Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz travelled to the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield last week, lobbying the state government on behalf of Evanston.

One of the purposes of the trip was to make clear the true character of Evanston to state lawmakers, according to Bobkiewicz’s blog.

“Many here think of Evanston as only a beautiful city with mansions on the lake,” he wrote in his blog. “The Mayor is determined that folks here know it as the diverse, culturally rich but challenged community that it is.”

Tisdahl and Bobkiewicz met with Evanston’s State Senator and Assistant Majority Leader of the Illinois Senate Jeff Schoenberg; Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno; House Republican Leader Tom Cross; Senator Susan Garrett, whose district is located north of Evanston; and Jerry Stermer, an Evanston resident and Governor Pat Quinn’s chief of staff, among others.

“It’s important to describe Evanston, remembering that when state formulas are devised to distribute money to communities, there are communities that don’t always fit the formula,” Tisdahl told THE DAILY last week.

Funding Evanston’s police and fire pensions was a top concern for the two city officials, who had also planned to lobby for a bill that would extend the time frame for cities to fulfill their pension obligation. Under state law, cities like Evanston must fully fund their pensions by 2033. The bill, however, was not on the legislative docket at the time of Tisdahl and Bobkiewicz’s visit.

Bobkiewicz wrote that Evanston must work closer with state officials to secure needed resources for the city.

“Evanston is absolutely misunderstood in Springfield,” he wrote. “We have work to do to better identify ourselves as the diverse community we are not only to the General Assembly, but to the appointed leadership of Illinois state government.”

A week prior to the Springfield trip, Tisdahl and Bobkiewicz spent two days in Washington, D.C., to meet with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.). The two also met with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to discuss the city’s water needs and express their interest in converting foreclosed homes into affordable housing.

– BEN GEIER and NATHALIE TADENA