Central Street Neighbors Association

Our Superintendent of Parks and Forestry, Paul D'Agostino, reports the following about the ash trees that were recently removed from the Central Street parkway in the business district:

Central Street gets a facelift this summer.  Central Street, including its parking lanes, will be resurfaced between McDaniel and Ashland and from Asbury to Sherman.  The project begins August 17 and is expected to take eight weeks. 
 
Because Central Street belongs to the State of Illinois, funding for the project will come from the Illinois Department of Transportation.  For more information, contact Paul Schneider, City Engineer, City of Evanston, 847-448-8291. 

Please join me for a 7th Ward Meeting on Thursday, July 16 from 7 to 8:30 pm at the Evanston Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Boulevard.  Speakers include Officer Loyce Spells of the Evanston Police Department's Problem Solving Team, and Mr.

We endorse Jane Grover, former chairwoman of the Evanston Mental Health Board, for 7th Ward alderman.

Grover's experience with the board and other local groups gives her extensive institutional knowledge, which the city sorely needs in an election that will bring us a new mayor and at least four brand-new aldermen.  Her ideas to deal with Evanston's budget crisis are practical, as is her emphasis on changing the discourse between Evanston and Northwestern.

Dear Friends and Neighbors:
We're in the homestretch in the 7th Ward aldermanic election, a good time to remind you of the difference I'll make as your alderman.  I am pleased to be the only 7th Ward aldermanic candidate rated "Highly Recommended" by the Central Street Neighbors Association.   

Creating a separate taxing body, whether for the libraries or recreation (as in Wilmette), or a community mental health board, doesn’t necessarily lead to increased taxes. And while we have an excess of taxing bodies in Illinois, the separate existence of a taxing body increases the expectation of transparency and accountability for that entity’s levy and budget. 

Rather than shying away from the "third rail of the 7th Ward" – the North Branch library– we should be engaging in a full and open discussion of the whole Evanston library system and the consequences of our commitment to branch libraries for the city’s budget. 

I hope that economic realities and community planning lead us to the conclusion that the Civic Center should stay where it is, but we can't be afraid to ask the hard questions that get us there.  Short-sighted thinking dictates preservation of the Civic Center in the former Marywood Academy at all costs and without questioning the long-term repercussions for Evanston's finances and implications for this community's aspirations as a sustainable community. 

As a long-time advocate for open and transparent government, working both from within and outside government, I understand our elected officials' duty to satisfy the public's right to information and accountability.  The business of the public must be conducted in full view of the public (Open Meetings Act) and citizens must have access to all public records (Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)).