FIGLIULO & SILVERMAN Cort igome nomi Dec ty ts. sorpasratre Elegie com evomsnncene ‘April 1, 2016 Via US. Mail sim Hock ‘Martin Shanahan City Manager ‘Corporation Counsel City of Joliet City of Joliet 150 W, Jefferson Street 150 W. Jefferson Siret Joliet, Minos 60432 Joliet, llinots 60432 RE: Continued Representation Evergreen Terrace Gentlemen: ‘When we spoke on March 18, you urged us to continue serving as counsel for Joliet. After consideration, while we would Tike, of course, to remain as the City’s attorneys in the Evergreen Terrace matter to see out the successful completion of this Htigetion, we do not believe that we have that option atthe present time. Given the accusations against us made by Mayor O”Dekirk and the Inspector General, accusations that we consider both unfounded and defamatory, we believe there is a conflict between the City and our fim. In particular, the Mayor and Inspector General appear to be accusing us of wrongdoing and indicating that the City should pursue litigation against us. That being the case, we believe that our ethical obligations require us to withdraw as counsel forthe City in all pending lawsuits. Until the recent press conference, we understood thatthe City shared our view that the Evergreen Terrace litigation had been a tremendous success, albeit an unfortunately loag and ‘drawn out process. The length of the litigation was, in our view, due to the power and inuence that our opponents and the Gidwitz Family were able to,muster, and their backing for mos: of the time by the federal government. As recently as the 7 Circuit mediation between the City and New West/New Bluff on June 30, 2015, Mayor O'Dekitk made a point of complimenting and congratulating us for our work. At tht same mediation, ownership was demanding substantially ‘more than $15 million forthe property. At no time during the mediation did ownership suggest that if we dismissed the case, it would waive its claim against the City for recovering its attomey’s fees (which we understand far exceed $10 million). About six weeks afer the ‘mediation, on August 18, the City Council voted 7 to 1 ia favor of purchasing Evergreen Terrace, Mayor O'Dekitk, who was present, expressed no objestion to funding the purchase ‘As you know, the City is now on the verge of achieving the results it has been seeking since 2005. The eminent domain action was filed with the specific intention of acyuiting Evergreen Terrace to redevelop that blighted property, contirue to provide decent low-income housing, and create a public park.Law opens FIcLruio & SILVERMAN ‘The City has won every major dispute in this litigation to date, and, as a result of the lawsuit, the quality of life for the residents of Evergreen Terrace, as well as the citizens in the surrounding community, should greatly improve. ‘The City has recovered the millions of dollars in CDBG funds withheld by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the City’s relationship with HUD has improved dramatically. The future of Evergreen Terrace and the City’s relationship with HUD are brighter now than they have been in the last 35 years. ‘We understand thatthe reckless statements from the Mayor ad his “Inspector General” at thee recent press conference may not represent the views ofthe majority ofthe ity Counel, the Cty Manager, or te citizens of Joliet Nevertheless, the rash allegations, as well as the Mayors stated intended couse of ation oulined atthe press conference, seem tous to creat an abvious conflict. They have also damaged our fnn's reputation in the legal community Barring further communications from the City Counel that would somehow cast new light on, and disavow, the Mayor's statements andthe comments from his Inspector General, we believe that we should withdraw fom representing the City of Joliet. Within the next week, we will be submitting a detailed response to the comments made at the March 17 press conference and in the Inspector General's Report. We will give you time after receiving our response, as well as this letter, to consider your options, and if necessary, find new counsel. As things stand, we intend to file appropriate motions to withdraw on April 22, 2016. As nothing substantive is currently happeniag while we wait for a decision from the 7 Circuit, this should provide sufficient time for the City to consider its position, Finally, on reviewing the Inspector General's Report, we noticed that there are numerous documents cited, but none were attached. In particular, the Report cited to portions of closed session minutes ofthe following: April 5, 2005 June 6, 2005 ‘August 15, 2008 September 6, 2005 ‘November 20, 2006 January 27, 2010 February 1, 2010 February 16,2010 March 2, 2010 ‘August 2, 2011 (October 3,2011 February 4, 2013 May7, 2013, September 17, 2013, November 3, 2014 January 5, 2015FiciruLo & SInvERMAN However, the referenced minutes were not attached or do not appear to be publicly availabe, Please send us copies of the entire closed session minutes cited in the Report, as we were not present at any of those sessions. We believe iti important to review the referenced sentences in the context of the entire session, as opposed to the snippets referenced in the Report. The Inspector General cannot fairly refuse to release the fll transcripts of sessions where he publicly references a portion of the discussion, but not the complete discussion. Very tly yours, Ql Mego Carl A. Gigante