Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday attended the wedding of former Mayor Richard Daley's daughter.
His honor shared the room at Spaggia with the Daley family he's been working to distance himself from since taking office and May. The guest list included one Daley he recently fired.
Emanuel delivered walking papers to Daley nephew Peter Q. Thompson, the CEO of Perkins Investment Management who has been as one of three city members of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. Thompson was also at Spaggia for the wedding and wouldn't comment on his ouster from the authority to news crews assembled outside.
The move is the first step for Emanuel to set the stage for a renegotiation of the White Sox lease with the city, their restaurant deal, and perhaps could open in-roads for the state to acquire Wrigley Field. Other ousted members include Alvin Boutte and William Power.
Emanuel will replace the fired crew with Jim Reynolds, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Loop Capital Markets; Norm Bobins, who once acted as president and chairman of LaSalle Bank and Chris Melvin, the chairman and CEO of Melvin & Co.
The Mayor made their jobs less attractive then their predecessors by removing perks like free parking, discount tickets to ball games and access to skyboxes.
“ISFA plays an important role in supporting Chicago’s sports teams and fans across the city, but they should be driven by a commitment to serve taxpayers and be accountable to their best interests,” the mayor said in a statement.
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“Throughout their careers, these three appointees have established a proven track record of managing finances of large and small organizations with integrity. I am confident they will help bring needed reform to ISFA.”
Emanuel, a Cubs fan unlike Daley, has shown interest in getting some sort of deal for the stadium done even though he's shot down a proposal to use amusement tax funds to help.
