PLANNED METHADONE CLINIC PROTESTED

Hundreds Rally Against Berwyn's Approval Vote

Saying they feared an influx of drug addicts and crime, hundreds of
protesters braved the heat in Berwyn on Wednesday evening to denounce
plans to open a methadone clinic in a neighborhood that the city has
struggled for years to revitalize.

Mayor Michael O'Connor led the protest in a parking lot across from
the clinic's planned home at 3242 Grove Ave. The City Council
approved the facility last week on a 4-2 vote, though it is not clear
when it might open.

The protest turned raucous as sign-carrying demonstrators booed and
shouted down several speakers, including the clinic's owner and
aldermen who approved the treatment facility. Numerous children
dotted the crowd, and the clinic's feared negative effects on
youngsters was a consistent theme.

Many in the audience hoped to persuade the council to reverse itself
at its meeting next week.

"Let's give the aldermen who voted 'yes' a chance to reconsider their
vote," resident Shelley Titzer, 38, told the crowd. "A neighborhood
with families and residences and shopping centers is not a place for
a methadone clinic. . . . [They] belong in a major medical complex."

O'Connor and some residents complained that the new facility will
attract a culture of drug users to the Depot District, which includes
several restaurants and shops. Berwyn officials have been trying to
revive the area for years.

"It's no secret that I feel this methadone clinic is a bad idea,"
said O'Connor, who was cheered when he said he is talking to a
college teacher from Chicago about opening an art studio for children
at the site.

Ald. Nona Chapman, who voted for the clinic in her 1st Ward, said
that she opposed it, but that the city would face a lawsuit if the
clinic were denied. Chapman and other officials said the city's
Zoning Board of Appeals determined that the City Council was wrong to
deny the clinic in an earlier vote in April and that there was no
legal reason to do so because the planned clinic's home is zoned for
a medical building.

"If I voted only with my heart and the passion for the area, I would
have said 'No!' " Chapman said in a letter sent to 1st Ward residents
last week. Chapman said she is reluctant to invite more lawsuits by
denying this business.

Chapman was one of those shouted down by the crowd as she tried to
explain her decision.

Also booed off the stage was Elizabeth Buonauro, owner of the clinic.

"We've done everything legally," she said. "There are many addicts
who do live in Berwyn."

That prompted chants of "We don't want it."

Ald. Robert Lovero (7th) indicated to the residents that he might
reverse his position on the clinic, which he voted last week to approve.

"In my heart, I don't want a methadone clinic. I operated with my
head," Lovero said. "Was my reasoning wrong? Possibly. Now I am more
willing to reconsider my vote."

Earlier Wednesday, Buonauro said she would sue the city if the City
Council reverses the decision at its next meeting.

Buonauro, who lives just two blocks from the clinic site, said the
community is jumping to conclusions.

"I wouldn't do something to ruin my own community," she said. "The
clinic won't just serve heroin addicts but people who have a
dependency on prescription medication.

"Many are working-class people that live in the suburbs. Many people
will be from the neighborhood."

Buonauro has operated a similar clinic in Evanston for six years and
said there have not been any problems at that location. She only
accepts patients with private insurance plans.

But Dr. Marc Freed, a pediatrician who has operated his practice for
more than 20 years in the building, said he is contemplating moving.

"I've been getting a lot of complaints from patients," Freed said.
"Some said they will drop me."

Methadone, a strictly regulated drug usually taken in liquid form, is
required by law to be administered under the care of a health-care
professional.

Bill Waterbury, 54, was one of the few at Wednesday's event who
supported the clinic.

"Addicts need a place to get treatment. They need a place to go,"
Waterbury said before the speakers took the stage. "I've known plenty
of people in my life who have turned themselves around."