On March 31, the village of River Forest circulated its second “Madison Development Newsletter,” featuring a message crafted by Trustee Robert O’Connell: “As one of your village board members, I want to share a bit about the steps the village has taken to date and what residents can expect as we move forward.”
He states the process “began in early 2025.” This is most certainly untrue.
For a public servant to make this claim ignores the considerable effort the village undertook during summer and fall 2024 when it repeatedly invited residents to host a “Neighborhood Dialogue” in their home — and encouraged all citizens to participate in those important conversations. Their stated purpose: to gather public input on future development — particularly of the vacant land at the corner of Ashland and Madison.
That the village board spent nearly $20,000 on this initiative and then ignored the feedback from those sessions when it engaged JLL to solicit proposals from developers is another story. It’s frustrating to see taxpayer money wasted — and it’s beyond frustrating to read this kind of revisionist history from a village trustee who was in office when the focus groups took place (and who should know better than to try to hoodwink River Forest residents).
It begs the question: Is he blind to the real issues at play?
Kathryn Jandeska
River Forest