O'Hare settlement doesn't sit well with those who fought expansion

Not everyone in Bensenville is overjoyed with the O'Hare settlement, especially those who spent decades fighting airport expansion.

The Chicago Department of Aviation and Bensenville leaders announced Monday that the city would provide the village with $16 million in exchange for dropping its lawsuits that have, thus far, held Chicago at bay.

"They said they were going to keep fighting, and I don't think they did it. (New Bensenville Mayor Frank) Soto keeps saying he's going to do the best he can but I don't know that he's done anything," said Ray Basso, village trustee from 1995-2006. "I'm disappointed because we worked so hard to keep the fight strong and this guy (Soto) gets in and he's just dropped it."

Former Village Attorney Joseph Karaganis said politics got in the way of the fight.

"For years, a small group of people, including political leaders, were willing to do the right thing and not sell out to Richard Daley," Karaganis said. "Now we have political leaders in DuPage County who felt the future was best tied to Richard Daley."

Former clerk and longtime Trustee Marianne Tralewski said she thinks the village got shortchanged in the deal.

"I'm very saddened that the new board made a deal, especially one that seems pretty low to me," she said. "I still contend the airlines have no money to extend any runways, so I'll be interested to see what Chicago does with land. But I hope we don't see a proliferation of freight terminal facilities."

Some, like former Trustee Frank Caira, Jr., have seen the writing on the wall.

"The fight's been over for a long, long time," he said. "Obviously, the previous administration kept it going but I don't know how productive it's been for the last six years. Once they had their platform they had to stick with it to the bitter end, and, well, the bitter end is here."

Longtime Bensenville Park District board member and 2005 mayoral candidate John Wassinger agreed.

"You know, it's just one of those things where it took a long time to get to this point, but any sensible person knew it was only a matter of time. The previous administration liked to stand at the edge of the abyss and throw dollars into it to the attorneys at the other end," Wassinger said. "So it's probably better that the new administration did this sooner rather than later. There's not a good ending to this story so we can only now go ahead and make best of what we have."

Former Mayor John Geils, probably the most prominent face of O'Hare opposition, did not return a request for comment. Village Manager Jim Johnson declined to comment while Trustees John Adamowski and Patricia Johnson, holdovers from the previous administration, did not return calls.