Hoffman Estates has it all wrong

On Oct, 10, at the meeting of the Village of Hoffman Estates, Deputy Mayor Gary Pilafas dismissed the concerns of District 300 residents over the Sears EDA by saying, “It’s not our place to help solve their fiscal mismanagement.”

Here are some facts for Mr. Pilafas:

Fact 1: Senate Bill 540, Amendment 3, allows public bodies that encompass an EDA to collect fees.

Fact 2: In 2005, the Village of Hoffman Estates lent Sears Holdings $55 million to construct the Sears Centre.

Fact 3: The bond agreement called for Sears Holdings to pay $3.9 million annually for 26 years, with the first four years guaranteed.

Fact 4: As critics of the project predicted, the Sears Centre is an utter failure. Sears Holdings, knowing that they were dealing with amateurs (who else would require only the first four years of payments on a 26-year loan) threatened to let the Centre go into default, which would shutter the building for at least a year while the bond issuer worked out a collection scheme. As they painted themselves into a corner the village had no other option but to take over operations.

Fact 5: Going back to Fact 1, if the Sears EDA is not extended, EDA fees will no longer be available to cover the $55 million bond payment shortfall, leaving the village on the hook, once again, for the “fiscal mismanagement” with which they are currently dealing.

Now, I am not going to presume to understand all of the vagaries that led to this colossal mistake. Nor am I going to suggest that the Attorney General’s office should investigate. I am, however, aware of when I am being pelted with stones; and I know who is throwing them because his house is made of glass.

David Ulm

West Dundee