Daily Herald
September 5, 2004
By Patrick Waldron
Since announcing he wouldn't seek a third term as county board chairman, Mike McCoy, an Aurora Republican, hasn't
been shy about sharing his political feelings.
His scolding of the county board earlier this year for scrapping a 200-bed county jail addition and then, in McCoy's
eyes, making little progress on finding another solution was a prime example.
Another was his virtual reprimand of the forest preserve district for allowing hundreds of tons of dirt to be dumped
illegally on forest preserve-owned property in Sugar Grove.
None of that compared to the tongue-whipping McCoy did a week ago on his No. 1 issue - the proposed Prairie Parkway
which would cut through Kane County farm land and link I-88 with I-80.
"This project is a joke," McCoy said last Sunday at the third annual picnic thrown by the group Citizens
Against the Sprawlway. "This project would not stand the test of any solid engineering study."
McCoy has spent years fighting against the proposed expressway and in his final months in office has made no secret
that he'll say anything he wants in opposing it.
That includes McCoy's tendency to take on the project's biggest and most powerful supporter - U.S. House Speaker
Dennis Hastert, a Plano Republican.
In what could have been his last major public address on the Prairie Parkway as chairman, McCoy didn't hold back.
"Without Hastert, believe me, this road would go away," McCoy said. "There's no one who would carry
the ball for this road. And I think we all know that."
Hastert, whose district includes all of Kane and Kendall counties and would be split by the expressway, has repeatedly
called the project a priority and a necessity to carry the Chicago region's increasing traffic.
McCoy and outer belt opponents see the parkway as a vehicle for urban sprawl and a Hastert pork barrel project.
"It's been a pleasure to oppose this project," McCoy said. "For me it boils down to right and wrong."
Meanwhile: Hastert may be our congressman, but he's also the nation's most powerful legislator two months before
a presidential election.
That said, it seems he's got other arguments to worry about at the moment.
The verbal fistfight for Hastert this week squared the speaker off with billionaire and liberal activist George
Soros.
It started with Hastert making comments on Fox News Channel Sunday about where Soros got all his money. Hastert
said Soros earned it from pro-drug groups. Some - including Soros - have inferred that the speaker suggested the
New York activist got money from drug cartels.
The comments were followed by a letter from Soros sent to the speaker's office Tuesday demanding a public apology
from Hastert.
Soros blasted Hastert for suggesting he benefits from criminals just because he voices his First Amendment rights
and has come out against American drug policy.
On Wednesday, Hastert released a letter to Soros dismissing the notion that he suggested drug cartels funded the
activist. The show's anchor used the term "drug cartels", not the speaker, Hastert said.
But Hastert didn't back off his theme that Soros' policies are "dangerous, radical and extreme" and come
from the same people fighting against the re-election of President Bush.
On a more civilized note: County Treasurer David Rickert would like to remind taxpayers that the second installment
of their bills must be paid by Sept. 14.
Residents with questions can call the treasurer's office at (630) 232-3565.