Thank you for your thoughtful letter concerning the proposed Peotone airport. Obviously you are deeply concerned about economic conditions in the south suburbs. So am I. Although you do not know me personally, I suspect we would agree on many issues related to social and economic justice, such as the negative impact of racism (whether institutional, structural, or personal/unconscious), and entrenched class oppression.
Mr. Penn, I understand your strong feelings on this issue. However, I think it is unfair to conflate me with the local unions in Will and Kankakee Counties. I agree with your critique of these unions, and I oppose them. I also oppose the Will County governmental officials, who are more concerned about donations and support from these construction unions than they are about residents of eastern Will County.
I especially think that it is unfair to equate me with enemies of Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement. My opposition to the airport is, in part, the typical “not in my backyard” reaction: I don’t want to lose my home, or breathe jet fumes, hear loud noise, or have traffic congestion. Also, I oppose IDOT forcefully taking land before the FAA approves the project. But my strongest objection is on environmental grounds: aviation is a highly destructive form of transportation. The current industrial system is killing the planet and moving us toward economic collapse—and, as you know, it is the traditionally oppressed groups who get hurt quickest and hardest when economies fail. Please read my recent essay (in the attachment) expressing my concerns about our dysfunctional economic system.
Hopefully, if the airport is not built, the state-owned land can be used to create urban/agricultural jobs and businesses for the unemployed producing local, healthy food for the hungry, as is currently being done in Detroit http://detroitevolution.com/
As far as people being upset about ministers coming out to pray for the airport, (and let’s not be disingenuous, that is what they are doing) it’s important to remember that from our perspective, the fruition of their prayers would mean the destruction of our homes, communities, and farms.
There is a fundamental premise about which you and I disagree. You believe a South Suburban Airport would create many permanent jobs. I do not. Please hear my arguments.
First of all, it is unlikely that the airport will ever be built, and if build, it would most likely be a white elephant (like MidAmerica near St. Louis), which would not produce jobs.
These are the reasons why: all major airlines said they would not use the South Suburban Airport and all major airlines have filed for bankruptcy; the state of Illinois would, as Congressman Jackson admitted on the House floor, be required to pay for surrounding infrastructure, and the state is broke; downstate legislators will object; no one knows what Michael Madigan is thinking—Midway is in his district—and he has enormous power; ALNAC’s developer, SNC Lavalin, was raided again last week by the police investigating corruption http://www.washingtonpost.com/
For example, Michael Boyd, aviation consultant, recently garnered widespread media attention when he denounced the Peotone project as being an unneeded, politically driven boondoggle which would be a repeat of the barely used downstate MidAmerica airport, which he describes as a “monument to dishonest planning.”[Pantagraph, January 14, 2012]. http://www.pantagraph.com/
Another expert, Daniel Rust, a commercial air travel expert and assistant director for Undergraduate Program Development at University of Missouri-St. Louis, said recently that there is not a need for new airports and that there is a high probability that Peotone would end up like the MidAmerica airport.http://thesouthern.com/news/
According to the January 14, 2012 article in the Pantagraph,http://www.pantagraph.com/
IDOT pushed for the development of MidAmerica just as they are pushing for Peotone, because that agency benefits from large projects. They used the same consultants, TAMS (now Earthtech), to fudge the numbers for Peotone as they used for MidAmerica, i.e. more “dishonest planning.” The FAA simply goes along—they approved failed MidAmerica and Murtha airports. Their approval does not mean much in terms of whether a project will succeed.
There is no need for a cargo airport. D.C. Velocity, (September 8, 2009) an aviation trade journal, examined whether Peotone could compete with O’Hare on hauling cargo. They reported that O’Hare is adding 750,000 square feet of cargo space and 18 additional parking spaces for freighter aircraft. When they asked the vice president of air freight for North America for Deutsche Post DHL, the world’s largest freight carrier, if the region needed another cargo airport, he replied, “Not really.”
The ever-increasing price of jet fuel, concerns about global warming, and advances in telecommunication all make it likely that the days of continuous expansion of aviation are over.
