THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEEK OF MAY 4, 2008
Park Dist. Receives Much Needed Grant
By TOM ROBB
Journal Reporter
At the 11th hour, after much frustration and lobbying of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration, the Glenview Park District awarded a $4,302,776 bid to V3 Construction Company of Woodridge for improvements at Community Park West.
Groundbreaking at the site is scheduled for Saturday, May 10 at 8 a.m. The state awarded a $400,000 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant to the park district last Thursday (Apr. 24) hours before a park board meeting when the bid award had to be considered.
Local state legislators, park district officials and village officials said they appreciated the grant but blasted the Blagojevich administration for dragging its feet, leaving them in the dark and allowing infighting to color their judgment.
Had the park district awarded the bid they would have forfeited the grant. Had it not, the park district would have lost the upcoming planting season.
Before the funds were released, officials from Blagojevich's office said the grants were held up by Blagojevich's administration because of a $750 million gap in the state budget.
Park District Executive Director Chuck Balling, state legislators and Village President Kerry Cummings said the funds are not part of the state's general revenue fund and should not have been held hostage to the infighting that has created a very difficult environment in Springfield.
Local leaders worked hard to pressure the Blagojevich administration to just give them some information or a waiver of the bidding rules.
Balling appeared before a joint state agriculture and revenue committee hearing recently to plead the park district's case.
Cummings said she cornered Blagojevich at a luncheon he hosted on Wednesday, Apr. 16 in Chicago and personally placed a letter from Balling in the governor's hand.
Cummings said when she asked about the grants, Blagojevich began asking her who her legislators were and said they needed to pressure House Speaker Michael Madigan to pass the Capital Bill.
"All this infighting has to stop," said Cummings. "They put real (federal) dollars in jeopardy."
Cummings said infighting in Springfield might give leaders in Congress the impression that money sent to Illinois would not be used effectively. She said U.S. representatives Melissa Bean (D-8th) and Mark Kirk (R-10th) are working together to pressure state leaders to stop their fighting.
Park Board commissioners and state legislators echoed Cummings' sentiments.
Though the park board celebrated the grant, one said the atmosphere in Springfield had become "toxic."
"It is so unnecessary to go through weeks of turmoil to find something that's just standard procedure," said State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-29th). "Why do they do this, what's the point?"