Letter To the Editor/ Daily Herald Bob Friend

LETTER TO THE EDITOR / Daily Herald

June 13, 2007

This is in response to Wauconda Mayor Sal Saccomanno's letter in which he continued his apparent tryout for cheerleader-of-the-year re the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee and the Lake County Forest Preserve Board's desire to plop a 15,000-seat stadium (and plenty more) into the heart of Lakewood Forest Preserve.

The mayor, like many other chief executives in towns of that size, seems to think that unlimited growth (even if it means sacrificing a good chunk of a forest preserve) is always a good thing. Excuse me, folks -- but bigger is not always better!

My wife and I moved to Wauconda Township because we liked the quaint small-town atmosphere. It's okay with us that there's not a big-box store on every corner. And as for roads, there is research indicating that, when roads are widened, traffic problems often tend to increase, not decrease. If routes like Ivanhoe, Fairfield and Hwy. 176 get added lanes and more stoplights because of the Olympics -- or because Wauconda's and Lake County's powers-that-be simply think it'd be a good idea -- it will be the absolute ruination of this beautiful area.

God bless the people of bigger towns in Lake and Cook counties if they love living there with all the traffic, noise and air pollution -- but I don't want Wauconda and environs to look like those places in 2016!

The mayor says the opposition is small. Well, so is the support. Remember, this whole deal was worked out in secret with zero input from the public. Most "regular folks" I talk to are still not aware of what's planned for Lakewood. When I show them what was actually proposed by the Forest Preserve Board on January 9, they are immediately opposed.

Mr. Saccomanno offered the website of the Lake County Forest Preserve Board. Here is a website Daily Herald readers may want to visit to see some reasoned alternative views: www.VotersForPreservation.org .