Navistar officials didn't want to testify

The concerned citizens from all around DuPage County who spoke up to stop the giveaway of four acres of our forest preserve land along with an uncapped number of heavy industrial diesel engines running 24/7, 365 days a year next to a school for children with autism and the homes of thousands should be applauded.

Navistar wanted and got a beautiful building and corporate campus for a third of the asking price, a recently approved $43 million tax break (called EDGE credits) from the state and a planned TIF (property tax break) worth an estimated $100 million dollars, and that wasn't good enough?

I think they pulled out of this great deal because they just did not want to testify under oath at the meetings that were to start this week about the number of jobs and exact operations they planned at this site. Navistar has continued to take multi-million dollar tax breaks from communities across North America and leave them with polluted sites the communities are left to clean up - if they can. I'll bet anyone that Navistar's next step is to begin to ask for millions of our tax dollars from Warrenville and DuPage County to stay at their offices on Winfield Road.

Don Kirchenberg

Glendale Heights