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Volume VIII Number 24 November 30, 2005 |
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Police Continue to Search for Clues in Sunday Night Murder Council Rejects Recommendation to Expand Leaf Blower Ordinance Council Approves Tear-down Tax Economic Trends Indicate Evanston Is Doing Fairly Well Homeless and on the Street in Evanston (continued) Police Continue to Search for Clues inSunday Night Murder
Police say a resident reported hearing a woman scream shortly after 10 p.m. and indicated that "the sound of the screams came from the direction of a multi-family residence in the 1100 block of Ashland," just north of Crain Street. The resident also reported seeing at least two persons wearing hooded clothing run from the rear of the property, according to the police. Ms. Twyman was found dead her apartment late Sunday night, the victim of foul play, according to the Evanston Police Department. There were lacerations on Ms. Twyman's upper torso, police said. Other residents said they heard footsteps, such as people running, in the walkway between their home and the apartment building in which Ms. Twyman lived. Police said the officers who responded to the emergency call reported that they found both the exterior door to the apartment building and the apartment door open; they said the woman was dead when they arrived. As police and investigators from the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force (NORTAF) worked on the case Monday they searched the neighborhood for evidence and found a knife in the outdoor grill of a nearby resident. The resident told reporters the knife was not hers and she had never seen it before. One resident described the area as "a true neighborhood. Everybody knows everybody, their children, their pets and their cars." She said Ms. Twyman, a resident of the neighborhood for five years, was "very unassuming" and that the murder "makes no sense and it scares the hell out of me." The investigation continued on Tuesday with police and NORTAF continuing to search the apartment and covering the door-way with a tent. Ms. Twyman, a single mother, shared the apartment with her daughter, 20, who was temporarily away, one of the neighbors told the RoundTable. She had several friends in the area, and no apparent enemies. Homeless and on the Street in Evanston Homeless persons, in Evanston and elsewhere, may have crowded into a basement or bedroom of a friend or relative; they may have taken refuge in a shelter. They may be on the streets during the day and sleeping in parks at night. Some avail themselves of drop-in centers to do laundry, send or receive mail, seek counseling or just gain respite from the streets. Other persons may be in their own home but living on the edge, a paycheck away from homelessness. Poverty, unchecked substance abuse and untreated mental illness are the main causes of homelessness. Further, the State of Illinois plans to release nearly 40,000 prisoners in the next few months, a move that is expected to increase the number of homeless people across the State. This is the final in a series of articles on homelessness in Evanston. Generous by nature, as one civic leader told the RoundTable, Evanston has addressed the issue of homelessness for more than two decades. Connections for the Homeless, Housing Options and the YWCA Shelter for Battered Women and Their Children have taken the lead here to help people get off the streets and into permanent shelter. Drop-in centers such as CarePoint, the hospitality center of the Evanston Ecumenical Action Council and soup kitchens in several local churches provide respite and a needed break from life on the streets. Evanston has a task force on homelessness, which meets regularly to address homelessness on a regional, as well as a local, basis. This final article in a series on homelessness looks at the impact of homelessness on the public schools, the library, Northwestern University, the business community and the problem of panhandling. Homeless persons should not be confused with panhandlers, although the two are often equated. Panhandlers, a visible, sometimes in-your-face reminder of those who live on the fringes of society, are often not homeless. The panhandlers of Evanston and the homeless of Evanston seem to affect different spheres of the City. Homeless but Attending School At the beginning of every school year Marilyn Madden, director of pupil personnel services for District 202, sends out letters to area shelters letting them know that she is the person to contact when a high-school-aged child enters the shelter. A homeless student beginning at Evanston Township High School will be assigned a counselor who will stay in contact as long as the student is at ETHS. In addition, the student, along with his or her family, must meet with a social worker to help them deal with their economic problems and to help them become viable members of the community. Children "can't be good students