The Aurora Beacon News reported today that Aurora Aldermen voted 9-2 to continue lobbyist Dan Shomon’s $84,000 contract for the rest of the year, with mayoral candidates Stephanie Kifowit and Rick Lawrence voting against. Kifowit has expressed criticism of Shomon’s work in the past, and more recently argued that any new contract with him should include ethics language that makes it clear that he works only on Aurora’s behalf, and not for (as the Beacon News described it) “any individuals working for the city” - likely a veiled reference to Mayor Tom Weisner who is close to Shomon. The purpose of the ethics language is in Stephanie’s words, to ensure that “there’s no conflict of interest.”
In the more recent Dan Shomon contract vote, according to the Daily Herald, Kifowit argued that
“the city likely could get just as much exposure for about $30,000 less if it went to bid for lobbyist services.
‘We should ensure the tax-payers are being properly represented by the best person for the job, not just the person to happen along,’ she said. ‘I don’t think at this price that it is warranted. I think there are effective lobbyists that we could get, maybe the city of Naperville’s lobbyist, that we could get at a more affordable price at a time where we’re cutting services to residents, we’re cutting residential programs and things that are vital.’”
Currently the city of Naperville is represented by lobbyists Alice Phillips and Loretta Durbin of Government Affairs Specialists, who from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007 were paid $32,220 by the city according to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform in an April 22, 2008 report on state lobbying (pdf). That report listed the city of Aurora as having the third highest lobbying expenses among Illinois municipalities, after Chicago and Crestwood, with Dan Shomon collecting $102,101 in the July through June period.
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