Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson (File Photo; Credit: CBS)
PEOTONE, Ill. (CBS) — U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s primary challenger, Debbie Halvorson, says a Peotone airport controlled by Cook County won’t fly.
As WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty reports, Jackson said Monday that Gov. Pat Quinn is very close to making a major announcement about plans for the long-discussed third Chicago area airport in Peotone.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty reports
But Halvorson, a former U.S. Representative herself, says a deal won’t work if local authorities are left out of the development and control of Peotone.
Halvorson says the reason Quinn and the last three governors before him haven’t been able to strike a deal on the airport is because of what she calls Jackson’s “my way or the highway” attitude about the project.
Quinn has said in the past that he wants to spend $110 million more on land acquisition, but a spokeswoman says Quinn’s office has no news on Peotone at this point.
Halvorson is running against Jackson in the newly drawn 2nd District after losing her 11th District seat to Republican Adam Kinzinger two years ago.
An aviation expert recently said the airline industry won’t support a Peotone airport because of bankruptcies, consolidations and investments elsewhere.
But Halvorson, Jackson and Quinn all support Peotone, saying it will bring jobs to the south suburbs.
Even before they ran against each other, Halvorson and Jackson clashed over which officials would control the Peotone airport and the jobs it would generate.
5 Comments
Jackson shouldn’t even control his cell block!
January 17, 2012 at 8:59 am
Haven’t Debbie Halvorson, Jesse Jackson, Jr. or Pat Quinn been reading the papers? The AP story quoting aviation consultant Michael Boyd, (a real aviation expert and not just another political hack) about how the Peotone Airport would be a bust is being reported all over the state. It is time for this dead project to be buried.
January 17, 2012 at 9:05 am
You are 100% correct re: the AP story.
I do have to ask myself WHY IN THE WORLD, WOULD WILL COUNTY or THE RESIDENTS WANT COOK COUNTY RUNNING ANYTHING IN THEIR AREA???? This would be the kiss of DEATH for Will County.
On top of that there is already an Airport in Gary that can be used & isn’t at the present time..
January 17, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Hey…what Daleys wants…..Daleys…..gets !!!!!
Anyway, how is Emmanual going to run in 2016 without a pot ?
January 17, 2012 at 9:28 pm
I grow healthy organic food near the proposed Peotone airport. My neighbors are families that have farmed these properties for generations. These farms contain extremely productive soils. With pressure on the American farmer to increase or at least maintain its ability to feed the worlds ever increasing numbers of hungry people, these farms will only become more valuable, especially with the severe drought in much of the country. Once these farms are covered by millions of tons of asphalt, concrete and toxic polution, they will be destroyed forever. We don’t need another boondoggle in the south suburbs. Look at the numerous, highly touted town center commercial and residential developments in these communities (Lemont, Willow Springs, Oak Lawn and Oak Forest to name a few).They are either vacant or minimally occupied. They were proposed with great fanfare but fell incredibly short of the benefits promised by developers and politicians. Property taxpayers are now stuck for decades paying off the bonds floated to build these white elephants. It would be much more productive to improve existing airports in Gary and Kankakee or to invest in high speed rail, which is a significantly greener and more economical form of transport. Please support STAND and your local property taxpayers. Illinois is so broke it can’t pay the 10′s of thousands of pensions it owes it’s employees and can’t properly fund our schools. Please vote against anyone who supports this nightmare of a boondoggle.
January 18, 2012 at 7:59 pm