until they have the social support they need," said Ms. Madden. "It's not just about academics," she said, "They [schools] have to provide more services." In addition to counseling ETHS provides homeless students with tuition, gym uniforms, tutoring, cab fare and familyservices from the school-based health clinic. Every year these services cost the school an estimated $17,000-18,000, said Ms. Madden Unlike Ms. Madden, her District 65 counterpart, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lynn McCarthy, does not contact the shelters. She relies on the shelters and the Department of Homeless Education for Chicago Public Schools to contact the District. That is because District 202 "has only 4,000 students," said Dr. McCarthy. With 14 schools and an attendance of some 6,500 students, District 65 depends on the principals to reach out, because "the principals are more involved in the community," said Dr. McCarthy. District 65 provides each student with a school counselor, as well as free lunches. "Sometimes they get bus passes," said Dr. McCarthy, adding, "We work with each family to determine what they need." Homeless at the Public Library The Evanston Public Library can be a warm and educational refuge for homeless people in the winter months or an air-conditioned sanctuary in the heat of summer. The library uniformly enforces its rules prohibiting sleeping and disruptive behavior, said Neal Ney, library director. "We don't have a specific policy for homeless people, because we don't know who's homeless or who isn't," Mr. Ney added. However, proof of residence is needed in order to obtain a library card, so anyone without that proof can use library materials only within the library. "From time to time there are complaints on people, but it's not a lot," said Mr. Ney. Stereotypically, homeless people are identified because they wear layers of clothing even in the summer months or they carry numerous shopping or grocery bags.But Mr. Ney said it is difficult to discern whether the people who come everyday to the library are retired, homeless, living in a shelter, or just trying to write their first novel. "We enforce our rules on sleeping, and loud or boisterous behavior, but we don't go through the building looking for homeless people," he said. A recent visitor to the first floor browsing room saw a number of people quietly working and did not see or hear any disturbances that could impede people's use of the library. Romanticizing the Homeless: Northwestern Students and Panhandlers Homelessness can also affect the streets of downtown Evanston, where panhandlers may be mistaken for homeless people, especially by Evanston newcomers, such as Northwestern University students. Before classes begin in the fall, every incoming NU freshman must attend a session entitled, "411 on 911 - Campus Safety," where University police officers discuss, among other issues, the reasons they prefer that students not give money to panhandlers. The Northwestern Police Department focuses its anti-panhandling effort on Northwestern students, because it seems students are often more susceptible to the pleas of panhandlers than other Evanston residents are. "The police told us that [some] panhandling is illegal....They said our money could help the panhandlers get alcohol or drugs," said NU freshman Jamie Lyons. Some panhandlers loiter near popular student hangouts, like Prairie Moon, 1502 Sherman Ave., on Thursday nights, or Burger King, 1740 Orrington Ave., making it more difficult for students to pass by without giving something. Northwestern students Jonathan Watkins and Jonathan Papish filmed a documentary on Dennis, an Evanston panhandler, and about the more general topic of homelessness and panhandling in Evanston. The filmmakers focused on preconceived notions of homelessness, intending to reject them. They hoped to show that some panhandlers had just been dealt a tough hand and that they would use the money they receive to improve their lot. "I just thought that Dennis was maybe the exception to the whole panhandling community," said Mr. Watkins. But after spending a number of weeks with Dennis, they reached a different conclusion: They found Dennis fit the general preconception. Romantic perceptions of panhandlers as starving or homeless often makepersons reach for their wallets to givepanhandlers some change. But Northwestern and Evanston police wish to discourage that response. Instead, they encourage giving money to social service agencies that address the problem of homelessness, its causes or symptoms. "People give to panhandlers because it makes them feel like they are helping someone in need," said Police Chief Frank Kaminski, in a statement on the City's website. "Instead, donations given directly to these individuals promote substance abuse and encourage panhandling." How Evanston Is Doing Because homelessness is not solely a local problem, several Evanston organizations that offer housing, services or food, or all three, to the homeless do not