Political unity evading third airport backers
BY JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media jseidel@suntimes.com February 3, 2012 4:36PM
Anti-airport signs sit on a farm property near Peotone in this file photo.
U.S. REP. JESSE JACKSON JR.’S PROPOSAL: THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN NATIONAL AIRPORT COMMISSION:
◆ A nine-member board of directors
◆ Five members from Will County
◆ Three members from Cook County
◆ One member from Kankakee County
WILL COUNTY’S PROPOSAL:
◆ An airport authority created by the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. Pat Quinn
◆ A majority of its members should be Will County residents
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Updated: February 3, 2012 9:06PM
The proposed airport in the south suburbs that Gov. Pat Quinn mentioned in his State of the State address last week is still stymied by feuding politicians, but the battle for its control seems to be heating up.
That’s because it’s still not clear who would govern the airport if it’s ever built.
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. wants his Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission to lead, but Will County leaders say his plan is “seriously flawed.” They’re digging in their heels lately, sending out letters and demanding “local control.”
Debbie Halvorson, who’s running against Jackson in the March Democratic primary, is also calling on the congressman to shelve his airport plan.
Eventually, political unity will be the key to breaking this logjam, said Joseph Schwieterman of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development. Politicians will need to come together, he said, in some kind of “grand compromise.”
“This year’s off to a rocky start,” Schwieterman said.
Progress, progress, progress
Will County Board Chairman Jim Moustis claimed last month Quinn and past governors have told Will County leaders to “keep our mouths shut” and get along with Jackson’s airport plan. He told his fellow board members he’s done acquiescing.
“We will fight you all the way,” Moustis said, referring to Quinn. “All the way.”
Brooke Anderson, the governor’s press secretary, insists “everyone has a seat at the table” when it comes to the airport, but she didn’t have much else to say when asked about the governor’s plans for the project in 2012.
“There has been progress, and more progress is needed,” Anderson said in an email. “So in terms of what we want to see, we’d like to see more progress.”
Quinn did give the airport a passing reference in his speech last week, saying “we’re working with elected officials in the south suburbs and Will County to build a new airport.”
So it’s at least on his mind. And Moustis hears the governor wants to advance the airport project this year, possibly even leasing land in the airport footprint to Jackson’s commission. If he does so without legislative approval, Moustis said he won’t stand idly by.
“We would challenge that,” Moustis said.
Will County officials question the legitimacy of the private firms lined up by the congressman to run the airport — SNC-Lavalin and LCOR — and why his commission gives “super powers” to communities on the border of Will and Cook counties such as University Park and Park Forest, as well as the northwest suburb of Elk Grove Village.
They’d prefer Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly create an airport authority dominated by Will County residents. And they expect to fund the airport through a public/private partnership. They said it’s way too early to line up investors as Jackson has done, though.
“It’s so premature it’s ridiculous to even go that route,” said Aaron Quick, a consultant working with Will County on the airport.
Primary politics
If both sides can’t reach an accord, Jackson Chief of Staff Rick Bryant said the governor will likely side with his boss and name the congressman’s commission an airport co-sponsor. That’s partly because SNC-Lavalin and LCOR are promising to pay for construction of the airport, Bryant said.
“If (Quinn)’s forced to choose between a fully funded package or starting from scratch,” Bryant said, “I believe he’d go with the fully funded package.”
Bryant said Jackson’s group has reserved five seats on a nine-member board for Will County communities. And he said the “super powers” given to University Park, Park Forest and Elk Grove Village are actually “affirmative powers.” That means they’d have the authority to green-light expansion over the objection of other communities once the airport is built.
“Those three communities were our founding members,” Bryant said.
While Will County is stepping up its effort to secure control of the airport, though, Jackson is facing a primary challenge from fellow Democrat Halvorson.
She said Jackson’s had his chance to make the south suburban airport a reality. And if he’s not willing to negotiate with others, she said, he should step aside.
“He needs to look inside himself and figure out why it hasn’t been done,” Halvorson said. “Because people don’t believe him.”
The airport didn’t materialize during Halvorson’s terms in the state senate and U.S. Congress either, but she said she’d support it if it’s locally controlled. At the same time, Bryant said Jackson’s airport commission isn’t going anywhere if Halvorson wins. That, he said, is because it’s not part of the congressman’s government office.
That’s just another sign that a resolution — the “grand compromise” Schwieterman suggested — is a long way off.
“We need a referee to come in and bring this matter to a conclusion,” Schwieterman said.
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