Hon. Al McCowan, Chairman
Hon. John Ostenburg, Vice Chairman

Dear Editor:

If all the demands for “local control” of the new airport weren’t so stubbornly uninformed, they’d be comical.

State Sen. Debbie Halvorson and Congressman Jerry Weller sound like broken records when they repeat their only concern about the airport is “local control, local control, local control.”

Guess what? The Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission is locally controlled.

I am the chairman of ALNAC. I am also the mayor of University Park, a Will County community. I live in Will County. And I pay Will County taxes.

ALNAC’s vice chairman is John Ostenburg. He is mayor of Park Forest, another Will County community.

We formed ALNAC four years ago under the same state laws used by virtually every other airport commission in Illinois. In short, we didn’t seek special treatment in Springfield.

More importantly, we designed a world-class airport (which IDOT adopted) and secured $300 million in private funds to pay for it, so Will County taxpayers won’t foot the bill.

Finally, we opened ALNAC to all Will County mayors of home-rule municipalities, in accordance to state law and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s guidance.

Park Forest and University Park border the airport. Our communities want an airport, but one that is friendly to the local environment. That’s why ALNAC is run by local elected officials, who are accountable to local voters, sensitive to local needs – and committed to creating 15,000 local jobs during the worst economy in a generation.

Frankly, I cannot think of an airport with more ”local control.”

But if anyone can prove that University Park is not in Will County, let me know. Then our residents can stop paying Will County taxes.

Al McCowan
Mayor of University Park and Chairman of ALNAC

A, via The Hill: “Jackson said on WLS-890 AM’s “Don Wade and Roma” morning show…”