Chicago needs a real negotiator for Bears deal
Mayor Johnson needs to step aside as city determines if team gets lakeside stadium
Tragically, once again we are witnessing an example of a public official believing that being elect to office gives him a reservoir of knowledge that he didn’t have previously, and likely still doesn’t have a solid grasp of; in this instance, that official is Mayor Brandon Johnson. And for him to continue to meet with Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren is a disservice to Chicagoans. The two men have had a battery of meetings over the team’s desire to build a multi-billion-dollar stadium on the lakefront south of Soldier Field.
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While residents and some suburbanites have voiced their opposition to the planned project, along with Friends of Parks organization, Johnson has said as recently as March 28 he would welcome the project under certain non-sports conditions.
Regardless of which side of the issue one falls on, it is imperative to ask whether Johnson, who has no background in contract or sports negotiations, no law experience or sports management expertise should be at the table. City officials and residents are putting their trust for a billion dollars-plus deal with an individual from a two-income household who couldn’t pay his parking tickets.
Conversely, Warren is the former commissioner of the Big Ten athletic conference, an attorney, and has held key executive positions, ran his own sports management firm; but most importantly was the point person on getting a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.
For Johnson to maintain he is negotiating with Warren is tantamount to a T-ball player saying he can get a hit off Nolan Ryan. Warren was selected to one of his alma mater’s -Arizona State University’s Business Hall of Fame. Johnson, a former middle school, is a grad of Aurora University- a school that admits nearly every student (eight of 10) who apply.
The city’s situation is further compounded by the reality that any stadium deal falls under the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The new commissioner of the department is Clinée Hedspeth, who has only been on the job one month.
Her previous jobs were as Johnson’s legislative and director when he was a Cook County Commissioner, and director of curational services at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, and more recently as associate specialist of 20th century and contemporary art at Phillips Auctioneers, where she identified and evaluated art. Her resume is void of any experience dealing with projects the size of an NFL stadium.
Regardless of how one feels about Johnson, there is nothing to cause any thinking person that because the former county commissioner was elected mayor, he can deliver the best deal on a new stadium for Chicago.
An experienced consulting firm, possibly one who has had previous dealings with Warren should be brought in to carry the city’s bucket from here on. Johnson can convey his wishes to such a firm and get regular and detailed updates. The longer the mayor stays involved personally the more likely the final outcome will be heavily tilted in the Bears favor.
