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Friends of the Parks Leader Cassandra Francis to Leave Amid Legal Showdown

 Friends of the Parks President Cassandra Francis says,
Friends of the Parks President Cassandra Francis says, "Let's use the force to do good for Chicago."
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox File)

DOWNTOWN — Cassandra Francis, the leader of a group that is taking City Hall to court over the proposed lakefront Lucas Museum, is stepping down.

Francis, a real estate and urban planning executive who last year was hired as president of Chicago-based Friends of the Parks, confirmed to DNAinfo she is leaving the parks advocacy group as it prepares for a legal showdown with city officials. 

"I plan to stay closely connected to the cause of protecting Chicago's irreplaceable public parks and open spaces which make it a great city," Francis said via email. "Now is a good time for me to depart and transition the organization's leadership as it has had initial success with the federal court lawsuit opposing the lakefront park siting of the George Lucas Museum."

Under Francis' leadership, the group also threatened to sue City Hall over its plan to allocate South Side parkland for a potential Barack Obama Presidential Library. Earlier this month, the group spoke out against a restaurant planned for Maggie Daley Park, as well as the city's efforts to solicit a high-rise developer for Pritzker Park in the Loop. 

A federal judge last month allowed the lawsuit against the Lucas Museum to proceed, and court records show the litigation is still pending. Many political observers expect a decision on the future Obama library site now that election season is over. 

Before Friends of the Parks, Francis sat on the Board of Directors at BankFinancial and was an executive in the Chicago office of construction firm Clayco. She also led the planning for the Olympic Village during Chicago's failed 2016 Olympic bid. 

Francis declined to comment beyond her statement, saying she was at a conference in Denver. 

The news was first reported by the Tribune.

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