"Residents face another O'Hare vote"

Wednesday, March 26, 2003 

Residents face another airport vote 
By Justin Kmitch
The Chicago (IL) Daily Herald


For the sixth time in 12 years, Bensenville will ask its residents to
reaffirm the answer it already knows to the question it's already asked.

When Bensenville residents cast ballots in local elections Tuesday, they'll
once again be asked to vote their opinions on the expansion of O'Hare
International Airport.

But this year's referendum question, which is strictly advisory, draws
attention to a recent change of heart by the DuPage County Board.

The ballot question reads: "Should the DuPage County Board abandon its long
standing protection of our community and endorse Chicago's expansion of
O'Hare Airport from 900,000 flights annually to 1,600,000 flights annually?"

In fact, the county board already reversed its position recently and voted
in support of airport expansion. Hundreds of Bensenville homes stand in the
way of planned new runways.

Bensenville Village Manager James Johnson said the question, first proposed
at a meeting of the anti-expansion Suburban O'Hare Commission, seeks to
re-affirm the position of Bensenville residents.

Most recently, in March 1996 and November 2000, 83 and 90 percent of voters,
respectively, supported similar anti-expansion ballot questions.

"We expect similar results so that we can send a message to (county board
chairman) Bob Schillerstrom and his board that they acted irresponsibly and
without great regard for citizens of eastern DuPage and western Cook
counties," Johnson said.

He said the village will make sure county board members know the final
results.

"Presuming voters find in our favor, we will be notifying the county board
of the results and encouraging them to rescind their position," Johnson
said.

Schillerstrom's chief deputy, Dan Wagner, said he wishes the village would
stop feeding false hope to its residents, saying the county board is
fighting for Bensenville in spite of Bensenville.

The county board voted 15-2 in January to reverse its long-held opposition
to new runways at the airport. The board embraced a wide-ranging resolution
that also calls on Chicago and the state to fund improvement projects in and
share profits with DuPage. 

"The county board voted 15-2 in unprecedented fashion and will not be
changing its opinion," Wagner said. "O'Hare expansion will be happening with
or without Bensenville.

"The board took action to get a seat at the city's table and work on behalf
of citizens to make sure Bensenville citizens get the best deal possible and
that property tax loses to the village are kept to a minimum," Wagner added.


However, Bensenville Mayor John Geils, said there should no longer be a
table to sit at because, in his view, the expansion plan is dead.

"Now that the city's expansion plan is dead, these people need to be jumping
on board with us and supporting the third airport in South suburban Peotone
and a modernized O'Hare," Geils said. "They should be supporting that plan
if they really want Chicago to continue to be nation's transportation hub."

Wagner chuckled at those comments, saying the village was up to its "same
old tactics."

"Everything has changed for Bensenville because this was their issue,"
Wagner said. "But they're not prepared for it to no longer be an issue, and
it's going to pass them by."


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