To some people, keeping a lobbying firm in Washington to keep an eye on the possible future Ike expansion is a waste of time and money [Oak Park considers cutting Ike lobbyist, News, Oct. 20]. I would like to know where exactly these people live.
I doubt any of them live on Garfield or Harrison Street. As a homeowner on Garfield, the possibility of expanding the Ike, as improbable as it is, would be a huge concern to me. If the Ike was expanded, the residents of Harrison and Garfield would lose their homes. We are not all apartment dwellers inches from the West Side of Chicago. Many of us are homeowners in the arts district, and really like where we live. I do not have any children, yet a large portion of my taxes go to the funding of the schools that I have no children attending.
So if Oak Park taxpayers don’t want to pay a lobbying firm in Washington to keep an eye on this for us residents who would be affected, well, I don’t want to pay for your children’s schooling either. Or how about this, let’s get rid of the lobbyist, and when my home is getting torn down for an Ike expansion, my new home, well, that can be on you. Wait … you don’t want to pay for my new home?
Shelley Bornstein
Oak Park
