In 2005, Oak Park’s village government made a reasoned investment in retaining a Madison Street car dealership. Foley-Rice Cadillac and Oldsmobile was a longstanding Oak Park business — one of the last of the old Madison Street Auto Row dealers from the 1950s and ’60s when car dealers ruled the street.
Then things changed. GM pulled the plug on Oldsmobile, the economy tanked and the auto industry came to the brink of collapse.
To its credit though, village government held steady in demanding that Foley-Rice honor its agreement and return the $400,000 (plus attorneys’ fees) that Oak Park had given the dealership in the retention agreement. Last week a settlement was reached. And that’s fair.