Schaumburg signs cheaper lobbying deal

Schaumburg has renewed its contract with a lobbying firm that's been working largely to fulfill the village's transportation wish list.

The village's new contract with Advanced Practical Solutions is for $54,000, a negotiated reduction from the $60,283 paid in 2007.

Village Manager Ken Fritz said the firm has been lobbying in Springfield for projects including a full interchange at I-90 and Roselle Road and improved tollway access at the site of the village's new convention center at Meacham Road.

The Chicago firm, recommended to the village by Schaumburg-based Motorola, has occasionally done other work for the village, Fritz said.

That has included lobbying for the restoration of frozen state funding for a low-income day-care center, he said, but has always fallen within the parameters of Advanced Practical Solutions' annual contract with the village.

No further funding was ever released by the state for the day-care center, but the project is finally moving forward because of a loan to the Children's Home and Aid Society of Illinois that is to be repaid through local fundraising.

Though Schaumburg belongs to the Northwest Municipal Conference, which provides a voice in Springfield for its membership, that agency's purpose is largely to lobby for issues of joint regional concern, Fritz said.

There is still reason for a town to have an individual voice in Springfield, he added, especially when competing for limited state funding for projects.

Mayor Al Larson said assessing the value of a lobbyist is always tricky but is even more so recently when the legislature has been especially dysfunctional.

But Fritz said there has been some measurable progress in Advanced Practical Solutions' efforts, including the drawing up of a new plan for the hoped-for I-90/Roselle Road interchange.

Though village officials themselves played a prominent role in these plans, they're the product of meetings that might not have been set up without Advanced Practical Solutions, he said.

Larson said keeping a lobbyist on contract ensures that no opportunities for communication will be missed.

Representatives of Advanced Practical Solutions could not be reached for comment.