caulfield12 Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 http://news.yahoo.com/lawsuit-names-white-...36874--mlb.html CHICAGO (AP) — The former head of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority filed a lawsuit Monday against White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, claiming they conspired to fire her two years ago to stop her reforms at the public agency. Perri Irmer, the agency's former executive director, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago. It claims Reinsdorf and Thompson "sought to silence Perri Irmer and to stifle her efforts to protect Illinois taxpayers from Reinsdorf's greed." Reinsdorf pressured Thompson to remove her when the former governor was chairman of the agency, according to the complaint, which alleges Reinsdorf opposed Irmer because she succeeded in getting the White Sox to pay the agency $1.2 million in yearly rent for the use of U.S. Cellular Field. Thompson and a Reinsdorf spokesman denied the lawsuit's claims, with Thompson calling the suit a "self-serving tirade." Irmer's lawsuit, which seeks unspecified financial damages to cover her losses, includes biting language to describe Reinsdorf's alleged clout. Reinsdorf exercised "undue influence over former Governor Thompson and apparently over all the members of the ISFA Board of Directors who became complicit in allowing Reinsdorf to treat Cellular Field and the surrounding publicly owned lands as his personal fiefdom," the lawsuit states. The lawsuit alleges that the public agency has used taxpayer money to build and renovate U.S. Cellular Field and to build the Bacardi at the Park restaurant next door, but the White Sox organization has kept most of the revenue. "The highly favorable terms granted to the White Sox in 1988 and intended to last until at least 2029 served to create a sense of entitlement on the part of White Sox Chairman Reinsdorf, who has repeatedly acted as though Cellular Field was a gift by the Illinois taxpayers to Reinsdorf and his team," Irmer's lawsuit contends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justBLAZE Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 lol wut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted April 18, 2013 Author Share Posted April 18, 2013 (edited) http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/22001242...former-governor More detailed version of the story. In her 32-page federal complaint filed Monday in Chicago, Perri Irmer allege s that after her 2004 arrival at the Illinoi s S port s Facilitie s Authority, s ome of her effort s at rai s ing new revenue and reforming the agency were rebuffed by Rein s dorf and Thomp s on, two longtime friend s , and that they wielded their influence to get her fired in April 2011. S he allege s that s he s ucce s s fully pu s hed for the S ox to begin paying rent in 2008 to I S FA, and that afterward, Rein s dorf began lobbying then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich — now in pri s on — to have her fired. "Under former Gov. Thomp s on' s leader s hip, the I S FA Board had become ineffective to protect taxpayer intere s t s , and wa s acting a s nothing more than a ca s h cow puppet for Jerry Rein s dorf," the complaint s tate s . S he i s s ee k ing un s pecified damage s for " s ub s tantial economic lo s s e s ," according to the law s uit. A s k ed to comment on the s uit Tue s day, Thomp s on s aid: "The allegation s of the complaint are fal s e." . . . Thomp s on ha s long been tied to the S ox. In 1987, with Rein s dorf threatening to move hi s team to Florida — where a s tadium wa s built to lure a team — then-Gov. Thomp s on wor k ed the floor s of the General A s s embly to pa s s the law creating the authority and allowing a new par k to be built for the S ox. The cloc k on the Hou s e floor wa s turned off in order to meet a midnight deadline. The authority over s aw con s truction of the s tadium and the financing for it. The S ox began paying $1.2 million in rent in 2008, a change Irmer allege s s he pu s hed for. That s ame year s he hired con s ultant s to s tudy developing s tate-owned land around the Cell, and the analy s i s s howed building s tore s and re s taurant s would lead to profit s for taxpayer s , the s uit s ay s . S he allege s that in December 2008, Rein s dorf lobbied Blagojevich not to renew her contract and that Blagojevich' s former chief of s taff, John Harri s , called board member s — five day s before Blagojevich' s arre s t. A board meeting ended without a deci s ion regarding her contract. Two day s later s he wa s told by "a private citizen" enli s ted by Harri s that there were s till plan s to remove her at the reque s t of Rein s dorf, who wa s up s et over paying rent, according to the s uit. "Thi s private citizen informed Perri Irmer of the s e s tatement s by Rein s dorf and al s o that if s he left I S FA quietly, s he would be offered a job in the private s ector," the law s uit s tate s . Blagojevich wa s arre s ted, however, "before any threat to her employment ... wa s carried out," the law s uit note s . Irmer allege s that s he prote s ted the board' s deci s ion to build Bacardi at the Par k , an up s cale re s taurant acro s s from the Cell, on s tate-owned land while allowing the S ox to k eep all the profit s . The authority inve s ted nearly $7 million, the Tribune and WGN-TV found in a 2011 inve s tigation. In February 2011, a month after the board extended Irmer' s contract on a month-to-month ba s i s , Irmer reduced a funding reque s t of about $10 million for "enhancement s " to the Cell from the S ox by about $7 million, according to the law s uit. Around the s ame time, s he al s o un s ucce s s fully tried meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn, but s he did meet with Mayor Rahm Emanuel' s s taff and other political player s who could "impo s e reform," the s uit s ay s . But Rein s dorf and Thomp s on "were determined to s top her," the s uit claim s . S he allege s that on April 25, 2011, s he wa s loc k ed out of her office, and Thomp s on told her that if s he refu s ed to re s ign two day s later at a s pecial board meeting, "they 'had to' fire her, that her reputation would be ruined," the law s uit s ay s . After s he wa s fired, $7 million reque s ted by the S ox wa s re s tored, according to the law s uit. http://advanceindiana.blog s pot.com/2013/04...