Skokie board approves $40,000 strategic-plan contract with CP2 Consulting

The Village of Skokie Board of Trustees voted July 7 to award a consulting contract to CP2 Consulting to develop and facilitate a comprehensive strategic plan for the village, with the contract capped at $40,000.

Village Manager John introduced the item and said six responses were received to a request for qualifications; staff recommended CP2 based on experience with municipal plans. Corey Pours Plasch, president and CEO of CP2, described a mixed outreach approach that will combine surveys, focus groups and in-person events and said the firm would adjust formats to reach nontraditional participants.

Mayor Tennis said Skokie has never had a strategic plan and praised staff for moving quickly. Trustees pressed CP2 on outreach, language access and measurable outcomes: Trustee Schechter asked how focus groups and nontraditional outreach would be selected; Trustee Lisonbee Levy asked which languages the survey would be translated into and how the consultant would reach residents who do not use the internet; and Trustee Iverson asked how the plan would define and track measurable outcomes.

Pours Plasch said the firm will use a combination of the villages 2024 reweighted resident survey data and new outreach to reach underrepresented groups, include one open-ended question in surveys to capture free-text concerns, and define measurable outcomes once community goals are established. The mayor said he will convene a small inclusion team to advise outreach.

Trustee Lissa Levy moved approval; Trustee Kehmani Levy seconded. The motion passed by roll call.

The contract funds will pay for the consultants facilitation of community engagement, surveys and deliverables that the board and staff expect to use as a roadmap for priorities, actions and metrics. The board emphasized that reaching immigrant, limited-English and other hard-to-reach residents is a priority and that the plan should include specific measures for success.