Resignations in Wheeling and Prospect Heights and on the board of the airport the towns co-own may provide an opportunity to set a new course for the facility that is one of the busier general aviation airports in the state and could help defuse a furor over payments to a consulting firm, said officials of both communities.
Chicago Executive Airport, formerly known as Palwaukee Municipal, is an economic boon, officials said, but it also has been a source of friction between the towns, especially in recent weeks with the resignations of Prospect Heights Mayor Rodney Pace and two members of the airport board amid a controversy over the New Jersey-based consulting firm.
Airport officials said they are pushing ahead with upgrades to the field, including new hangars, improved runways and better airport lighting.
"We have to work together to make this move forward - - that's our job," said Judy Abruscato, Wheeling's acting village president.
The latest resignation came last week from L. James Wylie, airport board vice chairman. His resignation follows that of the board's chairman, Kevin Dohm, last month.
Dohm said he was told by Pace and former Wheeling Village President Greg Klatecki to hire Airport Corp. of America Inc. as a consultant on land acquisition issues for Chicago Executive. Some board members are questioning the more than $125,000 paid to John Kennedy of Airport Corp.
Klatecki resigned last spring. Both he and Pace have cited health concerns as reasons for stepping down.
In an unusual move, three Wheeling trustees who have generally agreed on most airport issues are taking turns as acting village president until the next election, in 2009.
Pace has been replaced by Prospect Heights Ald. Patrick Ludvigsen.
Some officials said the questions about the consultant have distracted the board at a time when members should be concerned with pushing ahead with improvement projects. But board members who called for Dohm's ouster said they still are trying to get the full story of how Airport Corp. was hired.
"It seemed to be very, very back-door secret-room stuff that was going on," board treasurer David Kolssak said.
Kolssak sought Dohm's resignation because the chairman approved about $20,000 in payments to Airport Corp. when the airport manager, who usually approves airport bills, was out of town.
Dohm said last month the accusations against him were baseless and that he was resigning because acting as chairman was "a waste of my time," in light of the disputes between Wheeling and Prospect Heights.
Pace said Dohm's resignation was the result of dissatisfaction on the part of members of the board appointed by Wheeling and that the resignation was unnecessary.
The airport flap is just the latest tumultuous episode in the politics of the two communities, particularly in Prospect Heights, where Pace took office in 2003 vowing to bring a new sense of cooperation to the suburb. But his first term was dogged by opponents questioning his ethics and village spending and development plans.
Both communities are trying to replace their village halls -- Prospect Heights because of a still-unsolved arson that gutted its building in April 2006.
