GOV, Forest Park to lobby the DOD? [FP]

Forest Park is getting conflicting signals from the Department of Defense about the future of the reserve center on Roosevelt. The most up-to-date information seems to be that the final status of the reserve center is still pending based on a last minute request to keep it open by adding more Army Reserve units.

Forest Park would like to develop the land, but Mayor Tony Calderone doesn't feel right pushing the Army out the door.

I was heartened to read that Forest Park is going to try to be a more active player in the process in the future.

Forest Park Review (Seth Stern):

At Monday's budget hearing, Calderone mentioned that though the village does not currently employ a lobbyist, it is leaving space in the budget for one to be hired, in part to work on the reserve center issue if the need arises.

"We have a number of uncertainties in town, one of them being the closure of the navy base, and we may want to hire a lobbyist," he said. "Knowing the legislatures involved is one thing, but knowing the bureaucracies is another, and that's where a lobbyist can help," he said.