Suburban mayors in DC for conference, networking

Six suburban mayors and village presidents are among the 230 municipal leaders at the three-day U.S. Conference of Mayors in the nation’s capitol.

Arlene Mulder of Arlington Heights, Leon Rockingham of North Chicago, William McLeod of Hoffman Estates, Irvana Wilks of Mount Prospect, Rodney Craig of Hanover Park and Kevin Richardson of Lake Barrington spent Wednesday, the first day of the conference, meeting with local lawmakers, discussing unemployment challenges, and honoring longtime Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who will retire this spring after 22 years in office.

Illinois mayors were invited to Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s office for what he called a “bipartisan lunch.”

Along with scheduled events, a number of mayors said they approached lawmakers who represent the suburbs with specific concerns.

Mulder spoke with Durbin’s staff about legislation that would increase for bandwidth for emergency communications for police and fire departments. Later in the afternoon, she expected to make the rounds to Sen. Mark Kirk and Rep. Robert Dold’s offices.

Wilks said she had meetings with Durbin, Dold and Rep. Peter Roskam to discuss, among other things, the impact of the recent Illinois income tax hike on the suburbs.

“It’s like a day of networking,” she said. “It’s critical that we bring our messages to the table.”

It is up to each suburb to decide who should foot the bill for their mayor’s trip.

Wilks noted that she is paying for her hotel and expenses during the conference, but that the village had paid for conference fees.

Mulder reserves a portion of her $8,000 a year salary, which she does not take, for travel expenses.

The conference will culminate with a meeting with President Obama Friday morning at the White House.