CHICAGO – Three people the Chicago Board of Ethics determined illegally lobbied Mayor Rahm Emanuel won’t have to pay fines for their actions. In settlement agreements posted Thursday, the ethics board dropped $2,500 fines levied against Alan King, husband of a Chicago alderman; James Abrams, whose family owns Medline Industries, and Linden Capital Partners president Tony Davis. The board found the three broke city ethics rules when they lobbied Emanuel via email without registering as lobbyists. Officials say Abrams lobbied Emanuel to exempt a friend from a minimum wage ordinance the mayor was pursuing. King allegedly asked Emanuel to have a fence removed from a Chicago park to accommodate a picnic. Davis lobbied Emanuel about a zoning change needed for a displaced triathlon training center. The fines are waived as long as King, Abrams and Davis don’t commit lobbying violations for a year.
