Watchdog Group Wants Brooks Records

A watchdog group in Illinois has filed suit against the village of Rosemont for withholding financial information from public records regarding contracts for concerts held at the Allstate Arena in 2014.

Better Government Association contends the financial information was redacted in response to its public records request to disclose contracts from Rosemont’s Allstate Arena that included a series of 

Better Government Association contends the financial information was redacted in response to its public records request to disclose contracts from Rosemont’s Allstate Arena concerts in 2014, according to court documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune.

The association also objects to the village’s contention that the redacted information qualifies as an exemption to the state’s Freedom of Information Act, the suit says.

The village passed an ordinance before the records request that gave officials the power to withhold documents if they believed disclosing the information would put the village’s venues at a disadvantage.

The Tribune itself had made a similar request for documents related to Brooks’ 11-concert stand at the arena.

The paper noted it also received documents with redacted financial information related to the amount of rebate Brooks’ promoter received and that the papers failed to disclose any additional perks.

While Better Government’s suit is expected to reach litigation, the Tribune is also still pushing for the release of the information. The paper reported it has appealed to the Illinois attorney general’s public access office claiming the redacted documents involved public funds. A decision was forthcoming at press time.