differentiate their clients by last known address. Yet, historically, when the City has granted funding to such agencies, Council members have requested that some preference be given to Evanston residents. "Panhandlers and homeless persons make us so conflicted, because they are a visible street population that all this [public and privately donated] money and all these [social service] programs have not had an effect on," Jay Terry, director of health and human services for the City, told the RoundTable. "We know that a large percentage of the street people have a mental illness, and a certain percentage are substance abusers and some are ex-offenders. And some have reached a comfort level living on the street, so that they resist change," he added/ Yet, he said, "Agencies [such as Connections and Housing Options] have had a very beneficial effect on those who are motivated to change their circumstances. They have also helped motivate some to wish to change." Panhandlers and Homeless Persons Few, if any, of the panhandlers in Evanston are homeless, according to City officials, but panhandling and homelessness are often equated in the minds of the public. The person shaking a cup of change in front of a coffee shop and the person asking for a handout to buy cigarettes will generally have a permanent place to live, said Jay Terry, director of health and human services for the City - though, he said, "many will say they're homeless." Vendors of the newspaper "Streetwise," on the other hand, are typically homeless, using the proceeds of the newspaper sales to improve their circumstances. Jonathan Perman, executive director of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, told the RoundTable he does not feel that the issue of homelessness affects the business community, while panhandling has had some negative effect. "Some merchants found that having panhandlers outside the store deterred some customers and possibly had a chilling effect on some employees and potential employees. There was also a safety factor, because some stores have employees arriving as early as 4:30 a.m." Tracy Dahlke, manager of the Unicorn Café on Sherman Avenue, told the RoundTable that panhandlers are not allowed in the coffee shop itself or directly outside. She said one panhandler comes frequently to the Unicorn, "takes a cup and goes across the street to the Starbuck's" to set up his daily routine. "Once he took a tape measure from here. A few weeks later, I asked for it back and he said, ‘I have it right here.'" Other merchants contacted by the RoundTable either did not return calls or did not wish to comment about the issue. A few years ago Evanston enacted an ordinance against "aggressive panhandling," barring panhandlers from certain locations (such as outdoor cafés and ATM machines) and prohibiting panhandlers from repeatedly approaching or following someone who had already refused their request for money. Mr. Perman said he and other Chamber members, representatives from EvMark (the downtown property owners' association) and from Connections for the Homeless, other property owners and managers and representatives from "Streetwise" meet regularly with the police department to assess the presence and behavior of street persons in the downtown area. Last spring, the downtown merchants and the police department launched an anti-panhandling campaign, urging those who would give money to panhandlers to give the money instead to organizations that address homelessness, such as Connections for the Homeless. "We are trying to make merchants and patrons aware of our philosophy - to give time and money to social service organizations rather than panhandlers," Mr. Perman said. Homeless in Evanston Evanston as a community has taken a brave approach to homelessness, identifying it as a regional more than a local problem and providing support to those who are willing to address the underlying problems - substance abuse and mental illness - that often lead to homelessness. Connections for the Homeless and one program offered by Housing Options help in two ways: by offering support to those motivated to change their lives and by convincing those living on the street to want to make that change. This is often a tough sell, because often those who are in the worst circumstances fear change the most. Connections, Housing Options and the YWCA Shelter for Battered Women and Their Children provide not just shelter butsupport to enable their clients to start anew. While drop-in centers and soup kitchens provide necessary respite, the organizations that help transform persons driven from their homes and persons living on the street to become persons leading productive, structured lives deserve recognition. While homelessness is a complicated, almost idiopathic issue, these organizations have gone a long way in addressing the problem. |
Council
