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Aurora staff recommends new state/federal lobbying contract; aldermen ask for more vetting and ethics commitments
Summary
Deputy Chief of Staff Nicholas Thompson presented a proposal to hire Strategem Consulting to consolidate state and federal lobbying. Aldermen raised concerns about short notice, client lists, municipal experience and ethics; committee moved the item forward without recommendation and requested an executive-session briefing and additional documentation.
Deputy Chief of Staff Nicholas Thompson asked the Finance Committee to approve a professional services contract with Strategem Consulting Group LLC to provide consolidated state and federal legislative consulting and advocacy.
Thompson said the two lead principals — Baltimore Lopez and former Illinois state House majority leader James F. Claiborne — bring government, legal and legislative experience and that consolidating state and federal services would reduce the city’s annual cost by about $50,000 while maintaining responsiveness.
Several aldermen objected to the timeline and asked for more information before final approval. Concerns included the short lead time before the current contract’s expiration, the absence of current municipal clients on Strategem’s docket shared in the proposal, whether the firm had recent federal clients, and how the firm would engage the full City Council (not just the mayor’s office). Alderman Ed Bugg and others urged a detailed list of contacted lobbyists and the proposals received. Multiple members also requested a written biannual legislative report, an annual in-person briefing and a written ethics commitment from the vendor.
Thompson said staff had conducted due diligence, contacted references and would raise the council’s requested reporting and ethics expectations with the firm. He also stressed an urgent need for advocacy on matters such as proposed Tier 2 property-tax changes affecting local property taxes.
The committee voted to move the resolution forward without a recommendation and directed staff to provide additional documentation and an executive-session briefing at the Committee of the Whole so aldermen can evaluate client lists, past municipal and federal experience, and the proposed council engagement plan.
Next steps: staff will return with Strategem’s full client history, a description of how the firm will work directly with aldermen, proposed reporting cadence, and a proposed ethics/engagement agreement. The committee also requested that staff present comparable municipal arrangements and federal-client examples prior to final council action.
