Lightfoot had her sights set on retired Dallas Police Chief David Brown from the moment she fired Police Supt. It’s not the first time Lightfoot has created a committee then ignored its recommendations - or even circumvented a legally-mandated selection process. “There are many Council skeptics due to concerns about how the process has been run, appearances of preferential treatment, and unsatisfactory locations that we were left to consider.”

The real questions before the City Council are: 1) Is this a good deal for Chicago and 2) is this the right location for this once in a lifetime opportunity?” Reilly wrote. “This isn’t a debate over whether or not there will be Chicago casino revenue for our pensions. Reilly accused Lightfoot of offering the City Council a “false choice”: Bally’s River West, or a pre-election property tax increase. This selection runs afoul of those promises and flies in the face of transparency,” he wrote. “Now, less than 24 hours after receiving some of their answers to our questions, we are told the Administration has selected a casino finalist? Last week Chairman Tunney promised Casino Committee members there would be more hearings, more testimony and more opportunities to ask questions about each of the competing bids and locations. He noted “dozens of excellent questions were raised about the process and each of the potential sites” at the one hearing that was held and that answers to “most” but not all of those questions were sent to alderpersons late Wednesday. In an email to the Sun-Times moments before the mayor’s announcement, Reilly said he was “incredibly disappointed” at Lightfoot’s decision to “short-circuit the deliberations” of the council’s casino committee. Then you give us one option without answering these questions and without us vetting them? How can I vote ‘yes’ on that? I can’t.” You tell us to bake the cake, then you give us a cake already baked,” said Education Committee Chairman Michael Scott Jr. I just don’t like the way it’s getting done. That panel, led by Zoning Committee Chairman Tom Tunney (44th), has met only once.

Lightfoot’s decision to go around the City Council committee she packed with her leadership team and supposedly empowered to make all decisions related to a Chicago casino is not sitting well, even with some close allies. 86 the ‘Rivers 78’ casino? South Loop residents tell developers gambling complex ‘inconsistent with the original vision’ for site.

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