Skokie reviews trial government-liaison agreement and asks CTA to brief trustees on Yellow Line disruptions

Village officials explained the rationale for a short-term trial engagement with a government-liaison firm and said the FY27 budget includes a line item for a government liaison pending evaluation of the pilot.

Mayor Tennis described the RFP process and said the village retained Sullivan and Rouchi for a spring legislative-session trial to help protect local control, pursue state capital funds (stormwater, lead-service-line replacement and other infrastructure) and avoid unfunded mandates. The village manager said the trial is careful to respect local decision-making and that staff will evaluate effectiveness before recommending a multi-year purchase. Trustees noted procurement thresholds and said any contract exceeding $25,000 would come back to the board for approval.

Separately trustees raised repeated constituent complaints about Chicago Transit Authority Yellow Line service interruptions and asked staff to invite a CTA representative to a future board meeting for a presentation and Q&A on reliability and mitigation measures. The manager said staff would try to secure a CTA briefing.

Next steps: staff will evaluate the lobbyist trial and return with recommendations; trustees directed staff to seek a CTA representative for a future meeting so the agency can explain service interruptions and contingency planning.