Amazon Suit
Amazon Suit
2018-CH-01393
CALENDAR: 04
To: Matthew Vincent Topic
[email protected]
The transmission was received on 02/01/2018 at 9:11 AM and was ACCEPTED with
the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County on 02/01/2018 at 10:10 AM.
COMPLAINT
DOROTHY BROWN
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
COOK COUNTY
RICHARD J. DALEY CENTER, ROOM 1001
CHICAGO, IL 60602
(312) 603-5031
[email protected]
Chancery Division Civil Cover Sheet - General Chancery Section (Rev. 12/30/15) CCCH 0623
A Chancery Division Civil Cover Sheet - General Chancery Section shall be fi led with the initial complaint in all
actions fi led in the General Chancery Section of Chancery Division. The information contained herein is for administra-
tive purposes only. Please check the box in front of the appropriate category which best characterizes your action being
filed.
0005 Administrative Review
0001 Class Action
0002 Declaratory Judgment
0004 Injunction
COMPLAINT
LOEVY & LOEVY, and brings this suit to overturn Defendant CITY OF CHICAGO MAYOR’S
OFFICE’s refusal, in willful violation of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, to produce
records related to Chicago’s bid for Amazon’s new headquarters. In support of its Complaint,
INTRODUCTION
government, it is the public policy of the State of Illinois that all persons are entitled to full and
complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts and policies of
those who are represent them as public officials and public employees consistent with the terms
exceptions to the principle that the people of this state have a right to full disclosure of
information relating to the decisions, policies, procedures, rules, standards, and other aspects of
government activity that affect the conduct of government and the lives of the people. 5 ILCS
140/1.
copying. Any public body that asserts that a record is exempt from disclosure had the burden of
greater importance, proceedings arising under [FOIA] shall take precedence on the docket over
all other causes and be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest practicable date and expedited
in every way.”
PARTIES
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FOIA requester in this case. The request was sent by its executive director Freddy Martinez.
BACKGROUND
7. In September 2017, Amazon released a request for proposal for its second North
American headquarters, known as HQ2. Since Amazon released the RFP prospective cities have
offered billions of dollars in tax breaks against city and state taxes. The Mayor’s Office has
offered ten locations as the site for HQ2, but very little information on the details of the bid.
8. At last estimate, the City of Chicago’s parking meter deal has cost tax payers $41
million dollars since inception and that amount will continue to rise since the city must
reimburse the parking meter company for any lost revenue. The First District Appellate Court
had the following to say about the controversial parking meter privatization deal while holding
The City of Chicago, as do other governmental units throughout the state and
country, faces fiscal challenges. There is no doubt that when presented with an
opportunity to receive over $1.15 billion to be put to use for the public purposes
and benefit, the City saw a chance to ease its financial burdens. *** Despite these
benefits received by the City, the concession agreement has been criticized and
subjected to healthy debate. We urge the City and the city council to debate and
act wisely in the future when seeking to ease the financial crisis.
Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization v. Ahmad, 2014 IL App (1st)
123629, at ¶ 89.
9. The bidding period for Amazon’s HQ2 headquarters ended in October 2017.
Since the bidding period has ended disclosure cannot result in competitive harm.
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10. Moreover, other bidders for Amazon’s HQ2 headquarters including Boston,
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Miami, Philadelphia and Montgomery County, Maryland have all released their bids publicly,
highlighting the fact that disclosure will not cause competitive harm.
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2018/jan/18/amazon-
finalists/?utm_source=MuckRock+Wide+List&utm_campaign=e7a625a459-
europa&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_20aa4a931d-e7a625a459-364944069.
11. On November 8, 2017, LPL requested, “[a] copy of the bid submitted in response
to Amazon’s request for proposals for the site of its second headquarters, any contracts with
third-party providers for services rendered regarding the Amazon HQ2 bid, and any marketing
budgets regarding Amazon-related expenditures from September 1, 2017 to the date this request
is received.” LPL also requested “[a]ny and all communications between the Mayor's office and
November 16, 2017. A true and correct copy of the correspondence is attached as part of Group
Exhibit A.
13. On November 16, 2017, MAYOR’s OFFICE responded stating that Section
14. Section 7(1)(h) exempts bids that were solicited by the public body, not the public
body’s bids to someone else. 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(h). Moreover, as the bidding period has ended,
disclosure cannot result in competitive harm. A true and correct copy is attached as part of
Group Exhibit A.
15. Citing Section 3(g), the MAYOR’s OFFICE also stated that there was insufficient
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public interest to warrant disclosure of communications between the MAYOR’s OFFICE and
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16. The MAYOR’s OFFICE produced some records residing on the Mayor’s non-
governmental email accounts (but nothing from governmental email accounts) and redactions
were made pursuant to Section 7(1)(b). A true and correct copy is attached as part of Group
Exhibit A.
17. The MAYOR’s OFFICE stated that it did not have any records responsive to the
requests for contracts with third-party vendors and marketing budgets. A true and correct copy is
MAYOR’s OFFICE.
i. in accordance with FOIA Section 11(f), afford this case precedence on the Court’s
this case for hearing and trial at the earliest practicable date, and expedite this
iii. order MAYOR’s OFFICE to produce the requested records under FOIA;
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iv. enjoin MAYOR’s OFFICE from withholding non-exempt public records under
FOIA;
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
____________________________
Matthew Topic
Joshua Burday
LOEVY & LOEVY
311 North Aberdeen, 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60607
312-243-5900
[email protected]
Atty. No. 41295
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CIRCUIT COURT OF
COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
CHANCERY DIVISION
CLERK DOROTHY BROWN
C ITY O F C H IC A G O
Freddy Martinez
[email protected]
On behalf of the City of Chicago Office of the Mayor (“Mayor’s Office”), I am responding to
your Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request dated November 8, 2017, in which you are
seeking:
A copy of the bid submitted in response to Amazon's request for proposals for the
site of its second headquarters, any contracts with third-party providers for
services rendered regarding the Amazon HQ2 bid, and any marketing budgets
regarding Amazon-related expenditures from September 1, 2017 to the date this
request is received.