I strongly urge you to re-examine your basic premise about the airport creating jobs. I will gladly meet with you to provide further documentation supporting my contention that the proposed South Suburban airport will not create jobs.
Oh, one more thing. Gandhi said, “First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they attack you. Then you win.” I guess only time will tell if that saying refers more to me or to you.
Sincerely,
George Ochsenfeld
THE NEW MOVEMENT FOR SOUTHLAND JOBS…We are being told The Great Recession is over and job growth has been increasing, albeit slow but increasing. Many may applaud this, but many still wonder if jobs will ever return to the Chicago Southland. That is unless you are speaking about building a $700 Million airport. This almost two decades old discussion is going to crystallize on April 21, 2012 with the People’s Groundbreaking of the Abraham Lincoln National Airport near University Park, IL.What I find compelling and confusing is the position that anti-airport activist George Oschenfeld of Shut This Airport Nightmare Down (STAND) has taken to a peaceful gathering of many who represent the remnants of a shattered economy, still looking for jobs. Oschenfeld recently stated that, “He (Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.) is planning a make-believe groundbreaking for his make-believe airport on Eagle Lake Road on April 21. We have decided that this is a good time for a celebration of our quality of life in Eastern Will County.” He also stated that the proposed airport as unnecessary, unwanted, unwarranted and a waste of taxpayers’ money. He’s wrong on all fronts. South Suburban Action Council (SSAC), Combined Clergy for Economic Equality, Friends of ALNAC as well as residents of the 2nd Congressional District will host and facilitate the groundbreaking and a blessing of the land. Not Congressman Jackson. And we all believe the airport is necessary. So does the town o
f Monee where Mr. Oshenfeld is resident. They passed a referendum two years ago supporting the airport.
But Oschenfeld seems to look at other residents of the 2nd Congressional District and determines that only he knows what’s best for them, that only his quality of life matters and only his good paid taxes have been wasted. This old tactic has been used to segregate people based on narrow perceptions and it gives a false ownership and entitlement against everyone else. Rosa Parks and African American citizens paid taxes for the buses to run in Montgomery Alabama just like everyone else, but then were told where to sit or risk being arrested! So I question the ‘real’ undergirding of Oschenfeld’s call to have a ‘counter-protest’ to confront clergy and residents who are just coming to pray for direction and provision of the land and are from the 2nd Congressional District whose taxes have paid for the land. But Oschenfeld has never confronted Jim Bult who built an airfield just outside of the ALNAC footprint which has little to no opportunity to create the thousands o
f jobs needed for the region’s economy.
Oscshenfeld’s message to ‘stay away’ or ‘stay where you are’ has been heard before. It also says, ‘Let them go elsewhere’ to find jobs or just stay in the situation you find yourselves in. But Oschenfeld isn’t the only one who feels this way. Local unions in Will and Kankakee Counties have historically denied African-Americans, Latinos and women the opportunity to support and sustain their families. This is a mindset that must be changed.
The building of the Abraham Lincoln National Airport is about JOBS and the quality of life for all people in the Southland. In the quest for job creation, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has told STAND that an airport is going to be built. End of story. We also know that where there are jobs, the ranks of the unemployed will come and be hired. People of all races, genders and levels of experience are going to want to live close to where they work. This is the quality of life that many in the 2nd Congressional District currently seek but do not have.
Let’s be clear. As 71% of 2nd District voters did on March 20th, we believe this is a new movement for jobs for many who find their daily hopes extinguished by people like Mr. Oschenfeld, local unions and those who perceive they have all of the will and power to lock others out economically. They are the new minority in the 2nd Congressional District. We shall pray for them, but we will not be deterred.
Only Governor Pat Quinn can end “Economic Segregation” in the Chicago Southland. This is now a movement.
Please join us Saturday April 21st at 9:00 AM to celebrate the end of economic segregation in Chicago’s Southland. Don’t miss this…
ALGERNON H. PENN
CHAIRMAN
FRIENDS OF ALNAC
