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Why not fight consent decree?

It sure seems to me that something is "off" in Kane County regarding the Maxxam consent decree. Since State's Attorney Joe McMahon negotiated the consent decree in a nontransparent way, apparently without considering the many zoning board hearings that led the zoning board to twice previously reject the Maxxam petition, how opaque and dishonest Maxxam petitioners were, testimony from government and community residents, or Maxxam's failure to meet the zoning board requirements, we conclude the "taint" comes from the state's attorney's office. I think any assumptions County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen made are justified.

Let's commend Lauzen for pointing out the dots to connect. I would like to know the reason McMahon would not litigate. Is our recourse an appeal to TV media, Lisa Madigan, or the IBI? Joe McMahon cannot be depended on to defend the county and local interests from out-of-state interests.

Allowing a Maxxam operation will cause unwanted hardship on the surrounding community for police, fire, and ambulance services, and foreseeably depress surrounding property values in a large radius around the development, causing depressed property values and the need to raise overall county property taxes accordingly. And, it will cost the county taxpayers gobs of settlement money.

Game theory analysis suggests you should reject the decree and litigate. If you lose, litigant winners seldom get the gobs of money that they ask for. Can we expect McMahon to pick a competent independent attorney to litigate this case? I think not. Chris Lauzen should choose the litigator to defend us. We urge the full county board to affirm the zoning board recommendation and reject the consent decree.

Stephen Dominick

Campton Hills

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