Suburban O’Hare Residents Lose One of Their Most Effective Guardians

CHICAGO, April 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Six-term incumbent John Geils was defeated Tuesday night by challenger Frank Soto in the election for Village President of Bensenville. The loss marks the first change in leadership in 24 years for the community located outside of Chicago. Geils is widely considered to be the most effective public official in standing up to the Daley machine and fighting for Bensenville residents rights that are threatened by the O’Hare airport expansion plans.

“I want to congratulate Frank Soto and make sure he knows he has my full support in continuing to protect the rights of the residents of Bensenville,” said Village President John Geils. “I’m extremely grateful to all the people who have supported me throughout my term as village president. One positive I took from Tuesday is the outcome of the O’Hare Referendum and the knowledge that the majority of Bensenville residents want to continue to fight O’Hare expansion. I hope Mr. Soto sees that and respects the voters wishes.”

For more than 20 years Geils has lead the battered Villages of Elk Grove, Bensenville and surrounding communities in their fight against the poorly planned O’Hare airport expansion and has consistently questioned the need and integrity of the expansion project. In February, Geils went to Congress to explain the issues with the current expansion plan which resulted in no federal stimulus dollars being awarded to the O’Hare expansion.

“We did the best we could for our community and we certainly were not intimidated by anyone, no matter what tactics were tried,” continued Geils. “The current O’Hare expansion program is a bad plan and my losing an election doesn’t change that. I can only hope that we have generated enough questions about the project that the FAA, the media and members of Congress will take a hard look at it.”

Village President John Geils has been a lifetime resident of Bensenville for 52 years. He is the Owner/Business Manager of Geils Funeral Home, Inc. in Bensenville and Wood Dale, a fourth generation, family owned business that was established in 1898 and has served the communities for over 100 years.

SOURCE Village of Bensenville