AG Tells Rosemont To Release Docs

Suburban venues near Chicago are siding with the village of Rosemont over withholding of public records for concerts after the Illinois Attorney General ruled the village had to release the documents.

Photo: Barry Brecheisen / Invision / AP

Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Ill.

A watchdog group recently filed suit against the village claiming financial information regarding a series of Garth Brooks at Allstate Arena shows was redacted in response to a public records request.

The village had contended the redacted information qualified as an exemption to Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act because it contained trade secrets and officials believed the information would put Rosemont venues at a disadvantage when competing for concerts in the future Officials for other towns seem to agree, telling the Chicago Daily Herald they’d likely do the same in Rosemont’s situation.

“I’d probably have to refer it to the attorney and say, ‘How do we handle this?’” Diana Martinez, director of the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn, told the paper. “The act doesn’t want (others) to know they played for a lower price. Who wants to say the asking price went down? “You probably wouldn’t want to buy a pair of gym shoes for $100 if you knew it only cost $5 to make,” she continued.

The story’s the same in the village of Hoffman Estates, which owns the Sears Centre Arena. Village Attorney Art Janura explained that “if there was something contained within the document that was an exception to FOIA, then we would take a second analysis to see whether or not to withhold the information,” the paper noted. “That would depend on if there’s truly a detriment to securing and retaining entertainment acts.”

The AG’s office decided Jan. 30 that Rosemont must abide by state FOIA law and gave the village 35 days to review the information and decide whether to pursue action in court.