Combo county, forest preserve bad idea

In 2002 DuPage County residents were thrilled that the "fox was no longer be watching the hen house" when the county board and the forest preserve district became two separate governing entities. Now a DuPage legislator has submitted a bill (HB3099) to recombine them, she says, to support Rauner's interest in consolidating government.

The mission of the county is to promote economic development and the mission of the forest preserve is to preserve and protect open space … hmmm … the conflict of interest seems obvious. For this reason alone, the two entities should be kept separate.

In addition there are huge sums, millions of dollars in reserve funds controlled by the forest preserve in the event that one of the five landfills should require mitigation to protect citizens and forest preserve property from dangerous leaching chemicals. If the county were in control, how would those funds be safeguarded from being swept into general funds?

DuPage County forest preserves are unparalleled and have won awards nationally for enhancing property value as well as providing community and environmental benefits such as helping to manage flooding. Combining the forest preserve and the county under one leadership would be a big step backward for DuPage County. HB3099 should be defeated.

Connie Schmidt

Warrenville