Freeport City Council Votes to Remove Oversight from Airport Leasing: Despite History of Mismanagement and Abuse
FREEPORT, IL – July 22, 2025
In a unanimous 8–0 vote, the Freeport City Council passed Ordinance 2025-42 on Monday night, stripping itself of future oversight regarding airplane hangar leases at the taxpayer-funded Albertus Airport. Aldermen Greg Shadle and Tom Klemm, who championed the ordinance, argued that hangar leases should return to being handled exclusively by city staff — a practice that was in place prior to 2018. But for many in Freeport, that’s precisely the problem.
A Return to the Dark
During the meeting, Shadle sold the idea on efficiency. Klemm quickly echoed the sentiment, telling his fellow council members that with a new template contract in place, there’s no need to bother the council anymore. But critics say this is a dangerous return to an era of secrecy, favoritism, and unaccountability — the very conditions that led to a well-documented scandal at the airport over the past decade.
Thanks to the bipartisan, persistent efforts of now-retired Alderman James Monroe, supported by Aldermen Stacy, Simmons, and Sanders, serious misconduct was uncovered at Albertus Airport. Lease records were a mess. Numerous tenants were occupying hangars — and even farming on city-owned land — without contracts. That’s not a bookkeeping error. That’s trespassing, squatting, and theft of public resources.
Backroom Deals and Shut-Outs
Text messages released in 2023 revealed private conversations between Mayor Jodi Miller, City Manager Rob Boyer, and several of their MAGA allies on the council — conversations that excluded not only the public, but also the airport’s own management team. These messages detailed sweetheart deals, special access, and the quiet silencing of opposition — including the airport’s own manager, who was deliberately kept out of decisions affecting the facility she was hired to oversee.
Even worse, reports showed that Fehr Graham’s Darin Stykel, who has no official airport title or interest, has been directly involved in airport operations — sidestepping not only protocol, but raising ethical and legal questions about who really holds influence in Freeport’s government. Stykel’s deep and lucrative ties to city contracts have long raised red flags. For years, many believed Stykel was the administration’s “bulldog”. On the surface a likeable guy that knew how to play the game. The man unleashed to carry out the dirty work of the administration. However, recent discoveries have led many to believe he’s no lapdog, He’s Fehr Graham’s man on the inside. Placed there to keep the wealthy and connected happy and to help Fehr Graham drain the community and the taxpayers dry.
Taxpayer-Funded, But Shielded from Taxpayer Oversight
Albertus Airport is not a self-sustaining operation. It relies heavily on taxpayer subsidies to remain operational. Yet under Ordinance 2025-42, the public is now completely shut out of knowing who rents what, under what terms, and whether public resources are being used appropriately — or abused again.
Let’s be clear: You don’t give up oversight over something you’re funding. Especially not when that “something” has a history of corruption, squatting, and potential illegal activity.
Under Mayor Miller’s administration, Albertus Airport has become what some residents now fear is a safe haven for illicit trafficking and unmonitored activity. With certain hangars reportedly off-limits even to the management company hired to run the airport, and no council involvement going forward, those concerns now have even fewer mechanisms for redress.
The Light That Was Shut Off
For seven years, Mayor Miller and her inner circle operated Albertus in the shadows. That changed when Aldermen like Monroe had the courage to investigate, expose, and demand reform. Monday night’s vote extinguished that progress. Council-approved transparency was short-lived.
Worse, it sets a precedent. If public assets can be leased and manipulated without elected oversight — especially after a proven track record of abuse — what’s next?
Call to Action
The people of Freeport deserve more than excuses about "efficiency." They deserve accountability. They deserve to know who is profiting off public property — and who is protecting them.
Let your alderman know that Ordinance 2025-42 was a mistake. Demand its repeal. Demand full transparency at Albertus Airport and in every corner of our city government.
This is not about planes or paperwork. It’s about who really runs Freeport — and whether you’ll let them do it in the dark.
🛑 Join the fight for transparency and honest government at www.Fighting4Freeport.com
📢 Contact your alderman today. Demand accountability. Demand oversight.
📍 Albertus belongs to the people — not the privileged.
—Brought to you and Paid for by Fighting4Freeport
