With all of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s rhetoric about regional cooperation, we were astonished and disappointed with what his administration demanded of suburban communities to participate in discussions about the metropolitan area’s aviation future.
The discussions are supposed to be a part of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which in itself was surprising enough because the group had persistently refused to talk about the largest economic and transportation issue facing the region.
But when some of us showed up for the first meeting on Sept. 14, we were greeted with unacceptable ground rules.
These were laid down by Rita Athas, Daley’s special assistant for liaison with suburban officials.
They were:
– Mayors of communities most impacted by the proposed plans to expand O’Hare Airport were to be excluded from the meetings. Chicago–as it should–would be represented at every meeting, but other impacted communities, such as mine, either would be permanently excluded or allowed to attend only on a sporadic basis without any continuity of participation or knowledge.
– Chicago would not agree to allow debate or candidate discussion of issues surrounding the regional airport controversy. We believe that open, courteous and candid debate and discussion is the key for an honest resolution of these issues.
– The meetings would be held behind closed doors and public discussion of different points of view would not be permitted.
These rules are simply unacceptable, to us or to anyone else who values democratic values and free expression.
We cannot participate in a productive regional discussion unless the ground rules are changed.
These should include the following:
– Open and honest debate within the meetings must not only be permitted, but also encouraged.
– The meetings should be open to the press, and the mayor should be free to discuss the meeting content publicly.
– Mayors of the impacted communities should be allowed to attend and participate if they choose.
We want to have an open and constructive dialogue, but we will not conduct it in secret. Nor will we be muzzled, in or outside of the meetings.
The ground rules Chicago demands is a disappointment and detracts from the Daley administration’s commitment to regionalism.
And they are a disturbance to the people who have elected the region’s mayors.
