Today’s edition of the Park Ridge Journal features a page one story titled “Citizens Take Control,” which reports on a citizen-based organization that will champion the City’s interests in connection with the new O’Hare runway.
The currently un-named organization is headed by resident Christine Kutt Zolt, and hopes to develop and maintain “a high profile and constant contact” with our U.S. senators, congress-people, and the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”). The organization will operate through four working groups: communications, technology, legal, and finance.
We applaud these residents, as we do all citizen activists who step up to express their own opinions and attempt to influence government policy or actions. This O’Hare issue is crucial to the residential value and quality of life of our community – something noted by 4th Ward Alderpuppet James Allegretti at this past Saturday’s special Town Hall meeting.
Which causes us to wonder why Allegretti, in particular, ignored the potential for this situation back in 2005, before construction of the $500 million runway 9L27R began and it might have been easier to do something about it?
A full three years ago, as reported in the minutes of the December 5, 2005, City Council meeting [pdf], then-Ald. Jeannie Markech (2nd Ward) – the Council’s alternate (to Mayor Frimark) liaison to the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission (“ONCC”) – distributed new noise contour maps that disclosed “significant changes” that would affect many areas in Park Ridge. She also encouraged more involvement in ONCC matters by the mayor and other Council members:
“Ald. Markech asked the Mayor to attend the General Meetings to represent all of Park Ridge…She asked for a representative from the 4th Ward to attend the Residential Committee Meetings, which are on Wednesdays.”
From what we can tell, Frimark attended only one ONCC meeting between that December 2005 Council meeting and the new runway opening; and Allegretti attended none. If we’ve missed their attendance, however, we invite them to correct us.
Which causes us to wonder if something isn’t seriously wrong with our City government – and a Council cut in half by Frimark’s referendum in 2006 – when the defense of something as important as our community’s property values and quality of life has to be taken up by a group of un-elected citizen volunteers, however public-spirited they may be.
Especially when our mayor and at least one of his hand-picked alderpuppets couldn’t be bothered to involve themselves in O’Hare matters for the past three years.