Here are former mayor Scott Smith and current city manager Chris Brady in 2012 making a sales-pitch to get the Cubbies Spring Training Facility financed on-the-backs of Mesa taxpayers to the tune of over $200,000,000 for the Billionaire-Ricketts Family who bought the sports franchise in 2009.
From what we know now it was a shake-down [Use the search box on this blog for more]
_________________________________________________________________________
Email dump: More dirt on Cubs purchase, family conflict from Joe ...
Chicago Sun-Times
The Ricketts family at Wrigley Field in October 2009:
(from left) Joe Ricketts, Pete Ricketts, Todd Ricketts, Laura Ricketts, Marlene Ricketts and Tom ...
– “It’ll be totally fine if our family gets involved in politics. No one will ever find out about it so it won’t be controversial at all.”
– “Now that we own the McDonald’s across the street from Wrigley, I’m going on an all Quarter Pounder diet. Please don’t tear that place down Tom. I’m sure any hotel we put up there won’t do nearly as much business as the McDonald’s. Plus, where will all the rats go?”
_________________________________________________________________________
> Donald Trump's $14 billion Cabinet
#2 Todd Ricketts @$5.3 Billion
Ricketts is a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and CEO of Ending Spending, an organization “dedicated to educating and engaging American taxpayers about wasteful and excessive government spending,” according to its site.
[Reference: https://www.cbsnews.com
_________________________________________________________________________________
> Report: Cubs Co-Owner Todd Ricketts Has Been Getting Away With Not Paying
His Full Property Taxes
https://deadspin.com/report-cubs-co-owner-todd-ricketts-has-been-getting-aw-183624...
> Another report 2 days ago:
Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts faces big property tax hike, even bigger bill for
back taxes after newspaper review spurs new look at his designer Wilmette house
by Hal Dardick The Daily Southtown "Ricketts is a member of a billionaire family that secured an $8.5 million county historic renovation property tax break for its rehab of Wrigley Field.
That project also is in line to receive more than $100 million in federal tax credits.
Ricketts is one of four siblings on the Cubs board of directors.
His brother, Tom Ricketts, is board chairman
_________________________________________________________________________
Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts' designer Wilmette home is worth more than twice as much as previously thought -- and that could more than double his property tax bill next year and trigger a tab of at least $60,000 in back taxes and interest.
That bottom line emerged Tuesday as the Cook County assessor's office completed its reassessment of Ricketts' property following a Tribune story that revealed the Republican National Committee finance chairman had been paying taxes as if the older, smaller house he'd torn down more than a decade ago was still there.
The error lingered for so long because the assessor's office said it never received notice the new home had been built . . .
Reference: Journal Gazette & Times Courier
________________________________________________________________________
Reference: Journal Gazette & Times Courier
________________________________________________________________________
Cubs co-owner takes over President Donald Trump's re-election fundraising
"Todd Ricketts has been very active in the world of conservative politics over the last few years.
Ricketts’ official title will be finance chairman of the Trump Victor Committee, a joint venture between the RNC and Trump’s campaign.
The RNC is grateful for Todd’s leadership and I’m thrilled that he will play such an important role in @realDonaldTrump’s re-election in 2020!https://t.co/iOZr3yRkFO— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) February 1, 2019
“I am honored to continue to support President Trump and the Republican Party through the Trump Victory Committee,” Ricketts said in a statement per the Chicago Sun-Times.
“As we head toward 2020, I will work to ensure President Trump and his campaign have the resources they need to fight for the American people.”
“As we head toward 2020, I will work to ensure President Trump and his campaign have the resources they need to fight for the American people.”
Ricketts is the son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts and a member of a billionaire family that has wielded much influence in the Midwest, particularly with Ricketts’ brother Pete serving as the current governor of Nebraska.
The family purchased a majority stake in the Cubs in 2009.
The family purchased a majority stake in the Cubs in 2009.
> Ricketts has served as the RNC as its finance chair since Jan. 2018, though he has also made his own contributions to political causes, including an ad praising Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s strong moral character.
> He received the RNC position after withdrawing his name from consideration for the position of deputy commerce secretary in the Trump administration due to an inability to divest from his financial holdings.
It’s quite a turnaround that Ricketts is now running Trump’s fundraising given that his family fought Trump’s bid for the Republican nomination in the 2016 primary.
The family, excluding Todd’s sister Laura, initially supported then-Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, they also made smaller donations to Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham.
> They also helped fund an anti-Trump super PAC called "Our Principles."
That activity drew the ire of Trump, who called out the Ricketts by (misspelled) name and threatened to expose some skeletons in the closet
"I hear the Rickets family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $'s against me. They better be careful, they have a lot to hide! "
Of course, that hatchet has since been buried. That started with a $1 million contribution to Trump’s campaign once he won the Republican nomination.
_________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
PLAY BALL!