Rejects Recommendation to Expand Leaf Blower Ordinance Blower plan panned Howls of protest from residents persuaded City Council Monday to reject a plan to ease restrictions on hand-held, gasoline-powered leaf blowers. The City's Environmental Board, saying manufacturers make quieter leaf blowers now than they did when the ordinance was adopted a decade ago, recommended permitting use of the newer, quieter blowers during the day year-round. Thomas Schroeder, 939 Wesley Ave., said that when his children return home for family reunions he cannot talk with them in the yard because of the noise from leaf blowers. "I feel violated in my yard by the actions of lawn care people. I've got to put on a mask and ear plugs to work in the garden," Mr. Schroeder said. Holly Reynolds, 204 Davis St., told the aldermen, "Noise is as real a form of pollution as any other. Peace and quiet are age-old ideas whose benefits most of us can understand." Only the measure's sponsor, Alderman Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 2nd Ward, ended up voting for it. "We survive lawnmowers and snow blowers," Ald. Jean-Baptiste said, "and they're at least as noisy. It's not going to halt our ability to think and function and take care of business we need to take care of." Other aldermen said they had received a flood of complaints about the proposed change, and voted to stick with the existing rules, which ban use of the machines in the summer and winter. Street talks planned Also at the Nov. 28 Council meeting, aldermen sought to head off possible protests about street widening projects by adopting a policy that calls for meetings with neighbors before the city acts to ensure emergency vehicles can squeeze down narrow roads. City Public Works Director David Jennings said streets need to be at least 24 feet wide for a fire truck to make its way between cars parked on both sides. He said he wants to address the emergency vehicle access issue when the City needs to tear up a street for sewer repair and similar projects. Alderman Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, said, "Nobody has a problem with getting full access for emergency vehicles." But he said many residents might prefer to see parking limited to just one side, rather than see their parkways torn up for a widening project. And, in the wake of a series of neighborhood meetings, the Council voted to limit parking to one side on certain narrow sections of Hartzell Street, Garrison Avenue, Grant Street, Colfax Street and Bryant Avenue. Booze rules scanned The Council voted to postpone action on a measure backed by Alderman Cheryl Wollin, 1st Ward, to permit underage students to attend after-midnight fundraisers at local bars. Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, complained that she had received the latest draft of Ald. Wollin's proposals only an hour before the Council meeting. Ald. Rainey said she feared the amendments would gut the midnight bar curfew the Council adopted earlier this fall. The aldermen asked staff to prepare further revisions to the proposal in time for the Council's next meeting, Dec. 12. Several representatives of the Evanston Substance Abuse Prevention Council, including Donald Zeigler, 1430 Elmwood Ave., urged aldermen to reject the proposed easing of the curfew. "Allowing 18-year-olds into bars creates an enforcement nightmare," Mr. Zeigler said, "and it encourages minors to drink as a way to socialize with their peers." Northwestern student Andrew Shaw, 2349 Sheridan Road, said the late night fundraisers are important, because many student activities, like student government meetings, often do not end until 11 p.m. Council Approves Tear-down Tax City Council Monday enacted a $10,000 tear-down tax to fund affordable housing programs despite objections that it singles out a handful of developers to pay the cost of a program that benefits all city residents. Lynne Heidt, a realtor, said she supports affordable housing and efforts to keep the community diverse. "You should have the courage to pass a tax on the entire community to support this effort," Ms. Heidt said, "to place the burden on developers alone is just unfair." Michael Lee, a landlord and developer, said he has a property he expects to have to tear down and rebuild. "If I'm faced with this tax," Mr. Lee said, "I'll probably submit it for judicial review." "If you want affordable housing, spread the tax evenly across all the citizens, don't pick on this one group," he said. City planning department figures show that 32 homes have been torn down and replaced over the past eight years - about one-third of 1 percent of Evanston's stock of nearly 9,600 single-family homes. If that pace continues, the tax on single-family tear-downs would raise at most $40,000 a year. The Council also voted to refund the tax payment to an owner who lives in the property for three years before and three years after the new house is built and to exempt from taxation new homes that sell for less than $500,000 and properties ordered demolished by the city. The ordinance also applies a $3,000 per unit tax to demolition of multi-family dwellings. The