STUMP » Articles » Chicago Watch: Daley, Rahm, and a Restaurant » 3 July 2014, 16:24

Just a couple items over the transom.

First, the prior mayor of Chicago doesn’t want to testify in a court case:

Attorneys for Richard Daley are asking that the former mayor be excused from testifying during the trial of the city of Chicago’s lawsuit to break the long-term agreement for the Park Grill in Millennium Park, citing in part an unspecified medical hardship.

Mr. Daley’s physical condition has been the subject of speculation since January, when he suffered symptoms similar to a stroke during business trip and spent several days in the hospital. Since then, his family has declined to disclose the nature of his illness or the current state of his health.

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The Emanuel administration contends that the 30-year concession to operate the dining establishment was a sweetheart deal cut to benefit friends of Mr. Daley, who stepped down in 2011.
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Mr. Daley has been subpoenaed to testify on behalf of the defendants, ventures that include veteran restaurateurs Jim Horan and Matt O’Malley.
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“His deposition testimony established he had little or no substantive recollection concerning the issues and events about which he was questioned,” according to the motion. “For example, Mr. Daley testified he did not recall the process by which a restaurant operator was selected for Millennium Park. He testified he lacked recollection of conversations regarding approval of concession agreements for Millennium Park or the state of Park Grill negotiations. He testified he did not know if there was anything improper about how the Park Grill got the contract.”

Lawyers for the Park Grill defendants have declined to say why they wish to call Mr. Daley as a witness, according to the motion.

Ho hum. Just SOP, doncha know.

Next, current mayor of Chicago raises a little bit of money:

A new super PAC created to re-elect Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his City Council allies has raised $1 million in less than two weeks, thanks to hefty contributions from eight business titans.

A disclosure statement filed with the State Board of Elections shows five, $150,000 contributions to “Chicago Forward.”

They came from real estate mogul Barry Malkin and four CEOs: Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group; Groupon’s Eric Lefkofsky; Michael Sacks of Grosvenor Capital Management and Samuel Mencoff of Madison Dearborn Partners.

Madison Dearborn Partners Chairman John Canning, an investor in Wrapports, the company that owns the Chicago Sun-Times, contributed $100,000. So did Paul Finnegan, Madison Dearborn’s CEO/ Private Equity. Paul Meister, Grosvenor’s chief operating officer and vice-chairman, contributed $50,000.

Sacks is Emanuel’s close friend, chief business adviser and vice chairman of World Business Chicago, the nonprofit economic development arm of City Hall. He is also a Wrapports investor.

Griffin’s donation to the Emanuel PAC follows his record $2.5 million contribution to Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, the mayoral friend and former business associate.

Well, that tidbit is interesting.

I wonder if any of these people are interested in running a restaurant?

Bonus Obama content:

The Chicago-based Barack Obama Foundation announced Wednesday it added two members to its board: David Plouffe, the former White House senior adviser who was President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager and a half-sister of the president, Maya Soetoro-Ng.

The foundation also pushed back its timeline to mid-September for making a short list of bidders for the Obama Library and Museum who will be asked to respond to a “Request for a Proposal.” First round bids were submitted on June 16.
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Background, from the Foundation: David Plouffe served as senior advisor to President Obama until January 2013 and as his campaign manager during the 2008 election.
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Maya Soetoro-Ng is President Obama’s half-sister and is currently a specialist for the Matsunaga Institute for Peace.

Must be nice to be connected.

Compilation of Chicago posts.