Don't bulldoze Bensenville yet

Currently, O'Hare expansion is being plagued with a perfect financial storm - construction costs that are much more than anticipated combined with an airline industry that has less money to spend on their own fuel bills let alone to pay for their commitment to help fund the expansion. The result? The completion of phase two of the O'Hare expansion appears less likely to occur.

Yet over the past few years, the city of Chicago has forced nearly 600 homes and business in Bensenville to sell - possibly the first time in Illinois history where one city was able to force residents of another city to sell property against their will - in expectation of the completion of this potential expansion.

As a DuPage County Board member representing Bensenville, I ask the City of Chicago to not tear down these homes and businesses until the funding and timelines are fully explained.

These 600 homes and business represent nearly 15 percent of the entire Bensenville community. What a shame it would be to destroy this much of a community without considering the possibility that due to new economic assumptions this project may not be built at all.

At least prove to the taxpayers and residents that there is a realistic funding source and construction timeline before sending in the bulldozers.

Paul Fichtner

DuPage County Board member, Dist. 1

Elmhurst