Any and all communications between the Mayor's office and Amazon. Please do
not forget to query any "private" email addresses such as the one at
rahmemail.com
With respect the portion of your request seeking “A copy of the bid submitted in response to
Amazon's request for proposals for the site of its second headquarters,” the records you seek are
exempt from disclosure pursuant to Section 7(1)(h) of FOIA, which exempts:
Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or agreement, including information
which if it were disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an advantage to
any person proposing to enter into a contractor agreement with the body, until an
award or final selection is made. Information prepared by or for the body in
preparation of a bid solicitation shall be exempt until an award or final selection is
made.
5 ILCS 140/7(1)(h). Because of the ongoing competitive process, the public release of the City’s
proposal materials could give an advantage to another applicant. For this reason, these materials
are exempt from production under this section.
With respect to the portion of your request seeking, “any contracts with third-party providers for
services rendered regarding the Amazon HQ2 bid, and any marketing budgets regarding
121 NORTH LASALLE STREET, SUITE 500, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602
GROUP EXHIBIT A
Amazon-related expenditures from September 1, 2017 to the date this request is received,”
please be advised that the Mayor’s Office has not responsive records.
With respect to the portion of your request seeking, “any and all communications between the
Mayor's office and Amazon,” as it related to the Mayor’s City email accounts, please be advised
that your request is unduly burdensome. Section 3(g) of FOIA provide that “requests for all
records falling within a category shall be complied with unless compliance with the request
would be unduly burdensome for the complying public body and there is no way to narrow the
request and the burden on the public body outweighs the public interest in the information.”
In order to effectively run an email search, the Mayor’s Office needs the following search
parameters: (1) the e-mail address(es) or employee name(s) of the account(s) you wish searched;
(2) key words you wish to search for; and (3) the timeframe to be searched. Without search
parameters, the Mayor’s Office would need to review all department emails to determine
whether any are responsive to your request. Such an undertaking would pose an immense
burden on the department.
With respect to the portion of your request seeking records residing on a non-government email
account of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, I am producing herewith responsive records. On a quarterly
basis, the Mayor’s Office receives all emails concerning City business residing on the Mayor’s
non-government email accounts. At the end of the third quarter, the Mayor’s Office received
emails from June through September, 2017. Emails from October and November will become
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Personal email addresses have been redacted from the produced records pursuant to Section
7(1)(b) of FOIA, which exempts “private information, unless disclosure is required by another
provision of this Act, a State or federal law or a court order.” 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b). Section 2(c-5)
defines “private information" as:
5 ILCS 140/2(c-5). Because personal email addresses are specifically exempted under Section
7(1)(b), they have been properly withheld.
It is necessary that your FOIA request be narrowed and clarified. If you would like assistance in
narrowing your request, please contact me, and I will assist you. Otherwise, for the reasons
provided above, the Mayor’s Office is unable to respond to your FOIA request as currently
drafted.
If you agree to narrow your request, you must submit a revised written request to my attention.
The Mayor’s Office will take no further action or send you any further correspondence unless
and until your current request is narrowed in writing. If we do not receive your narrowed request
within fourteen (14) calendar days of the date of this letter, your current request will be denied.
In the event that we do not receive a narrowed request and your current FOIA request is
therefore denied, you have the right to have a denial reviewed by the Public Access Counselor
(PAC) at the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, 500 S. 2nd Street, Springfield, Illinois
62706, (877) 299-3642. You also have the right to seek judicial review of your denial by filing a
lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court.
Sincerely,
Shannon Leonard
Freedom of Information Officer
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Message
From: Melissa Green [[email protected]]
Sent: 9/8/2017 1:01:12 PM
~ ,: To: Sarah Feinberg
CC: Rahm Emanuel [[email protected]]
Subject: Re: NYTimes: Amazon Announces Plans for Huge New North America Headquarters
Yes. Huge opportunity here. Transit and also investments in workforce training and high tech DMDI
initiative. No better place to put this HQ and campus than Chi.
> The investments you all have made in transit and infrastructure should be highlighted
» Yes
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wrote:
>»
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The Civic Committee met this morning and we, of course, stand ready to help you and your team in any way as you
respond to the Amazon RFP.
Best,
Rick
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Summons - Alias Summons (12/31/15) CCG N001
IF YOU FAIL TO DO SO, A JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT MAY BE ENTERED AGAINST YOU FOR THE
RELIEF REQUESTED IN THE COMPLAINT.
To the officer:
This Summons must be returned by the officer or other person to whom it was given for service, with endorsement
of service and fees, if any, immediately after service. If service cannot be made, this Summons shall be returned so
endorsed. This Summons may not be served later than thirty (30) days after its date.
Printed on 02/01/2018
Plaintiffs
Plaintiffs Name Plaintiffs Address State Zip Unit #
Total Plaintiffs: 1
Defendants
Defendant Name Defendant Address State Unit # Service By
CITY OF CHICAGO MAYOR'S 121 N. LASALLE CHICAGO, IL 60602 507 Sheriff-Clerk
OFFICE
Total Defendants: 1