10 Candidates Highlight CSNA Annual Meeting

On Dec. 11, despite bitter cold in the middle of a busy holiday season, over 50 residents packed the Old Neighborhood Grill at 2902 Central for a membership meeting of the Central Street Neighbors Association. Aside from some internal CSNA housekeeping matters, the principal attraction was the presence of 10 different candidates for mayor and alderman in the upcoming Evanston elections. All four announced candidates for mayor showed up and introduced their campaigns, possibly the first forum in the city where that had happened. The following is a summary from my brief notes, admittedly cursory as I was also MC'ing the meeting.

My overall impression was that we have a lot of talent and spirit among the contenders for mayor and for the aldermanic seats in the city's two northernmost wards. The conversation before, during, and after the presentations (the grill was open for dinner, and many candidates stayed to mingle after we formally adjourned) was one of warmth and mutual respect. CSNA was honored not only that so many showed up to present their campaigns, but that sincere appreciation for the value of residents' civic contribution and hard work was acknowledged and expressed. This was not a debate and there was neither interplay between the candidates nor questions from the floor, so that they could introduce themselves without interruption. By nature of having only five minutes each, no candidate could present their whole platform (which in some cases may not yet exist). Here's what I noted:

Mayoral Candidates

Elizabeth Tisdahl, the outgoing current alderman of the 7th Ward and former school board member, detailed a number of the serious problems facing Evanston, particularly in the area of finances. Ald. Tisdahl stressed resort to outside funding, such as from the federal and state governments, as a principal solution to Evanston's fiscal woes. She emphasized her experience in communicating with elected officials and agencies in that regard.

Barnaby Dinges, a public relations company owner with experience in advising wind energy companies, was the "newcomer" of the competitors, and portrayed that as an advantage. Mr. Dinges stressed "new energy, new ideas, and new approaches" in dealing with Evanston's issues. He singled out the City's "inability to say no" as a problem, especially when it comes to budget and taxes. Promising to be "the people's mayor."

Stuart Opdycke is familiar to many CSNA members as a former school board member and current Plan Commission member. He stressed his longevity as a resident of Evanston, even hearkening back to when horses were seen in the town. He also underscored his love for Evanston as a community.

Jeanne Lindwall is another name familiar to many Council observers. The former preservation director for the city capitalized on her background as an urban planner, saying that she is better positioned to help give Evanston a strategic action plan and vision for the future. She was the most direct of the foursome in criticizing the status quo, saying that Evanston government is "broken." Among her ideas for fiscal help was to lobby for funding for CTA-related projects, leveraging Evanston's large existing mass transit infrastructure.

7th Ward Aldermanic Candidates

Kevin O'Connor, with a background in sales, had a number of specific ideas and impressed many with the homework he'd done. Asking, "Where did the money go? [Evanston] just had the biggest building boom in my life," O'Connor said that on a going-forward basis, he'd like to see Northwestern provide "intellectual capital" to the city. He also wants to end "developer welfare," or what he characterized as "privatizing profit while socializing risk and loss." He expressed opposition to more TIF districts and wanted to see the highlights of future planning be "reality based."

Junad Riszki argued that the current budget draft really amounts to a 13% tax increase once various fees are factored in. He said that the budget is a problem every year because of how the City operates, and that deeper analysis of budget items is needed. He suggested reducing the salary and medical benefits of the aldermen. [Note: it appears that Junad did not, after all, file petitions].

John Zbesko, a trustee of the Cook County Mosquito Abatement District and former president of the Democratic Party of Evanston, cited his involvement with the elm tree inoculation program debate as past civic activity. With a background in finance, Mr. Zbesko proposed refinancing bonds relating to Evanston sewers so that future residents would share the burden with current taxpayers. He felt the City needs to realign its priorities so that it represents all residents, not just some, and he would "embrace citizen involvement" to help accomplish that. He felt that in current city planning there was too much emphasis on Evanston as a place to live and not enough on a place to work, i.e., more attention needs to be paid to jobs creation.

Jane Grover, the assistant director for Leadership Evanston, thanked the Central Street Neighbors Association for providing the forum. A longtime Evanston resident, Grover noted that she had worked with CSNA early in the Central Street planning process to help City staff understand why we needed a moratorium. Grover stressed that she would be an alderman who places a premium on "listening." She hoped to "change the tone of the discourse" on the City Council, and would work to forge partnerships between business, not-for-profit, and community groups.

6th Ward Aldermanic Candidates

Mark Sloane, who has spent 7 years on local playgrounds and recreations boards, stated that he'd knocked on "150 to 200" doors to gather petitions. Saying "we need an experienced financial executive on the City Council," his focus would be on finance. "If we stress fiscal responsibility, we will maximize quality of life." He said that the City would not have a pension deficit "if smarter questions had been asked."

Mark Tendam, who placed second in the aldermanic race in 2005, stressed his increased experience since that race in working with small businesses, and on the board of community organizations such as the YMCA and BE-HIV, and Leadership Evanston. He observed that passing laws does not accomplish goals if there is a "missing link," namely the ability to enforce City ordinances. As of the time of the meeting, a few additional persons had apparently "pulled" petition packets from the City Clerk, but none other than the above had filed. Also present was Sharon Eckersall, the Township Assessor, who was also circulating petitions on behalf of City Clerk Rodney Greene, who had been ill.

"Endorsement" Discussion

Following the candidates' presentations, members discussed, freely and openly, some of the pros and cons of various levels of involvement the group might take in the upcoming elections. While the entire membership was not represented, and no official motion was made or votes taken, there seemed to be a general consensus that at least an information role should be played by CSNA. There was little support for sitting out the election, and at the same time no expressed willingness, at least by those in the room, to go out and ring doorbells for candidates. What options might fall somewhere between those extremes is a matter for further discussion, but numerous speakers mentioned some form of stating our positions, and advising the public as to how the candidates matched up on the issues.

The candidates present indicated they'd be happy to have an endorsement or evaluation and would wear it proudly if we went that route. My initial impression is that in a number of the races, perhaps all three, it is possible no one candidate might garner sufficient supermajority support among the membership to warrant an endorsement, and that an evaluation or rating system that does nt formally endorse might provide more useful guidance, but, again, we need to hear from members, and feelings may change as the races develop and the positions of the candidates become clearer. In fact, CSNA might play a publicly useful role in helping to clarify the candidates' differences. Likely we will poll membership shortly on this.

I thank all those who came out for this and especially Marge Anderson, Trish Stieglitz, and Margi Hughes for their help in pulling the event together, and the owners of the Old Neighborhood Grill for their hospitality. Candidates are encouraged to post their views on this website. As of this posting, several have availed themselves of the opportunity. --Jeff Smith