Even as Bears eye Indiana move, Arlington Heights extends lobbyist contract to lure team to suburbs
Despite the Bears turning their attention to Northwest Indiana, Arlington Heights officials have re-upped with their lobbyists who are still trying to secure the team’s relocation to the Northwest suburbs.
The village’s new $5,000-a-month agreement with Mac Strategies Group is for consulting and lobbying services related to legislation affecting redevelopment of the former Arlington Park racetrack property owned by the NFL club.
Lobbyist Matt Murphy — a former Republican state senator from Palatine — and firm principal Ryan McLaughlin were in the hallways of the Illinois state Capitol on Arlington Heights’ behalf in the waning days and hours of the spring legislative session.
Lawmakers adjourned in the wee hours June 1 after the Senate passed legislation to try to keep the team from fleeing to the Hoosier state, while the House earlier passed a different bill. Days later, the Bears’ board of directors voted to advance a stadium development project in Hammond.
Bears brass on Aug. 13 characterized talks with Illinois legislators over the summer as “minimal,” and said due diligence is now complete on one of two stadium sites in Hammond.
But more recent comments by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Aug. 26 indicate the team hasn’t closed the door on being the pride and joy of Illinois.
“We want to make sure that Arlington Heights and Illinois have an opportunity, as well as Indiana, to put their best foot forward,” said Goodell, confirming to reporters that he recently met with select Illinois lawmakers.
Arlington Heights officials have remained hopeful that Springfield and the Bears can come to terms on enabling legislation that would clear the way to a proposed $5 billion stadium-anchored, mixed-use redevelopment of the shuttered 326-acre racetrack property. Legislators return for the fall veto session Nov. 17.
Village officials didn’t respond to a request for comment about the contract extension with Mac Strategies, but wrote in a memo attached to the agreement that the firm has “represented the village’s interests well and allowed the village to maintain access and a seat at the table on items of legislative interest.”
The agreement runs through Aug. 31, 2027, though can be canceled with 30 days’ notice of either party.
Arlington Heights inked an initial $10,000-a-month deal with Mac Strategies in 2023, and re-upped for the same price in 2024. But half that annual amount was funneled to a subcontractor, GR Consulting, led by former Chicago Democratic state Rep. Art Turner Jr. and Larry Luster, a former communications staffer for the Illinois Senate Democrats and Black Caucus.
GR Consulting isn’t part of the current arrangement with Mac and Arlington Heights.
Meanwhile, the Bears have maintained a deep bench of lobbyists in Illinois, though the roster has been cut since the end of the spring session.
Three firms — Craig Willert Consulting, Government Solutions Group and Maxfair — are still listed as representatives of CBFC Development LLC, the team’s real estate affiliate, on lobbyist registration filings with the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office.
So are three other firms — Lilette Advisors, Point of Difference Strategies and Sorling Northrup — though officials say they have stopped doing work for the team since the end of the recent legislative session.
Helping lead those efforts was Lilette’s Leah Israel, a longtime Democratic political consultant and fundraiser behind the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Gov. JB Pritzker’s 2018 campaign for governor, and previous campaigns for U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
Lisa Duarte, of Point of Difference Strategies, was first assistant deputy governor for budget and economy at the start of Pritzker’s first term.
The Bears have one lobbyist in Indiana: Adam Jackson, of Taft Stettinius & Hollister.
Officials in Rolling Meadows, which borders the Arlington Park property on the south and west, confirmed Friday that Liz Brown-Reeves Consulting is still monitoring developments in Springfield on their behalf. Brown-Reeves, a former staffer in then-Speaker Mike Madigan’s office, has been on a monthly $5,000 retainer with Rolling Meadows since May 2025.
The three school districts in and around the Arlington Park property — Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 — also are still working with Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, a spokesman confirmed. The districts have been splitting the firm’s $9,000-per-month fee since 2023.
cplacek@dailyherald.com