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Gurnee veterans park fallout persists

Veterans say they plan to boycott Gurnee businesses

Controversy continued to linger Monday night over Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik's veto of an agreement that would have given a village trustee's foundation the right to lead development of a memorial honoring Afghanistan and Iraq troops.

Six protesters stood outside the village hall entrance with signs, one of which read, "Kovarik Disgraces Gurnee." And at public comment time during the evening's village board meeting, Barrington resident Joe Cantafio said war veterans are organizing a boycott of Gurnee businesses because of Kovarik.

"This is going to be very, very professionally organized," Cantafio said.

Last week, the village board voted 3-2 against overriding Kovarik's veto of a deal for Heroes of Freedom Memorial Park with Trustee Kirk Morris' private organization, named for his Marine son who died in the Iraq war in 2004.

Heroes of Freedom has been at the center of a dispute between Morris and Kovarik that became public in October. The memorial is pegged for village-owned land where Gurnee police headquarters once stood on Old Grand Avenue.

Kovarik contends Morris' group has done little since the village board passed a resolution in March 2005 dedicating the property specifically for a memorial to troops who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Morris took control of raising private money and building the memorial under an informal agreement long before he became a village trustee in 2009. The Pfc. Geoffrey Morris Memorial Foundation was officially named the park's developer in the agreement Kovarik vetoed in December.

Trustee Greg Garner also spoke out at Monday's meeting, saying there were enough controls in the deal to ensure the foundation completed Heroes of Freedom. The group was given until Dec. 31, 2014, to complete the memorial.

Morris' foundation also would have been required to meet various construction timelines as part of the agreement.

"I am disappointed the board was not able to move forward on the Heroes of Freedom Memorial," said Garner, who with Trustee Hank Schwarz voted in favor of overriding Kovarik's veto.

Morris reiterated at the meeting he believed Kovarik "double-crossed" the foundation with her veto of the deal. Kovarik didn't respond to either Garner or Morris, who recused himself from discussing or voting on the memorial issue last week.

Kovarik said before the meeting she still wants a smaller-scale memorial different from what Morris envisions. Morris said he won't allow the trademarked Heroes of Freedom Memorial name on the park unless it is built according to the original plan with walkways, benches, flags and statues estimated to cost $250,000.

Morris has turned off temporary lighting and removed nine flags of every military branch that had been atop flagpoles at the site. Private cash paid for the flags and lights.

One of the protesters who held a "Support Our Veterans" sign, Jeff Jerik of Gurnee, noted Geoffrey Morris would have turned 25 on Monday. Jerik said his son and Geoffrey Morris enlisted in the military together.

"I want her exposed," Jerik said of Kovarik. "This is a personal issue between her and Kirk."

Kovarik said she arrived to village hall before the protesters and didn't see them.