Daley: Bail out CTA, not Cubs

By Gary Washburn | Tribune staff reporter
1:38 PM CST, December 13, 2007

Mayor Richard Daley, mystified by a proposal for the state to purchase Wrigley Field, today questioned why the idea would be considered when pressing problems such as helping the beleaguered Chicago Transit Authority are begging for solutions.

And Daley said he would oppose any tax increase in Chicago to pay for a public takeover of the 93-year-old ballpark.

"Let's be realistic," the mayor said. "Wrigley Field is owned privately and it has been very, very successful. It's made an enormous amount of money, and we have a crisis in the CTA right now. It's hard to believe that in this day and age people are now talking about taxpayers helping out the Cubs."

Daley said that Sam Zell, the billionaire Chicago businessman who is leading a transaction to take Tribune Co. private, visited him about two weeks ago to let him know about the proposed Wrigley transaction.

"I listened to him and I said, 'You know, there are a lot of questions to be asked on this issue. You are asking the taxpayers to some way help the Cubs.' I have an open mind. I listened to him," Daley said.

Zell, a major contributor to Daley's campaign fund and a longtime supporter, did not ask for Daley's backing or disclose terms of the proposed deal, the mayor said.

Before visiting the mayor, Zell talked toGov. Rod Blagojevich, Daley said.

"They have been in conversations. There is nothing wrong with that," Daley said.

But there would be plenty wrong with a public acquisition of Wrigley, he said.

"We can't even get any money for the CTA and they are worried about the Cubs? They have made money every year. They are very profitable. And some way we are supposed to bail them out. I don't think they are leaving. They just increased the price of tickets."

The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which would own the stadium under the proposed deal, is funded by hotel tax revenues. But details of how the state agency, which operates the White Sox's home of U.S. Cellular Field, would pay for any Wrigley purchase are scant so far.

"For one thing, you are not going to increase the hotel tax in the city of Chicago for the [purchase] purpose," Daley said. "You would not increase the restaurant tax. I think it would be unfair for everyone."

Given the political discord and financial problems in Springfield, Daley was asked if Cub fans should be concerned about the possibility of state ownership of Wrigley.

"That would be a worry," he chuckled.

gwashburn@tribune.com