North Cook News

Heather Maldonado long feared things would come to this.

“Mayor Johnson in the last 15 years or so at least has always wanted this property,” said Maldonado, who lives in a 36-acre area of Elk Grove Village many feel is on the verge of being annexed. “He does not want us as residents. He's trying to displace us. He'll say, well, you know, it's a developer that's coming in. But if you look at the plans that are publicly available from Elk Grove, it specifically says they don't want us as residents.”

Dozens of homeowners living in the village near O’Hare International Airport share Maldonado’s views and insist they’re now living in limbo over a bill now being pushed in Springfield that is really a scheme to allow Elk Grove Village to take their property.

 I'm not exactly sure, OK, with the whole process of the bill, but where they will change the language of the annexation law so that they can forcibly annex land owners,” Maldonado added. “And in this case, you know, it would affect us and it would affect potentially other people in Illinois.”

While Maldonado has resided in the area for 17 years, neighbor Dawn Jablonski says documents show land grab efforts have been afloat at least since 2008.

“It proves to me that [Mayor Craig Johnson has] always wanted us,” added, Jablonski, pointing to paperwork that shows the Ropollo subdivision under a heading “Residential Developed [sic] To Be Annexed.”

Meanwhile, the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines), continues to insist the proposed measure is only intended to clear up confusion about what can and can’t be legally done.

“This [legislation] could affect further annexations down the road for other towns, and this town, but we have no plans – Elk Grove Village has no plans – to annex any part of anybody’s personal property right now,” Moylan told CBS.

Mayor Johnson has also gone on record in insisting Senate Bill 658 has nothing to do with the Ropollo subdivision and would not affect property there.

Still, suspicious abound.

“There’s a lot of sleepless nights,” Jablonski added. “It’s just an ongoing fight.”