Wheeling wary of airport change
The Wheeling village board delayed changes Monday to the Chicago Executive Airport intergovernmental agreement that would have altered ways to fire the chairman of the board.
The new recommendation, as changed by Wheeling, could also alter the way the chairman -- whose seat is currently vacant -- is hired.
The airport board agreed last week to recommend the firing change to both Wheeling and Prospect Heights. Both towns own the airport, formerly known as Palwaukee, and must agree to any alterations in their joint agreement.
The amendment would have allowed the Wheeling village president and the Prospect Heights mayor to remove the chairman from office without a public hearing.
The current agreement requires that the boards of both towns must also vote to oust the chair.
Trustee Dean Argiris said the change would give two individuals -- who also are charged with hiring a chair -- too much power.
"We really lose control over (the hiring and firing) as owners," he said. "To have it in the hands of two individuals, that troubles me."
Acting Village President Judy Abruscato said she believed the real intent was to save a chair the embarrassment of a public hearing.
Argiris and others on the board also said they'd like to have a hand in hiring the chairman, like they do with any other village appointment to a board.
The village will talk to its counterparts in Prospect Heights to see if the changes would suit that town.
The same amendment to the intergovernmental agreement would also not require the chairman to be a user of the airport. Board members agreed this should be allowed to widen the search.
Kevin Dohm, the former chair of the Chicago Executive Airport board, resigned Sept. 13 after other members called for him to step down following a controversy over a consultant.
Abruscato and interim Prospect Heights Mayor Pat Ludvigsen have been searching for a replacement.
Abruscato said they both might stop looking for a chairman until this amendment can be agreed to by both towns.