Village board: Don't compound the folly

I urge the Mount Prospect Village Board to vote no April 17 on the ordinance that would issue up to $12.1 million in debt for the purchase of property for a new police headquarters and a new fire station, and to collect taxes to pay for the principal and interest.

I learned at the police headquarters open house in the Kensington Business Center that a foolhardy decision was made 25 years ago to build an inadequate facility that currently houses the police headquarters and Fire Station 13.

The village's decision to build then, knowing it was inadequate from the start, was very shortsighted.

I am disappointed that the village board is contemplating circumventing the citizens' will by using debt to finance property and construction costs. In addition to spending approximately $40 million on the new facilities, citizens will be paying somewhere around $25 million in interest expense.

How can we trust that our village board is doing right by us this time around when the village was so fiscally irresponsible 25 years ago?

I urge the board of trustees to slow down and carefully consider the long-term effect of funding the purchase and construction with debt, especially in this volatile political climate that may well lead us to another economic downturn.

And consider the effect of a vacant property smack-dab in the middle of downtown. For goodness sakes - look at the property at Route 83 and Central. It was mostly vacant for the first 24 years I owned my home in Mount Prospect and continues to be an eyesore this past year now that it is a paved lot with fencing. I will remember each trustee's vote when their term expires.

Peggy Pissarreck

Mount Prospect