President Vernard L. Alsberry:
South Suburbs for Greenspace’s (SSG) purpose is to preserve the long-term health, prosperity, and quality of life of Southland residents by preserving greenspace, specifically the 127 acres of greenspace at the Calumet Country Club. Hazel Crest’s decision to annex the property owned by Diversified Partners is a reversal of a February 16, 2021 statement by the board of trustees not to work with Diversified Partners, showing that any statements made by the board and its president are meaningless.
SSG will continue to emphasize facts supported by documentation, as it has always done. Any assertions that the board and President Alsberry are not committed to the industrial development proposal currently being floated by the property owner are belied by the facts that:
- many legal requests for public documents in 2023 were not produced to the public until after the annexation vote (with some of the earliest requests still outstanding);
- the Village of Hazel Crest has been recorded stealing Truck No yard signs from private property;
- the village board has broken its own laws by not allowing the public to speak before voting on the annexation on February 14, 2023; and
- the village president accepted $10,000 in campaign donations from the unregistered lobbyists working for the property owner the same month he met with them.
The implication from President Alsberry’s undated letter (published on February 15, 2023) is that the public should be grateful to the board for having an open, public hearing. Contrary to this being a generous concession offered by the president, open and public hearings for rezoning property are a state law.
South Suburbs for Greenspace remains committed to stopping this destruction of greenspace, community health, and property values.
South Suburbs for Greenspace