Hanover Park may hire lobbyist

Hanover Park officials are looking for a competitive edge when it comes to obtaining state funding, so they're considering joining the numerous other municipalities that have turned to lobbying firms.

But not everyone is willing to take the gamble, fearful that the dollars a lobbyist brings to the village wouldn't offset the cost of hiring one.

“I heard that they do a great job, they're going to bring us a pile of money,” Trustee Joseph Nicolosi said at Thursday's board meeting. “But we're not sure. There's no guarantees.”

His hesitation is the $3,500 monthly fee Roger Marquardt and Co. is charging, or $21,000 total over the proposed six-month contract.

The board, after a brief discussion, agreed to hold off on hiring the lobbying firm, which was chosen out of 19 prospective companies, until the next board meeting. Two trustees were absent, meaning the motion to approve the contract wouldn't have had enough “yes” votes to overcome Nicolosi's opposition.

Should Hanover Park opt to use the lobbyist's services, the goal would be to “obtain grants, member initiative allotments, and direct funding designations” for capital improvement projects, according to the contract.

Last year, in a goodwill effort to show the potential benefit, Mayor Rod Craig worked with a lobbyist who helped secure $350,000 on the state's capital bill for Hanover Park road projects.

Craig said he thinks Roger Marquardt and Co. could help identify money for construction of the village's new police station, roads, emergency operations facility and improvements to baseball and football fields.

Craig added that since he's retired, he wouldn't hesitate to travel to Springfield “at the drop of a hat” in order to work with the firm.

“We're trying so hard to stay under budget with the projects we have going on, and I firmly believe the funds we could get would be well worth the cost,” Craig said.