Daily Herald opinion: Is ‘timely action’ possible?: Meeting of Bears, NFL, Pritzker puts end of an embarrassing cycle in sight

Arlington Heights officials can be forgiven if they’re beginning to feel a bit like Charlie Brown staring down the sinister smile of Lucy as she holds the football and invites him to give it a kick.

Indiana officials can, too, for that matter.

They got their turn at the pulled-away football on Thursday as the Chicago Bears’ stadium sweepstakes swung back toward Arlington Heights. In separate statements, officials announced that Bears minority owner Pat Ryan and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had met with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and legislative leaders in downtown Chicago to discuss keeping the site in Illinois.

It’s hard to remember how many times over the past three years that the headline has changed. Bears committed to Arlington Heights. Bears shift focus to Chicago. Bears turn attention back to suburbs. Bears concentrating focus on Hammond.

It would be funny if the stakes weren’t so high.

But they are high, and hesitant to speculate though one may be, it seems reasonable to expect that lawmakers may finally be taking these negotiations seriously enough to get something done that can both protect suburban taxpayers and lay the financial groundwork for a $3.5 billion development at the former Arlington Park.

They have two competing proposals to consider — a House-approved plan that allows the Bears to negotiate property taxes with affected stakeholders in the suburbs and a Senate-approved proposal that allows for a taxpayer-owned stadium and lease agreement, creating another opening for the city of Chicago and, yes, yet another opportunity for the various Charlie Browns in this scenario to find themselves flat on their backs.

On that point, it is worth noting that the legislative contingent in the Thursday meeting included Sen. Bill Cunningham and Rep. Kam Buckner, both their chamber’s leader in the Bears negotiations and, importantly, both of Chicago.

Of course, nothing concrete was announced.

“The Governor and General Assembly leadership were glad to participate in a productive meeting focused on keeping the Bears in Illinois and protecting taxpayers,” said a prepared statement released by the governor’s office.

An NFL statement said, “Timely action is essential as the Bears work to find a long-term stadium solution for the club and their fans.”

Not exactly signs of which way the wind is blowing this week. But enough to allow Arlington Heights interests to tie on their sneakers and get prepared for another go.

The key factor is the NFL’s all-important phrase “timely action.” There is no subtlety in that hint that Illinois’ hopes to retain the Bears depend on their ability to come up with a workable compromise this November.

It’s a familiar theme in the Illinois legislative game plan. Talk, talk, talk for three years about the need to get something done and then find yourselves in last days of a drop-dead deadline. At least it is encouraging that the leaders made time for this face-to-face discussion, although we must remember that even a legislative deal won’t guarantee an immediate end to the ever-recurrent abortive swipes at a ball the Bears are holding.

But at least it might at last define the target clearly enough to put an actual end to this perpetual embarrassment.