Chicago

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Three years after Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered the bulldozing of Meigs Field, the legal bills continue to rise.
Crain's--The city of Chicago has spent more than $200,000 on outside lawyers to appeal a $33,000 fine the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed, and the meter is still running.Another matter, an FAA investigation of whether the city illegally used $2.9 million in airport development funds to deactivate Meigs, has cost the city even more in legal fees.
As of mid-June, the Washington, D.C. office of law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP has billed the city almost $550,000 for handling both issues, according to a spokeswoman for Chicago Corporation Counsel Mara Georges. About 40% of the bill is related to appealing the fine; the rest is tied to the diversion-of-funds investigation.
Noting that the city's legal challenge of the $33,000 fine is now costing more than six times the original penalty, Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a budget watchdog group, says, "It may be time for the city to re-evaluate this strategy." More...

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