Forest commissioners act like slumlords

After reading the Daily Herald's story headlined "Local Sierra Club says McKee House 'should be torn down,'" it appeared that DuPage Forest Preserve Commissioners were in need of Connie Schmidt's River Prairie Group of the Sierra Club to get them out from under a no win situation.

The Daily Herald's accompanying picture of the McKee House reflects well of its stately charm as it sits in Churchill Woods along St. Charles Road near Glen Ellyn. One has to wonder what rational led previous forest preserve commissioners and a president, along with some current members led by its President Joe Cantore, to treat it so poorly.

The stewards of DuPage County's forest preserves, its board, led by Cantore, unequivocally have withheld appropriate maintenance to their own premiere historic group of buildings. As a result, a necessary roof replacement was never done, leading to water damage. Neglect of this nature is what leads to a slum. The expense to repair the damage of these many years of neglect is now being used by the forest preserve as its reason for tearing it down.

It's ironic that the board has taken on structures with no historic link to its forest preserves, like Mayslake, the Green Barn, the Robert Fuller House and many others, using tax payers money to restore and support them.

We should be thankful that are neighbors don't conduct themselves like those elected officials on the DuPage County Forest Preserve Board, past and present, who act like slum lords.

Ken Kosirog

Glen Ellyn