Bensenville questions school districts' motives

It was close. But Bensenville Village President John Geils broke the tie by voting in favor of placing two advisory referendum questions on the Feb. 5 ballot.

With only a few hours before the deadline to place a question on the ballot, the village board voted 3-2 Monday to ask voters to weigh in on whether two local school districts should continue accepting money from Chicago. The O'Hare Modernization Program is reimbursing Fenton Community District 100 and Bensenville Elementary District 2 a total of $763,242 for the property tax liability of the acquired parcels in the acquisition area to expand O'Hare International Airport.

The city is planning to buy and bulldoze more than 500 homes in Bensenville to make room for new runways and other changes to the airport.

All trustees agreed with Geils in his belief that the schools violated an intergovernmental agreement with other taxing bodies by accepting the money. Many in village circles believe it should be turned over to the Bensenville Intergovernmental Group to assist its fight against the expansion.

"They think it's money from heaven," said Trustee John Williams, referring to the schools.

Williams, who voted in favor of placing both questions on the ballot along with Trustee Marianne Tralewski, said referendum results will help the village with strategic planning by helping to determine where the public stands on the fight against O'Hare.

While Tralewski voted in favor, she expressed concern about the wording. The questions -- which have been revised several times now -- come close to suggesting both school districts are helping to destroy the community. They ask if the school districts should support O'Hare expansion plans that will "lead to the destruction of hundreds of homes and businesses in the Bensenville community by accepting cash payments from Chicago -- in violation of the district's intergovernmental agreement with other Bensenville units of local government to refuse such cash payments."

Williams thinks the strong language makes a point. "I don't think there's anything derogatory in here. Everything in here is a fact," he said.

Trustees Patricia A. Johnson and John Adamowski voted against placing the questions on the ballot. Both believe the questions will divide the community, rub people the wrong way and damage the relationship shared between the schools and the village.

"I'm not disputing that what they did was wrong," Johnson said. "I'm just not comfortable with this."

Adamowski believes these are questions the school board should place to its own voters -- not the village. But Geils vociferously argued for the questions -- as well as the strong wording. He wants to make a point. Then, if voters agree, the village can use the results to ask the schools to reconsider their decision.

"Then you take the results to the school boards. Then you have some ammunition," Geils said.

If the village board wanted to change its mind, it has until Thursday to take the questions off the ballot.