Aviation Integrity Project: Study shows a well-greased O'Hare wheel

AIP in the News

The Daily Herald
Sept. 15, 2002

Study shows a well-greased O'Hare wheel

But politicians deny donations from expansion supporters influenced views

By Eric Krol, Daily Herald Political Writer

The push to get expansion of O'Hare International Airport through Congress is being greased by well-timed campaign contributions and a phony public relations effort cooked up by civic leaders whose companies hold $217 million in airport contracts, a new documentary and report funded by an anti-O'Hare group claims.

The four-month investigation by the Aviation Integrity Project is part of a major PR offensive of its own to persuade Chicago and suburban residents to lobby elected officials to stop plans for new runways at the world's busiest airport.

The report and documentary plot out the timeline of several key politicians' positions on O'Hare, when they got campaign contributions from airline interests, and when those politicians changed their minds to support expansion.

"What you see is if you have enough money, a public relations firm and make enough campaign contributions, you can override ordinary, unfortunate people living in the suburbs someplace," said Terrence Brunner, the project's director and former head of the watchdog Better Government Association.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, one of the politicians taken to task in the report, said it's only natural for Durbin, who's up for re-election this fall, to get campaign contributions from businesses that support O'Hare, because nearly all companies in the state support the plan for its expected economic benefits. "This is an overblown attack from the Suburban O'Hare Commission to try to turn such a positive for the Chicago area into a negative," spokeswoman Stacey Zolt said, referring to another prominent anti-O'Hare group.

The aviation group will release its report Monday and the following day begin airing its 10-minute documentary on AT&T Cable television for 10 days, a unique approach Brunner said hasn't been done before. The aviation project, funded by anti-expansion Bensensville, Elk Grove Village, Wood Dale and Park Ridge, is spending $100,000 to air it infomercial-style as a local cut-in program on national stations like TNT, TBS and MTV.

The tongue-in-cheek documentary features radio show host Cliff Kelly of WVON 1450-AM collecting donations from regular people "to buy back Congress."

"We're showing real people, and how congressional campaign contributions and congressional decisions affect them," Brunner said.

The deal between Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Gov. George Ryan to add new runways at O'Hare would require demolition of more than 500 homes in Bensenville and 50 companies in Elk Grove Village's tax-producing business park.

Once considered a slam-dunk, the O'Hare deal passed the House in July but is stalled in the Senate. Durbin has said he has enough votes to bypass delay tactics by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, the Inverness Republican who opposes the expansion, but has yet to call the measure for a vote as time ticks down on Congress this year.

Naming names

The overarching theme of the aviation project's report is that several politicians who claimed to support campaign finance reform to limit special interests' influence changed their positions on O'Hare after getting contributions from United and American airlines and the airline industry.

Durbin, a Springfield Democrat, had remained neutral on O'Hare expansion when 14 top executives from American gave $16,250 to his campaign fund in December 2000, followed by $6,000 from United executives in April 2001, the report states. The following month, Durbin changed his position to supporting new runways at O'Hare and is sponsoring the legislation in the Senate.

All told, Durbin has collected $109,907 from airlines, the airline industry and pro-expansion forces since 1997, according to the report.

Durbin spokeswoman Zolt said there is "absolutely no correlation" between the airline campaign donations and Durbin's decision to support expansion.

"This is old news. This is an old, recycled press release to stop the expansion of O'Hare," said Zolt, referring to the same group's call last April for Durbin to return O'Hare-related contributions.

Rep. Mark Kirk, a Highland Park Republican, also is criticized in the report for not taking a position on O'Hare expansion during his 2000 run for Congress and later becoming a House leader in working for its passage. Kirk has received $44,700 in campaign contributions from pro-O'Hare interests, the report states.

Kirk said he did not take a position on O'Hare during his campaign because the issue was dead because of Gov. George Ryan's then-opposition to new runways.

"If I did not have a dime, I'd be totally pro-O'Hare," Kirk said. "My district was hit hard by the recession."

Kirk also said the new runway plan would move noise pollution away from towns in his congressional district like Palatine and Arlington Heights.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Yorkville Republican, also remained neutral on O'Hare until the measure stalled in the House earlier this summer. Then he worked to assure its passage. Hastert has received $27,500 from pro-O'Hare interests, the report states.

Hastert spokesman John McGovern said the speaker previously hadn't taken positions on specific O'Hare plans, but he has long supported efforts to improve efficiency at the airport.

The report also criticizes several lawmakers from other states, including Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa. Harkin, who is up for re-election this fall, became one of the early leaders for O'Hare expansion in the fall of 2000 after getting $8,000 from eight top American executives in the summer of 2000, according to the report. Harkin has collected $40,500 since 2000 from pro-expansion interests, the report states.

A Harkin spokesman said the senator has argued for solving O'Hare's notorious delays for more than a decade, including in a 1991 speech in Chicago during his run for president.

"Air travel is just too important to Iowans and the Iowa economy to play politics with," Harkin spokesman Bill Burton said. "This is an outrageous political attack."

A spokesman for United Airlines said he had no comment until seeing the aviation group's report. American could not be reached for comment.

O'Hare motivation

The report's other thrust is to blast the city's "carefully orchestrated, coordinated and calculated" public relations campaign "vilifying and marginalizing O'Hare opponents as a 'small minority of suburban residents.' " More than 1 million suburban residents live in towns affected by the expansion, Brunner argues.

Singled out for scorn is a full-page newspaper ad taken out in May 2001 by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago calling for new runways at O'Hare. Of the 60 corporate executives who signed the ad, 13 work for companies that have city contracts for $217 million worth of business at O'Hare, showing a conflict of interest, Brunner said. An airport expansion would only increase that figure, he said.

Among the companies doing business with the airport are Chicago Title and Trust, which has O'Hare contracts totaling $115 million; Bank One, which has contracts for $2.1 million; and Material Services, which does $62,238 worth of O'Hare work.

"Obviously, the downtown fat cats who are saying O'Hare expansion is good for Chicago are really talking about for the good of themselves," Brunner said.

R. Eden Martin, the civic committee's president, said the ad isn't phony.

"If they read the ad, the argument is, there is a strong economic interest (in expanding O'Hare)," Martin said. "They're wrong if they link it to contracts. That's only a tiny part of it."

O'Hare expansion will bring $10 billion a year of economic growth to Chicago, according to a study touted by Daley. "It seems to me they're focusing on the hair on the tail of the dog," Martin said.

Brunner disputes the validity of the study that $10 billion figure is based on, saying documents O'Hare expansion opponents obtained in a lawsuit show the study was unduly influenced by Daley political allies.

The city's aviation spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.