-authority.html I was tempted to include the last two paragraphs of personal comments from a blog writer, but that would definitely put this into the Filibuster.... Edited April 18, 2013 by caulfield12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesdiego Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 LOL Those last two lines about Thompson are priceless! The Ice Cream Man....... funny yet very creepy. Thx Caufield It's been talked before about JR's cozy gift of a deal for Bacardi Park, which was a complete screw job on the tax payers. Even though it would help make the Sox more money....and in turn invested into the team. It is still shady as all hell and not right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 FWIW, not renewing someone's contract is much different than firing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptatc Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 18, 2013 -> 02:21 AM) http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/22001242...former-governor More detailed version of the story. In her 32-page federal complaint filed Monday in Chicago, Perri Irmer allege s that after her 2004 arrival at the Illinoi s S port s Facilitie s Authority , s ome of her effort s at rai s ing new revenue and reforming the agency were rebuffed by Rein s dorf and Thomp s on, two longtime friend s , and that they wielded their influence to get her fired in April 2011. S he allege s that s he s ucce s s fully pu s hed for the S ox to begin paying rent in 2008 to I S FA, and that afterward, Rein s dorf began lobbying then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich — now in pri s on — to have her fired. "Under former Gov. Thomp s on' s leader s hip, the I S FA Board had become ineffective to protect taxpayer intere s t s , and wa s acting a s nothing more than a ca s h cow puppet for Jerry Rein s dorf," the complaint s tate s . S he i s s ee k ing un s pecified damage s for " s ub s tantial economic lo s s e s ," according to the law s uit. A s k ed to comment on the s uit Tue s day, Thomp s on s aid: "The allegation s of the complaint are fal s e." . . . Thomp s on ha s long been tied to the S ox. In 1987, with Rein s dorf threatening to move hi s team to Florida — where a s tadium wa s built to lure a team — then-Gov. Thomp s on wor k ed the floor s of the General A s s embly to pa s s the law creating the authority and allowing a new par k to be built for the S ox. The cloc k on the Hou s e floor wa s turned off in order to meet a midnight deadline. The authority over s aw con s truction of the s tadium and the financing for it. The S ox began paying $1.2 million in rent in 2008, a change Irmer allege s s he pu s hed for. That s ame year s he hired con s ultant s to s tudy developing s tate-owned land around the Cell, and the analy s i s s howed building s tore s and re s taurant s would lead to profit s for taxpayer s , the s uit s ay s . S he allege s that in December 2008, Rein s dorf lobbied Blagojevich not to renew her contract and that Blagojevich' s former chief of s taff, John Harri s , called board member s — five day s before Blagojevich' s arre s t. A board meeting ended without a deci s ion regarding her contract. Two day s later s he wa s told by "a private citizen" enli s ted by Harri s that there were s till plan s to remove her at the reque s t of Rein s dorf, who wa s up s et over paying rent, according to the s uit. "Thi s private citizen informed Perri Irmer of the s e s tatement s by Rein s dorf and al s o that if s he left I S FA quietly, s he would be offered a job in the private s ector," the law s uit s tate s . Blagojevich wa s arre s ted, however, "before any threat to her employment ... wa s carried out," the law s uit note s . Irmer allege s that s he prote s ted the board' s deci s ion to build Bacardi at the Par k , an up s cale re s taurant acro s s from the Cell, on s tate-owned land while allowing the S ox to k eep all the profit s . The authority inve s ted nearly $7 million, the Tribune and WGN-TV found in a 2011 inve s tigation. In February 2011, a month after the board extended Irmer' s contract on a month-to-month ba s i s , Irmer reduced a funding reque s t of about $10 million for "enhancement s " to the Cell from the S ox by about $7 million, according to the law s uit. Around the s ame time, s he al s o un s ucce s s fully tried meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn, but s he did meet with Mayor Rahm Emanuel' s s taff and other political player s who could "impo s e reform," the s uit s ay s . But Rein s dorf and Thomp s on "were determined to s top her," the s uit claim s . S he allege s that on April 25, 2011, s he wa s loc k ed out of her office, and Thomp s on told her that if s he refu s ed to re s ign two day s later at a s pecial board meeting, "they 'had to' fire her, that her reputation would be ruined," the law s uit s ay s . After s he wa s fired, $7 million reque s ted by the S ox wa s re s tored, according to the law s uit. http://advanceindiana.blog s pot.com/2013/04...-authority.html I was tempted to include the last two paragraphs of personal comments from a blog writer, but that would definitely put this into the Filibuster.... In other words JR stopped her from changing the original agreement. I don't think that is a crime. He was only following the agreement, which is bad for the taxpayers but not illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewokpelts Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 Of course, NO MENTION about how the Chicago Sport Depot was financed entirely by ...get this...the WHITE SOX! Thompson has publicly mentioned that his office wanted the Bacardi bar, but that reinsdorf was against it. And that the Sox wanted a team store concept built on the ballpark campus, and that the state was hesitant to build it. As tenant, the Sox have the right to veto any development plans the state have, and as landlord, the state has the right to veto any work the sox do on the property. Essentially, it was a trade, as the Sox got the team store they wanted(and paid for), and ISFA got the bar/restaurant concept they were pushing for(and paid for). But people seem to forget that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.