Protesters? Group Shows Up To Thank Schneider

When a group organizes in the parking lot of the office of a member of Congress, they often do it as a prelude to protest.

Though that is not what happened when 35 people from Organizing for Action arrived at Rep. Brad Schneider’s (D-Deerfield) open house Wednesday officially inaugurating his Lincolnshire District office, Chief of Staff Reed Adamson was uncertain about their purpose.

“I didn’t know who they were,” Adamson said. “I saw them assembling in the lobby and went to see who they were.” He went to greet them and learned they were representatives of Organizing for Action, an advocacy group supporting President Barack Obama’s agenda.

They were not there to protest. The group was there to talk to Schneider about the President’s positions on immigration and gun control.”We came to thank him for supporting the President’s agenda,” Nick Burke, the group’s co-leader in Lake and McHenry Counties, said.

When Schneider learned people from Organizing for Action came, he took a brief leave from more than 180 people who were there for the open house to talk to the organizers in the building lobby.

“It’s great to have you as part of our team,” Schneider said to the group. “For things to work in the long term it will take a lot of people working together.”

A large part of Schneider’s days since he took office Jan. 3 are spent listening to constituents and advocates about a variety of issues. He has learned a lot from many people.

“Every day I have six to 10 or more people coming in to educate me on issues important to them,” Schneider said. “It’s a diverse group trying to appeal (to me) on issues like specific disease. They are all ages. The youngest was six.”

Schneider was particularly impressed with a 12-year-old boy talking about diabetes. “He was dynamic in his grasp of the facts,” Schneider said.

The crowd at the open house offered much of the same thing. There were representatives of trade groups, the business community and organized labor all looking for some time to talk to Schneider about subjects of importance.

A number of elected officials were also there including state Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake), state Rep. Carol Sente (D-Vernon Hills), state Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook), Round Lake Village Trustee Judy Armstrong, Waukegan Township Supervisor Patricia Jones, former Buffalo Grove Mayor Elliot Hartstein and others.