South Cook News

Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz continues to lobby the public and state officials in hopes of gaining control of over the controversial — and environmentally contaminated — Tinley Park Mental Health Center property, with plans to sell the land to developer, Rick Heidner.

Heidner has longstanding business ties to a banking family whose financial involvement with mob figures helped torpedo the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont, according to the Tribune.

Heidner also is a major donor to Glotz and his political operation, One Tinley Park.

In 2019, Gov. J.B. Pritzker blocked the sale of the property to Tinley Park after the Tribune reported that Heidner's business associates had connections to organized crime.

Heidner and one of his companies, Gold Rush Gaming, also were named in a federal raid on the Springfield office of state Sen. Martin Sandoval,—who pleaded guilty to bribery charges and became a federal cooperating witness before he died of coronavirus complications in 2020.

Despite Pritzker's move to kill Hiedner's "Racino" proposal in 2019, Glotz and One Tinley Park continue to publicly advocate for turning the dilapidated Tinley Park Mental Health Center property into a privately owned "mixed-use development" that could include a video-gaming component.

On Jan. 1, Glotz published a 1,728-word "open letter" making his case for the state to sell the property to the village of Tinley Park that asks residents to; "Imagine, for a moment, an expansive, mixed-use entertainment district near the Village center serving local residents, neighboring communities, and visitors from across the Midwest. Imagine a development that complements our existing treasures like the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, the Tinley Park Convention Center, our historic Downtown core, and countless other existing businesses, restaurants and hotels. A development like that would complete the puzzle and truly make Tinley Park an all-around destination to live, work and play.”

What Glotz described in his open letter is the same plan that was pitched in 2019 by Melody Square LLC, which is managed by Heidner, that was later modified to include the failed attempt to build a casino and horse racing track.

In January, Glotz's continued to advocated for the "multi-use" development in an open letter that offers vague details and did not rule out the addition of a casino or video gaming parlors on the property.

"The Village has always welcomed others to the table regarding the Tinley Park Mental Health Center property. Over the years, many other agencies have been actively involved in discussions at a conceptual level. However, it has never been practical to move beyond conceptual discussions without actually owning the property. I’ve personally attended many of these discussions, so for anyone to say otherwise is simply false," Glotz wrote.

Mayor Glotz has never mentioned that his political operation remained connected to Heidner's development plans by tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations.

On Aug. 9, 2021, Heidner's Gold Rush Amusements donated $5,000 to Friends of Glotz.

And on a single day in April 2022, Mayor Glotz and his One Tinley Park political operation accepted $20,000 in donations from Heidner and his companies.

Campaign finance reports show that on April 26, 2022:

• Rick Heidner donated $5,000 to the Friends of Glotz campaign fund.

• His company, Heidner Property Management, also pitched in $5,000 to the mayor's personal campaign fund.

• Heidner and his property management company donated another $10,000 to the One Tinley Park campaign fun, which Mayor Glotz also controls.

Last month, Heidner's hopes for gaining control of the land hit a major road block when the state House and Senate approved legislation to turn over the Tinley Park Mental Health Center property to the Tinley Park Park District for $1. The bill is awaiting Gov. Pritzker's signature.

On June 7, Glotz and One Tinley Park published a press release on Patch advocating for the governor to block the legislation and allow the village of Tinley Park to sell the land to a private developer.

Glotz did not respond to a message left at the contact number provided by Tinley Park.

Heidner did not respond to a message left with his office at Heidner Properties before press time.