When the Des Plaines City Council voted overwhelmingly last week to pay a dues increase for membership in the Suburban O’Hare Commission, the often beleaguered organization dodged a bullet.
Losing Des Plaines, the commission’s biggest member, would have cast a cloud over the organization’s future.
“I give those seven trustees credit. That was a devastating blow to Chicago and their airlines and a big victory for SOC,” said Craig Johnson, the commission’s vice chairman and the mayor of Elk Grove Village.
The 7-1 vote comes at a defining moment for the nearly 20-year-old organization, which has 11 members, among them Elk Grove Village, Park Ridge, Wood Dale and the DuPage County Board. Over the next two years members believe they will face the most critical stage of their long struggle to contain expansion at O’Hare International Airport and win support for a third airport at Peotone.
The battle for the continued support of Des Plaines came while the commission was nursing its wounds over the departure of Harwood Heights in June, the second member to quit in three years.
At the same time, it was asking members for a 50 cent per capita dues increase while asking others to pony up still more money to help pay for a lawsuit that would require the City of Chicago to get state permission before it begins its World Gateway airport expansion program.
In an effort to focus their energies and marshal their resources, Suburban O’Hare Commission members met at a weekend retreat in February to work out a strategy to achieve their goals.
One goal was to change the image of a loose coalition of suburban municipalities into an organization viewed as strong and cohesive, capable of launching legislative initiatives and supporting political candidates.
They acknowledged their weaknesses–poor communication; lumping opposing viewpoints as those of “the enemy”; a perception that they are anti-airport and anti-business; being reactive rather than active; and failing to attract more members.
They also cataloged their strengths: maintaining their purpose; persuading three governors and a majority of state legislators to oppose additional runways at O’Hare; winning soundproofing grants; and launching their own noise-monitoring program. They also have taken the lead in promoting a third airport.
To help on the communication shortcomings, they added a public relations consultant to the staff, which had consisted of two people, Joseph Karaganis, a lawyer, and Barbara Getler, a secretary.
But the commission’s mission remains unchanged.
“The direction is the same: to stop unconstrained expansion at O’Hare,” said John Geils, its chairman. “That means no new runways.”
At least week’s council meeting in Des Plaines, Johnson and Geils presented a spirited defense of the commission in the face of sharp questioning from the council.
During the debate, Ald. Thomas Becker attacked the use of dues to pay legal fees to Karaganis and raised the question of whether Des Plaines might not be better off joining the Chicago-funded O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission.
It didn’t help his case when a letter from Bernard De Sena, American Airlines’ Chicago region vice president, was circulated among council members. The letter called on American Airlines employees who live in Des Plaines to urge their council representatives to vote to withdraw.
“It’s very important you let the mayor and your alderman know how strongly you oppose your tax dollars being used to support an organization that constantly threatens our livelihood,” De Sena wrote. He also urged that Des Plaines vote to join the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission.
Both Mayor Tony Arredia and Finance Committee Chairman Carla Brookman say the American Airlines letter did not play a decisive role in the vote.
But Johnson is not convinced. “They had put on a full-court press for those people,” he said.
Commission officials say they need the dues increase because they are being grossly outspent by Chicago and the airlines in the public relations war for the hearts and minds of O’Hare’s neighbors.
On Sept. 17, the Suburban O’Hare Commission will hold a rally at the Redmond Recreation Center in Bensenville to show support for halting expansion of O’Hare. The commission has invited U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), state Senate President James “Pate” Philip (R-Wood Dale) and Gov. George Ryan to attend. And before Election Day in November, a “no expansion” march is planned in Elk Grove Village, Johnson said.
The commission also plans to make its point of view known at workshops to be sponsored next month by the City of Chicago on the World Gateway program.
