Central Street Neighbors Association Est. 2007

Dear Neighbors,

The Central Street Neighbors Association shares the concerns expressed by the Evanston Minority Business Consortium (EMBC), Organization for Positive Action (OPAL), and others with respect to the surprise discussion by the Council recently suggesting simply hiring the acting City Manager, Erika Storlie as City Manager rather than finding a replacement for Wally Bobkiewicz through an open public process.

We urge the City to either use the transparent public selection process or postpone the decision until after the 2021 municipal election.
 
The move to preempt the current transparent and public City Manager selection process has multiple problems.
 
• It is bad for Evanston government … or any government.

• It’s not transparent.
• It’s not on the public agenda.
• It’s impulsive.

• It preempts resident input.
 
That input was promised, through surveys, focus groups, and other means, and the proposed promotion would break that promise.
 
• It is tone deaf.
 
Short circuiting the public selection process is a tone-deaf disregard of heightened public sensitivity to historic racial equity issues in Evanston.
 
• It is untimely.
 
In less than a year Evanston will have a new Council and Mayor, who should not be saddled with a chief executive not of their choice. In a few months, we will have national elections, the results of which will enormously impact the potential federal funds on which Illinois and/or Evanston can count in the next few years of attempted recovery.
 
• It undercuts confidence in addressing current challenges.
 
The greatest challenge facing the City near-term is going to be fiscal, and serious questions exist as to what current City government — elected and staff — did to foresee and minimize that. A near-equal challenge is to restore confidence in City government. A hire by fiat addresses neither of these major issues.
 
• It does not restore confidence in addressing past mistakes:

• Discrimination settlements
• James Park litigation
• Harley Clarke alienation
• Controversial personnel decisions

• It has all the appearance of taking advantage of the pandemic for political expediency.
 
This move to preempt has occurred during a time in which no one could attend Council meetings, no one could assemble to discuss, no one could protest, no one could petition. A move to appoint a City Manager without public process would compound distrust created by this dynamic.
 
CSNA strongly urges the council to either get back on the transparent public selection process track OR  keep Ms. Storlie as Acting City Manager, and let the next Council and Mayor make the decision after a round of elections in which the public will have opportunity to vet candidates on their priorities for the City’s chief executive.

Please write your alderperson and let them know how you feel. This item is on the agenda for introduction this Monday June 8, 2020 5:30 PM. You can also follow the agenda link to sign up to speak via phone or video at the beginning of the meeting.

1st Ward - Judy Fiske: jfiske@cityofevanston.org
5th Ward - Robin Rue Simmons: rsimmons@cityofevanston.org
6th Ward - Tom Suffredin: tsuffredin@cityofevanston.org
7th Ward - Eleanor Revelle: erevelle@cityofevanston.org 

OPAL has also written a letter and is sponsoring both a rally and a petition.

CSNA
CSNABoard@googlegroups.com

Dear Neighbors,

Please join us for our 2020 Annual Meeting 7:00 PM at Three Crowns Park 2323 McDaniel Ave. Evanston.  The beginning of the meeting (15 min.) will be devoted to the election of members of the CSNA Board. The sample ballot can be found here.

After the election there will be an opportunity to meet several of the judicial candidates running for vacancies on the Cook County Circuit Court.  The March 17 Presidential Primary Election will include these candidates.  Those who have accepted our invitation include two candidates running in the 9th Subcircuit:



Running for Cook County Circuit Judge in the 9th Subcircuit -

Axelrood vacancy:

• Timothy Patrick Carter
  • Present Duties: Attorney in Private Practice
• Thomas Cushing
  • Present Duties: Cook County Circuit Judge - Domestic Violence Department
• Pamela Stratigakis
  • Present Duties: Attorney with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP

Luckman vacancy:

• Julie Bess Aimen
  • Present Duties: Attorney in Private Practice
• Basileios "Bill" Foutris
  • Present Duties: Attorney in Private Practice
• Thomas Peter Kougias
  • Present Duties: Attorney in Private Practice
• Michael Alan Strom
  • Present Duties: Cook County Circuit Judge - Municipal

Also accepting our invitation are four candidates running for Cook County Circuit Judge County-Wide:

• Jennifer Callahan (Mason vacancy)
  • Present Duties: Attorney in Private Practice
• Heather Kent (O'Brien vacancy)
  • Present Duties: Attorney with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office
• Susan McEneely (Larsen vacancy)
  • Present Duties: Attorney with the Cook County Public Defender's Office
• Elizabeth Ryan (Coughlan vacancy)
  • Present Duties: Attorney in Private Practice

Each candidate name above links to their webpage. Additional judicial election resources are available at:

• Ballotpedia
• IllinoisJudges.net
• Cook County Clerk

We hope you take advantage of this opportunity.  Media coverage of these races is the exception.  CSNA is committed to providing resources for informed neighbors and voters.

Please also take this opportunity to join/rejoin CSNA for 2020.  You can either:

• Send us an email with your address and we will mail a sign-up envelope. To: info@centralstreetneighbors.com
• Go to our on-line membership sign-up form.
• Send a check to CSNA, P.O. Box 7050, Evanston, IL 60204-7050. Please include your name, postal and email addresses so we can send you meeting notices and updates.

Our Annual Renewal Letter provides details of our projects in 2019 and our ongoing efforts in 2020.

See you at Three Crowns (Doors open at 6:30 PM),
CSNA

On October 14, 2019 the Evanston City Council approved a contract award in the amount of $327,671 to Kimley Horn for planning and engineering services to develop a plan for the Green Bay Road Corridor from McCormick Blvd. north to Isabella St. in Evanston. This project will be funded from the City’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) 2019 General Obligation Bonds

The city subsequently published the following flyer to announce a public meeting at the Evanston Ecology Center at 7:00 PM on December 11 to inform and gather input on the project:

Pages 5 & 6 of the RFQ 19-44 contain the scope of the project.

The awarded bid details can be found here on the City's Bids & Proposals page.

In an effort to maintain and improve our neighborhood park, area residents recently formed THE FRIENDS OF LOVELACE PARK.

The Friends of Lovelace Park's first adventure will be… drumroll… tree mulching!!

Mulching will take place on Tuesday, November 12th and Wednesday, November 13th from 9:30 to 11:30 AM. We’d love for you to join us! 

For all the details or to sign up for updates, please visit our website at lovelacepark.com

Our Mission Statement

We are a group of neighbors living near and enjoying this wonderful recreational resource. We are committed to enhancing the park and assisting the City’s Maintenance Crew by volunteering for the following tasks:

• Mulching the trees.
• Working with City Crew when planting new trees to select the proper spots.
• Establishing a pollinator garden to attract butterflies, bees, and other pollinators (Spring 2020).
• Collaborating with other organizations in collecting litter and debris.
• Offering our services when needed or requested by City Crew.