‘Star Wars’ Museum: Rahm Emanuel Got Campaign Cash From Disney, George Lucas’ Wife, Before Pushing to Donate City Land

IBT reports:

You might call it the Dark Side of politics, but in Chicago, is there any other side? Windy City preservationists are suing to block the construction of a so-called “Star Wars” museum after Mayor Rahm Emanuel offered to let George Lucas build the $400 million project on publicly owned lakefront land. The mayor has defended the proposal to lease the prime real estate to the billionaire Lucas for just $1 a year, insisting the project is on “solid legal ground,” the Sun Times reported.

What he hasn’t mentioned is the almost $50,000 worth of campaign donations he has received from those with vested interests in the project.

One of those donors is one of the museum’s key board members, who also happens to be Lucas’ wife. Mellody Hobson, a prominent Chicago businesswoman, is a major Emanuel supporter, contributing $31,500 to his 2011 mayoral race, according to campaign records. In fact, it was Hobson who apparently came up with the idea to build the museum in Chicago. The plan came to fruition after Lucas failed to get the project approved in San Francisco earlier this year.

“Don’t worry,” Hobson reportedly told Lucas. “I’ll talk to the mayor.”

Well-known in Chicago business and civic circles, Hobson is president of the Chicago-based Ariel Investments, in addition to being the current chairwoman of DreamWorks Animation SKG. She and Lucas married last summer, a wedding Emanuel attended.

Emanuel also received donations from executives of the Walt Disney Company, which bought Lucasfilm and the “Star Wars” franchise in 2012. They contributed a combined $13,800 to Emanuel’s campaigns. Bob Iger, chief executive, personally kicked in $5,300, records show. The donations from those with a direct interest in promoting Lucas’s work were part of a larger six-figure cash haul from the TV and film industries, whose wares will be promoted at the cinema-themed museum.

The Democrat party: the party of the super-rich.