Board of review attorney admonishes commissioner in letter to Bears
In a letter to the Chicago Bears Friday, the Cook County Board of Review’s attorney admonished Commissioner Samantha Steele for disclosing details about deliberations over the value of the former Arlington International Racecourse site the team now owns.
Cristin Duffy, the board’s general counsel and chief ethics officer, said it was “premature and inappropriate” for Steele to have communicated with several media outlets about the board’s decision before a final vote was taken.
“Indeed, the parties should not have learned of any alleged decision through these media reports but rather directly from the (board of review) through proper channels,” Duffy wrote. “Commissioner Steele should have refrained from commenting on the pending decision.”
The letter was sent after attorneys for the Bears complained that the board’s decision to increase the value of the property from the previous year’s assessed value was made public to the press, but not them.
“I’m writing to confirm this decision as well as to try and understand how such a decision was made public to the press,” wrote Bears attorney Matthew D. Tully on Tuesday.
For her part, Steele countered that she was only “trying to increase transparency within an office that has for far too long been shrouded in secrecy and corruption” and called Duffy’s letter “inappropriate.”
“Having the board’s legal counsel go rogue and issue a politically inspired deceptive opinion under the seal of Cook County that purports to be the voice of the board of review is shameful,” Steele said in an email response to Daily Herald questions.
Duffy denied Steele’s characterization of the letter in an email to the Daily Herald. She stated that she acted within her duties and with board approval. “As the General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer, I represent and protect the organization as whole, and I responded on behalf of the Board through its majority members and the leadership team.”
The conflict on the board arose after Steele said analysts from her office and the two other elected commissioners, Larry Rogers Jr. and George Cardenas, agreed to assess the value of the former horse racing track that the Bears bought to pursue a potential new stadium location at $138 million. However, a day later Steele said Cardenas and Rogers decided to lower the value to $124.7 million.
The new assessed value would have shaved about $2 million off the Bears property tax bill this year. However, they would still pay more than they did last year when it was assessed at $95 million.
“I can confirm that my lead commercial analyst as well as Commissioner Rogers (and) Commissioner Cardenas's analysts concluded that the subject property in question should be valued at $138 million on Tuesday,” Steele said. “However, for whatever reason, my fellow commissioners decided to change their analysts' recommendations and issued a significantly lower value.”
A spokesman for Cardenas denied the commissioner had agreed on the $138 million price tag.
“There was no preliminary agreement,” Cardenas spokesman Mike Richards said Friday night. “At no point did staff say to Commissioner Cardenas that we agreed on $138 million.”
Because the 326-acre property has been unused for years and undergone a significant demolition process in the year since the Bears purchased it, the team sought to have the value reduced to $60 million.
Three school districts that receive property tax revenue from the land have argued the property should be valued at $160 million, according to their independent appraisal.
All sides have been notified that the board intends to approve the $124.7 million figure at meeting next week.