Opening of New Runway Once Again Sheds Light onto the O'Hare Project

Last Friday O’Hare Airport’s new North runway was opened and deemed operational. Chicago’s Mayor Daley and a few of his dignitaries (cronies) were on the first plane to touch down on the runway in a 757. The dramatic moment continued as Daley and others exited the plane and gave a press conference on the tarmac.
Daley was asked many questions by the various media representatives, but two themes remained consistent the first being Daley’s continued optimism for the “future” of O’Hare, and his contempt for those who question where the money will come from to pay for the project.
Due to what many feel is a flawed plan airlines are not lining up to offer funding for the “Modernization Project”, in fact there is not even enough money available to finish paying for Phase 1 of the 3 phase project. When asked how Chicago expects to pay for the project without any major airline companies backing it, Daley responded like a top notch professional, he is quoted as saying, "Don’t worry about it….You have a financial crisis in your own [media] business. We’re going to take care of our financial crisis….to improve the airport. It will be done. Everybody said this [runway] couldn’t be done. You’re too negative. Get some more positive news…You can’t be so negative about the future."
So negativity about the future is not something that Daley likes, so what about the “future” of two surrounding towns should the full plan be executed. One, being Bensenville, will lose hundreds of homes and will no longer have many of its neighborhoods. And the other, Elk Grove Village, will lose much of its enormous industrial park.
Overall the town that would be hit the hardest is Elk Grove Village, as the industrial park, which is the second largest in the world, all but sustains the community. Elk Grove is one of the few suburban communities that can offer such a beautiful visual appeal and have property taxes at a very low level. Removal of the industrial park will seriously threaten the low property taxes, and will lower property value by bringing the airport even closer to the residential area of Elk Grove.
That is why Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson has been the biggest opponent to the expansion project. He and Bensenville’s John Geils were successful in delaying the expansion project, but it appears that the delay will not last much longer. Both Mayors have been very contemptuous of the plan, mainly due to the fact that O’Hare could be reconfigured within its own and already existing property lines. Johnson at point said of Daley and the plan, "It's like the Wizard of Oz, when you walk into the chamber with the wizard, he looks all mighty. But when you pull back the curtain, you find a feeble old man that has no power. Same thing with O'Hare. They've got all these fancy glossies. Today they're going to have big bulldozers and tents. But now with the courts, they're going to pull back that curtain. Behind it, they're going to find there's no plan that works."