Time for a forest preserve 'retirement'

It is time for the voters of DuPage County to retire Dewey Pierotti, the president of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. In May 2009, Mr. Pierotti announced that the 2010 election would be his last for his current position.

He made the same promise before the 2006 election, but look what happened with that. Because there is no oversight of forest preserve board other than the electorate, electing him again would be the equivalent of handing him a four-year blank check to continue his reign of secrecy and mismanagement, since he would have no fear of the voters kicking him out.

Mr. Pierotti and his board have continuously sprung fuel stations and buildings on the residents of the county with no effective notice. They have used no-bid contracts, some in excess of a third of a million dollars, to reward their friends, and they mismanage the three county-owned golf courses to the extent that the courses lose a combined $2 million every year. Those losses are paid for by the taxpayers of DuPage County.

It is possible to accomplish Mr. Pierotti's retirement because for the first time since the forest preserve board was split from the county board in 2002, there is someone running in opposition to Mr. Pierotti who has been endorsed by many organizations.

Robert C. Whitney

Winfield