From: Derek Douglas

To: Dowell, Pat; William Burns; Hairston, Leslie; Cochran, Willie

Cc: Sonya Malunda; Susan Sher
Subject: FW: Final Sun Times ad
Date: Monday, January 12, 2015 6:40:36 PM
Attachments: OPL_PrintAd_SunTimes_10x9.857_10.pdf

Dear Alderman,

Attached is the community letter that will appear in the Chicago Sun Times tomorrow.  47 community
leaders signed the letter, including the Presidents of both the Washington Park Advisory Council and the
Jackson Park Advisory Council.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Best,

-Derek
Obama Presidential Library
TO: MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL
The Obama Presidential Library offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for
the South Side and for all of Chicago. We are writing in response to recent
reports that the Barack Obama Foundation is asking the City of Chicago to
make public land available for the presidential library. We urge the city to take
swi action to secure the needed sites on the South Side, which is clearly the
best location for an institution that will spur economic development, inspire
young people, and honor President Obama’s legacy.
The presidential library project has enormous support among the people of
the South Side. Most of us can’t imagine locating the library anywhere else,
and we see this as a crucial opportunity to strengthen our communities
and create 1,900 permanent jobs. The proposed locations on the mid-South
Side have the potential to create a new jewel for this part of Chicago.
We favor prompt steps to resolve the issue of parkland. As people who live and
work on the South Side, we are deeply proud of our historic parks, which help
make this a wonderful home. We support a plan that honors the distinctive
character of our parks while maintaining and enhancing the park space
available to the public — a key element of the South Side’s bid for the library. If
making parkland available on these terms will help seal the deal, you have our
strong support to get it done.
Public input is essential in this process, and so is timely action.
We look forward to public hearings that reflect the needs and priorities
of South Side residents, who will especially benefit from the library project.
We expect the city and the University of Chicago, which is leading the
South Side bid, to work with us and act quickly to resolveany issues raised
by the Barack Obama Foundation.
Your immediate leadership is needed to do what is necessary to bring the
Obama Presidential Library to the South Side and make this transformative
opportunity a reality.

MAYOR EMANUEL: LET’S BRING IT ON HOME!

CAROL ADAMS WILLIAM EAGER DAVID KAY SHIRLEY NEWSOME
Founder, Museum Campus South Vice President, Chicago Area, Executive Director, MetroSquash Chairman, Board of Directors, South East
Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. Chicago Commission/Quad Communities
TORREY BARRETT CLIFF KELLEY
Development Corporation
Executive Director, The KLEO Center HENRY ENGLISH Radio Host, WVON
President and CEO, TERRY PETERSON
FRAN BELL WALTER MASSEY
Black United Fund of Illinois, Inc. Vice President of Corporate & External
Group Vice President, YMCA President, School of the Art Institute
Affairs, Rush University Medical Center
of Metro Chicago LEON D. FINNEY, JR. of Chicago
CEO of Woodlawn Community Development DYLAN REEVES
TIMUEL BLACK FR. TONY MAZURKIEWICZ
Corporation & Pastor of the Metropolitan Owner, Ms. Biscuit
Member, Obama Library Advisory Board President, Mount Carmel High School
Apostolic Community Church
JAMES REYNOLDS
ROBERT BLACKWELL PATRIC MCCOY
GHIAN FOREMAN Chairman & CEO, Loop Capital Markets
President & CEO, The DuSable Museum of President, Diasporal Rhythms
Executive Director, Greater Southwest
African American History JESSE RUIZ
Development Corporation LOUISE MCCURRY
Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP &
BYRON BRAZIER President, Jackson Park Advisory Council
VAL FREE Vice President, Chicago Board of Education
Pastor & Chairman, Apostolic Church of God
Executive Director, The Planning Coalition DORRI MCWHORTER
and Network of Woodlawn ANTON SEALS JR.
Chief Executive Officer,
WALLACE GOODE Founder, Seal360Group
CURTIS BROWN YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
Executive Director, Hyde Park Chamber
Owner, Brown and Sons Landscaping RICHARD TOLLIVER
of Commerce GREG MOONEY
Rector, St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church
HOMER BRYANT Executive Director, Comer Science &
DONNA HAMPTON-SMITH
Founder/Artistic Director, Education Foundation & Gary Comer DAVID VITALE
President, Washington Park Chamber of
Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center Youth Center Chairman, Urban Partnership Bank
Commerce, NFP
MATTIE BUTLER DAVID MOSENA ATTORNEY & REV. JANETTE C. WILSON
CHRIS HARRIS
Executive Director, Woodlawn East President and CEO, Museum of Science & Senior Advisor to Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
Pastor, Bright Star Church of God in Christ
Community And Neighbors Inc (WECAN) Industry
and Bright Star Community Outreach, Inc. DAVID W. WATKINS III
CECILIA BUTLER OTIS MOSS III Senior Pastor, Greater Bethesda Missionary
MONICA HASLIP
President, Washington Park Advisory Council Senior Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ Baptist Church
Founder/Executive Director, Little Black Pearl
FRANK M. CLARK R. SUSAN MOTLEY ANDREA ZOPP
REV. JESSE L. JACKSON, SR.
Retired Chairman and CEO, ComEd Volunteer, South Side Resident President and CEO, Chicago Urban League
International President,
MICHELLE COLLINS Rainbow Push Coalition KAMAU MURRAY
President, Cambium LLC Executive Director, XS Tennis & Education
BERNITA JOHNSON-GABRIEL
Foundation
GUY COMER Executive Director, Quad Communities
President, Comer Science & Development Corporation
Education Foundation

