Daily Herald
June 16, 2006
Anti-sprawl and government watchdog groups chaffed Thursday at U.S. Speaker Dennis Hastert’s near $2 million profit from selling off 138 acres to a housing developer a few miles from his long-coveted Prairie Parkway.
Potential disclosure and conflict-of-interest issues arose a day after members of Congress released financial income forms, which generally outlined Hastert’s deal.
Hastert’s record shows the sale of 138 acres of Plano-area farmland, located about 5.5 miles west of the proposed Prairie Parkway, to a developer. The sale of the two 69-acre parcels was executed through a blind real estate trust Hastert had an interest in, according to notarized Kendall County real estate documents.
The Washington-based Sunlight Foundation, a congressional watchdog group, publicized Hastert’s connections to the land sales Wednesday. That organization and local conservation groups believe the sizable profit came because the powerful congressman secured the Prairie Parkway, which would increase land values.
Hastert’s office immediately denounced that the land deal was sweetened by the controversial expressway, which he earmarked more than $200 million in federal funding for last year.
Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said the profit, which came after a three-year investment, stemmed from the addition of road access.
“This is … throwing mud against the wall to see what will stick,” he said.
Yet some are raising eyebrows.
Jay Stewart, director of the
Chicago-based watchdog Better Government Association, said he is
concerned that Hastert used a blind trust, which effectively hid his
interest in the deal until the congressional records revealed the sale.
It is a practice allowed in few states aside from Illinois.
“That does not inspire confidence,” he said, while adding, “but that is not illegal.”
The land sale put the sprawling
farmland along Little Rock Creek in northwestern Kendall County in the
hands of a developer who plans to build more than 1,600 homes in the
area — a plan that riles conservation groups.
One of the 69-acre parcels is located next to a 45-acre site preserved by the Conservation Foundation.
The foundation forwarded questions to Jan Strasma, head of the anti-Prairie Parkway group Citizens Against the Sprawlway. He called the land sale “disheartening.”
“Everybody has a right to sell to developers,” Strasma said. “But I would hope (Hastert would) have the public interest at heart and I’m not sure he does.”
The Sierra Club cited the deal as another instance of politicians sacrificing the public good to make money.
“We have known all along that
the real reason for building the Prairie Parkway is to help a small
number of connected developers and speculators make money,” said
Jack Darin, director of the club’s Illinois chapter. “And
now it appears that Speaker Hastert is one of those who stands to get
richer from the paving over of Kendall County’s open
spaces.”
Also known as the Outer Belt, the $1 billion Prairie Parkway will ultimately link Reagan Memorial Tollway and Interstate 80.
Meanwhile, John Laesch, Hastert’s Democratic challenger for the 14th District, pounced on the discontent.
“Denny Hastert’s going to have to answer to the voters for
his corrupt dealings,” he told reporters gathered at a news
conference.
Bonjean said Hastert used the cash from the land deal to buy another 126 acres in Kendall County and more than 200 acres in Crawford County, Wis.