A secret committee shut out the public from Chicago’s Riverwalk

Originally published in the Chicago Tribune

Earlier this year, I wrote an op-ed, “Chicago’s Riverwalk vendor process is shrouded in secrecy. It’s time for real reform,” that raised concerns about a vendor selection process that lacked transparency, accountability and any path for appeal. I had hoped public exposure would lead to reform. Instead, newly released city records exposed something far worse: City officials concealed misconduct inside a process built to block oversight.

The city forfeited significant potential revenue by ending a proven partnership. Had my venue, Beat Kitchen on the Riverwalk, continued operating in 2024 and had its lease renewed beginning in 2025, total revenue to the city over seven years would have exceeded $4.8 million. Instead, the space remained closed through 2024 and much of 2025, with no explanation for the loss.

In 2024, we submitted a complete and timely proposal for the same space we had successfully operated for three seasons. Only later did we learn we were the only applicant. According to the city’s own procurement rules, that left the city two options: Cancel the process and start over or begin direct negotiations with us. A secret committee inside the Department of Fleet and Facility Management, or FFM, which oversees the Riverwalk, did neither. Instead, it quietly invited another vendor to submit a proposal for our location after the deadline had passed. That vendor had already applied elsewhere and had never expressed interest in our site. No public notice was issued. No other applicants were informed. We were excluded. The other vendor took occupation of the space and has been granted an additional five years.

Only after submitting formal Freedom of Information Act requests did we learn who served on the committee. Three of the six members worked at FFM. Two reported directly to the official managing the Riverwalk program. None had experience in hospitality, procurement, tourism or infrastructure. These are the qualifications that should guide decisions about long-term public-use contracts. The committee withheld its membership, scoring criteria and supporting documentation until legally compelled to disclose them. No public meetings were held. No appeals were allowed. No record explained how or why decisions were made. Every part of the process was kept from view.

Beat Kitchen on the Riverwalk had a three-season track record of performance. Despite operating with less square footage than most neighboring vendors, our sales consistently ranked among the highest. We brought food, music and energy to a quiet section of the promenade while returning significant revenue to the city. We were the only Latino-owned business in a major location. Our operation delivered every year.

The scoring process reveals how arbitrary and biased the committee is. In the “Compensation to the City” category, we offered $1.4 million over five years, not including sales tax, which would have more than doubled the city’s revenue. In comparison, the other applicant offered just $52,000, 30 times less. By any reasonable measure, a $1.4 million proposal should have earned the higher score. Awarding it to the lower bidder is fiscally indefensible, especially as the city faces a $1.15 billion budget shortfall. One of the committee’s members works in the city’s budget office. That result, on its own, calls the entire process into question.

The same bias appears in the other nine scoring categories, revealing a pattern of preferential treatment. The issue is not with the vendor, who simply followed the city’s lead, but with the corrupt conduct of the secret committee. When the City Council caught wind of these irregularities, members quickly flagged the issue for review. In June, the council unanimously passed a resolution calling for hearings into FFM’s conduct, led by Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th.

We already had reasons to question the process going in. In 2019, the city agreed to provide outdoor furnishings as part of our lease. It later backed out without explanation and forced us to purchase the items ourselves through a city-mandated vendor. We paid in full. We later saw the same items installed at other Riverwalk businesses while our site remained underequipped. The red-orange furniture seen along the Riverwalk today was not purchased by the city; it was paid for by Beat Kitchen on the Riverwalk. We were not surprised to encounter uneven treatment, but we did not expect the pattern to be repeated with such deliberate disregard. We have no plans in place for 2026, but Beat Kitchen would consider applying for any future space that becomes available on the Riverwalk.

I have filed suit to challenge the process, and the city does not deny what happened. It does not dispute the timeline or the facts. Its legal position is clear: The secret committee has the authority to ignore the standards it imposed on the public, bypass deadlines, withhold information from the public and selectively reopen the process for one vendor while denying access to all others. If a city agency can choose in private who gets a second chance and who gets shut out, then there is no reason to call it a competitive process at all. If a city agency can decide in private who gets a second chance and who gets locked out, then why have a competitive process at all? Why issue requests for proposal if the outcome can be decided behind closed doors?

The secret committee also ignored existing models that already work. At O’Hare International Airport, vendor selection follows published criteria and includes oversight boards and third-party monitors. Vendors can appeal decisions through formal channels. These systems are tested and transparent. They are designed to protect the public interest. The committee rejected that approach and built its own opaque structure. It concentrated power, eliminated accountability, and removed the public and bidders from the process entirely.

City agencies behave very differently when no one is watching. What happened on the Riverwalk was not a slip through the cracks. The committee built a system that left out the usual safeguards on purpose. That was the design from the start. We deserve better.

Robert Gomez is a Chicago-based entrepreneur and owner of Beat Kitchen, Subterranean, Bar Sol Mariscos on Navy Pier and other local hospitality venues. He co-founded the Chicago Independent Venue League and serves on the mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council.