Monday, June 11, 2007

Response to Tribune



VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

Politics should play no part in development


Published June 11, 2007

This is in response to "Clout helped build flawed luxury homes; City missed defects in Bridgeport Village plans" (Page 1, June 3). The Tribune's feature on clout in the Bridgeport Village development properly examines the role that clout-heavy politics played in creating problems at this award-winning development. As the article reports, that is the subject of a federal lawsuit I filed, but I write here concerning the structural soundness of the homes. The full facts tell a different story.

First, the article describes supposedly "flawed" homes -- downplaying the fact that when I was managing the project until June 2005, reputable engineers vouched for their structural soundness.

The article omits the fact that in June 2005, the building commissioner wrote to the mayor's office that there is no hazardous condition or imminent danger in the homes' structure. He noted that 30,000 similarly constructed homes were built in Chicago over the past 20 years. Yet the City of Chicago is pursuing only Bridgeport Village. Could politics be involved? In Chicago? In the 11th Ward?

The opening sentence claims "a gusty wind" tore apart "a two-story home in the later stages of construction."

In fact, that home had just been started -- it was an exposed wooden framework without bracing or interior walls -- as can be seen in the accompanying photograph showing little debris. Big difference! No engineer has suggested that the supposed structural problem caused this frame to blow down.

The article gives prominence to a disgruntled subcontractor, who left because of a financial dispute and hired an engineer. That engineer, however, never visited the site, relied on drawings that were not structural blueprints and drew inaccurate conclusions based on a series of false assumptions.

The article ends with an anecdote about a couple (who were so pleased with their first Bridgeport Village home that they decided to "upgrade") who complained about problems in their second house. This home is 25 feet wide, not one of the 20-foot models that have the supposed structural issue. When the city improperly shut the project down in mid-winter 2005, this home was incomplete and lacked windows. The city refused our requests to enclose this home, which exposed it for months to Chicago weather.

The homeowners should be assured, as I was when I was manager, that their homes are structurally sound. If that is not the case, a reasonable fix should be employed.

But politics should play no part, and Bridgeport Village should not be unfairly singled out.

Thomas Snitzer, Chicago

No comments: