Former Mayor Daley could testify next week in restaurant deal case

By Tim novak Staff Reporter April 28, 2014 7:18PM

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley leaves Northwestern Memorial Hospital in February. | Sun-Times Media File Photo

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Updated: April 29, 2014 1:08AM

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley is expected to be the star witness in Mayor Rahm Emanuels multi-million-dollar food fight with Millennium Parks Park Grill restaurant.

Daley could take the witness stand next week before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Moshe Jacobius, who must decide whether Emanuel can break the so-called sweetheart deal the restaurant got more than a decade ago when Daley was mayor.

Emanuel filed suit in late 2011, seeking to break a 30-year deal that his lawyer called a lop side contract that cheated taxpayers out of $8 million.

The Park Grill has grossed more than $100 million during its first nine years. But it has only paid $2.7 million in rent to the Chicago Park District, which has spent $3 million providing the restaurant with free water, natural gas and garbage collection.

The Emanuel administration argues the Park Grills deal is illegal because the park district let the restaurant open on land-controlled by the city without seeking permission from the City Council.

But the Park Grill run by clout-heavy businessmen James Horan and Matthew OMalley whose investors include many businessmen with political connections to Daley are puzzled by City Halls lawsuit. They point out that Daley and his top staff members knew the park district awarded the concession agreement to OMalley and Horan, who frequently met with Daley during the construction of the restaurant in 2003 and 2004.

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Former Mayor Daley could testify next week in restaurant deal case