Council postponed until its Dec. 12 meeting discussion of other measures designed to subsidize affordable housing by raising the cost of new market-rate homes in the City. The Council approved a pilot program to provide $8,000 grants to income-eligible City employees to buy a house in Evanston. Nearly a third of the program's $69,000 cost will be consumed by administrative costs. It also approved changes in the planned development agreement for the Sienna project at 1100 Clark St., which, among other things, would replace the developer's promise to include nine units of affordable housing in the project with a $395,000 cash payment to the City's affordable housing programs. Preservation process preserved Preservation Commission members succeeded in beating back a proposal from Community Development Director James Wolinski that would require them to complete their review of projects within 60 days. He said the deadline was needed to streamline the development review process. Commission members said they vote on the vast majority of proposals that come before them at the first meeting at which they are discussed, but that a few developments that generate intense community interest require a great deal of time so that all views can be heard. Aldermen voted to refer the deadline proposal to a consultant hired to review the entire City development process. New business zone for Central Street The Council voted to adopt a new "B1a" zoning district and apply it to the frontage on both sides of Central Street from just East of Ewing Avenue to just west of Central Park Avenue. Residents in the area had objected to new commercial construction under the existing "B2" zoning that was not set back from the lot line and included uses they said were not pedestrian-oriented. The new zone reduces the maximum building height to three stories, increases setback requirements, requires a special use permit for some uses permitted by right in the "B2" zone, and eliminates some special uses that could be allowed under "B2" zoning.
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Economic Trends Indicate Evanston Is Doing
Fairly Well Evanston's residential property tax rate has declined dramatically over the last few years, but rising property values have meant bigger tax bills for residents anyway. Figures from the Civic Federation of Chicago show that Evanston's tax rate as a percentage of market value declined 21 percent from 1999 to 2003. The City's finance department reports property values increased 33 percent over the same period. The tax rate drop in Evanston was the largest among 10 Cook County communities the Civic Federation studied. The average decline was just under 11 percent. Numbers compiled by the City show that Evanston has done better than most of the towns in increasing its tax base. Evanston's tax rate rank declined from fourth to fifth highest among the 10 communities over the period. Evanston's residential property rate in 1999 was 1.98 percent of market value, declining to 1.56 percent in 2003. In 2003 neighboring Wilmette had the second-lowest rate, at 1.33 percent, while south-suburban Harvey had the highest rate, at 3.73 percent. The City of Chicago's rate was among the lowest, at 1.39 percent. The tax rate numbers were included in a Nov. 21 presentation on economic trends in Evanston, sponsored by the City, the Chamber of Commerce, Evanston Inventure and Evmark at the Rotary International headquarters on Sherman Avenue. "Our tax base is relatively low compared to nearby communities," said Jonathan Perman, the executive director of the Chamber, because Evanston has comparatively little commercial land and no major retail malls. Evanston ranked ninth of 10 communities studied in equalized assessed valuation per resident in 2003, the same position it held in 1998. Evanston, Oak Park and Mount Prospect clustered at the bottom, with valuations under $24,000. Des Plaines, Arlington Heights, Naperville and Skokie were just over the $30,000 mark, while Glenview topped $39,000, Wilmette was at nearly $44,000 and Highland Park topped the list at nearly $57,000. But the numbers, compiled by the City, show that Evanston has done better than most of the towns in increasing its tax base. Evanston's per capita property tax base grew 47 percent from 1998 to 2003, fourth best among the 10 municipalities. Others ranged from a low of 22 percent growth in Des Plaines to a high of 81 percent in Oak Park. By comparison, back in the early 1980s, the value of Evanston's tax base was losing ground to inflation, Mr. Perman said, adding that the runup in real estate values, and good policy decisions by the City in redeveloping downtown, have made the difference in recent years. Schools get 68 percent of the property tax revenue in Evanston, a percentage similar to that in communities like Northbrook and Deerfield. City government gets 19 percent, and other taxing bodies account for the other 13 percent. |
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