Orland Park village board members have created a wish list of legislative priorities for lobbyists to work on.
For now.
The board voted at the Feb. 4 Committee of the Whole meeting to prioritize requests for state money under the umbrellas of infrastructure, financial stability, economic development and public safety.
But this list will be fluid, according to Mayor James Dodge. It could change frequently.
“This is intended to be a living document,” he said. “Two weeks from now, we can take a run at this and have another discussion. There is no reason why we can’t update this. I want to be really clear. We’re not writing this in stone.”
In November, the village hired Michael Best Strategies and Matthew O’Shea Consulting at a combined price tag of $10,000 per month to serve as state lobbyists.
At the Feb. 2 meeting, Village Manager George Koczwara raved about recent money that the village has gotten from the state.
“The lobbyists have been successful so far,” he said. “Since May 1, the state has allocated $40 million to Orland Park roads. Of that, $10 million was allocated to the Southwest Highway/143rd Street project. We are now fully funded for that project.
“Had we not gotten that additional 10, it was coming out of village coffers. Honestly, we don’t have it. Since May 1, it’s just been incredible.”
Trustee Cynthia Nelson-Katsenes pointed out that the lobbyists were not hired until November and that Director of Engineering Khurshid Hoda and his staff deserved credit for bringing in the millions of dollars for those projects plus a lot more in past years.
“Since we have been doing it collectively, we have brought in $85 million,” Hoda said when he was asked about it.
“I feel like we should clap,” Katsenes said.
Koczwara conceded it’s been a group effort.
“It’s not just the lobbyists, you are absolutely right,” Koczwara said to Katsenes. “There has been an effort for public outreach and the village has done an incredible job on that.
“Khurshid and his staff have done an incredible job. There’s probably a more technical term, but they nag a lot. And that works. The final element is our lobbyists.”
Trustee William Healy is hoping lobbyists can turn their attention to changing or eliminating the SAFE-T Act, which some critics believe is making it easy on criminals to get back on the street and commit more crimes.
“We are giving police everything they want and if the police are against it, why wouldn’t we be (against it)?,” Healy said. “I mean, you’re kidding yourself with this.
“There are a couple of good things in the Safe-T Act, but it’s predominantly bad for our police officers. It puts them in personal liability. It’s good for our village and our employees to protect them from the unreasonable claims that come out of the Safe-T Act.”