Rome had Nero, we have Weisner.

A few weeks ago, the Aurora city council we saw the height of hypocrisy, greed
and cronyism, with the extension the city lobbyist contract which went from almost
84,000 a year to over 79,000 a year.

Incumbent Alderman at Large, Richard Irvin asked if the lobbyist firm would
consider taking a 10% cut instead of a 5% cut.

The Firm replied they could not do so, and keep the same level of service to
Aurora. I am sure the 197,000+ citizens of Aurora; appreciate the huge saving they
have brought to them. We can now count on an extra 2 Cents in our pockets per-
year.

The questions that our city council should have asked were:
1) Can we afford this firm?
2) What service is this firm providing?
3) How has Aurora benefited from the $84,000 spent last year on these
Lobbyists? The Alderman at Large should be advocating on our behalf.
4) Is this the most cost effective way to deal with Aurora’s needs?
5) Why are we counting on a lobbyist and not our elected leaders to advocate
for Aurora?

When it came time to vote on extending the contract, our elected leaders did what
they have done so many times before, they approved it. Alderman Irvin’s “big talk”
was only that. He voted for the contract.

Wow, thank you Mr. Mayor and the other 9 members of the city council who voted
for the contract. Will this contract help us with the public safety of our city?
Did your vote provide better services to our seniors and children, or should we just
wait on the lobbyist to save us another 2 cents a year.

Matt Harrington
Aurora’s Write-In Candidate for Alderman at Large