COME SHOW YOUR SUPPORT TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015 AT 6 PM

Hyde Park Academy High School, 6220 South Stony Island Ave., Chicago, IL 60637

FOR THE BARACK OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY ON CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2015 AT 12 PM
Washington Park Field House, 5531 South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Chicago, IL 60637
WWW.OPLSOUTHSIDE.ORG
From: Calmetta Coleman
Subject: Getting out the facts on the Obama Presidential Library effort
Date: Tuesday, February 03, 2015 6:38:20 PM
Attachments: Facts about the OPL South Side bid.pdf

Dear Community Partners,

In recent weeks there has been a great deal of media coverage and community conversation about the
effort to bring the Obama Presidential Library to the South Side. It has come to our attention that there is
also some misinformation and misunderstanding about the South Side bid and the process for selecting a
site for the Library. It is important that we get the facts out.

The attached flyer lists some key facts community members should be aware of. Because of your strong
networks, we wanted to be sure to share this flyer with you and to ask that you share it with your
constituents or with fellow community members.

If you have questions, feel free to reach me by email or the phone number below.

Best regards,
Calmetta Coleman
Director of Communications for Civic Engagement
The University of Chicago
Phone: 773-702-4254
Calmetta@uchicago.edu
 FACTS ABOUT THE SOUTH SIDE BID FOR THE

OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

The City and the communities of the South Side are working to win the Obama Presidential Library for Chicago. Here are
key facts about the effort to put together the best possible bid for this historic institution.

n Only President and Mrs. Obama and their Foundation will decide
where the Library goes. They are considering only two sites on the South Side, which
include parts of Washington Park and Jackson Park. We must make the land available through a
public process so the Foundation will choose Chicago as the site for the Library.

n The University of Chicago will not own the parkland, and it will
not operate the presidential library. In fact, the University of Chicago is offering
its own land as part of the bid. By law, the presidential library will be owned and run by the federal
government. Any public land the City of Chicago offers will always remain under public
ownership and control.

n The South Side bid has overwhelming community support. In addition

to thousands of South Side residents, the bid has deep support from elected officials, community
leaders, and neighborhood groups on the South Side. And this is just the beginning —
community members will continue to have a strong voice in the project for years to come if the South
Side bid is selected.

n Library buildings will use less than 1% of either park. That will be replaced
with additional green space nearby, so there will be no net loss of parkland. Locating
the Library in a public park also will avoid displacing local residents. The chance to
create economic opportunity without displacing residents is a key advantage of park sites.

n This bid is good for the South Side and good for our parks. Eleven
of Chicago’s major museums are in parks. The Library will bring new investments and
visitors to South Side parks, with new gardens, landscaping, improvements to streets and public
transit, and new programs for community members and schoolchildren.

oplsouthside.org
 COMMUNITY BENEFITS
Economic Cultural
Catalyst Destination
• Neighborhood and • Expand the Museum
commercial corridors Campus South, a
investment collection of premiere
cultural institutions
• Parkland renewal and
further improvements • Amplify the existing
cultural assets of the
• Road and public
South Side
transportation
enhancements • Enhance arts and cultural
programming
• Job opportunities
ECONOMIC GROWTH
As a major new destination for visitors, the Presidential Library would help spur new
businesses and create benefits beyond its immediate neighborhood.
Construction Visitors to
Phase the Library
• Nearly 3,300 new local jobs • 800,000 annual visitors
• $600 million impact • Nearly half from
out-of-town
Commitment to hiring local workers
and minority- and women-owned businesses
oplsouthside.org
Educational Collaborative Public
Opportunities Partnerships Transportation
• Destination for school • Collaborations between • Improved CTA/Metra
groups and after-school local organizations, the stations
programs Obama Foundation, and • More convenient access
the University
• Information about a
of Chicago • Better transit experience
historic and inspiring
President and First Lady • Resources and • New bike paths
infrastructure for
partnerships
New Annual
Businesses Impact
• 40 restaurants and retail • $220 million in total
stores
• $56 million increase
• 1900 permanent new local to local earnings
jobs • $31 million in food and retail
revenue
• $3 million tax revenue
increase for the City and
Chicago Public Schools
From: Derek Douglas
To: William Burns; Hairston, Leslie; Dowell, Pat; Cochran, Willie
Subject: OPL Poll
Date: Wednesday, February 04, 2015 10:48:56 AM
Attachments: Survey - draft release.docx

Dear Alderman,

As part of our OPL work, we commissioned an independent poll by Anzalone Liszt on people’s views about
the OPL.  Our results are even more positive than the Tribune results.  We only polled people in each of
your wards, as the point of the poll was to get the views of South Side communities in and around the
library.  Attached is draft of the press release that we hope to put out later today or tomorrow (please
keep this close hold and do not share with anyone).  If you want any additional info about the results, just
let me know.

Best,

-Derek