-America has become nothing more than a burden on the local taxpayers who are now stuck with it. And, it has been virtually a ghost town for a decade. The same thing could happen at Peotone. 


If lack of airport capacity is the problem, why isn't the Gary/Chicago International Airport being utilized? It already exists and is easily accessed from the south suburbs and downtown Chicago. It takes about 20 minutes from Homewood. If new airport capacity were a problem, Gary should be booming. If airports solved economic problems as Jackson claims, why hasn't Maywood, in close proximity to O'Hare been its beneficiary? The studies that have concluded that a new airport is needed have been done since 1985 by one chosen consultant, directed by the IDOT, which has a reputation similar to past Illinois governors who appointed them. The previous governor is under federal probe and his predecessor is serving time in the federal pententiary. 


There has never been a proven need for a Peotone airport. The project has never had enough merit to stand on its own without being propped up by millions of tax-supported public relations schemes. Did you ask Jackson about that? 


Numerous public officials have signed resolutions opposing the project. Thousands of residents have battled the proposal since 1988 through organized opposition. Political surveys have indicated a majority of the people of Will County are opposed. Jackson has enraged Will County officials who are now trying to garner support in the Illinois General Assembly to establish an airport authority of their own, just to counter Jackson's efforts. 


There have been so many victims of this ill-fated scheme. Whole communities have been adversely affected. People have lived in limbo since this airport was proposed. Some – proud men — have died thinking they failed their families because they could no longer protect them. Stress and illness has taken its toll. And they deserve better, even from an op-ed writer in the New York Times who has written two columns in the past four days, apparently using only one sources. And that source is questionable. You might start with your paper's own archives. I was quoted by your paper 18 years ago when a NY Times reporter came to Peotone to write a balanced piece. If you would like more information about the local point of view, check my blog at chblog.ozarkattitude.com  Most of content has been published. Or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.


Carol Henrichs