Editorial

Goodbye, Hello

Leave-taking at Evanston Township High School will be especially painful this year - for the community as well as for the seniors. The graduates only need to stretch to see that the horizon of life's opportunities is distant enough to be filled with the good and enriching search for truth and a way to live harmoniously on this planet.

Four esteemed administrators are also leaving, and their departure represents a loss to the community. Two of them - William Logan and Denise Martin - are home-grown Evanstonians. In addition to their professionalism, expertise and education, they brought to the high school a knowledge of the community - its nuances, its families, its problems - that helped them to understand and give a boost to their students.

As is the case with many of us who moved to Evanston only 10 or 20 or 30 years ago, Dr. Alson was an "outsider." He came here expecting to leave in a few years, and like many of us, fell in love with the City and the community.

Some of the accomplishments of these great leaders are detailed in the page 1 article in this issue, but there is not enough room here for the anecdotes, the stories and the tears that will follow in the days to come.

So we salute Mr. Branch, Mr. Logan, Ms. Martin and Dr. Alson, and we thank them for what they have done for us and our children.

At the same time, we welcome Dr. Eric Witherspoon, the new superintendent, and Police Chief Frank Kaminski, the new director of safety. We also acknowledge two who are already at ETHS: Marilyn Madden, who has been appointed acting assistant superintendent, and Dr. Richard Bowers, who has been appointed associate principal.

There are giant shoes before you but we know you will find your own way to step into them.

The Long Wait Is Over

Tomorrow the new Sherman Avenue garage is scheduled to open, providing much-needed parking space for those who work, shop or commute from downtown. The City has done its best to make the place user-friendly by providing color-codes as mnemonic devices, a roving security officer (in addition to the others) and great views from the Benson Avenue elevator.

Many shops and restaurants in the downtown area have been stretched thin since the old garage was taken out of operation. But most of them held on and are awaiting an influx of customers, diners, clients and patrons. We should not disappoint them: Head to downtown, try out the new garage.
Even if it means the City will lose money on parking tickets - because everyone will have a place to park their cars - perhaps the money can be made up from sales-tax revenues generated from the newly bustling downtown.

Wow!

The Evanston Township High School girls track team has racked up four State championships in the past four years. Add to that the fact that the five senior girls who have been on the team since their freshman year - Dameca Hill, Jonkea Stewart-Butler, Shalina Clarke, Morgan Pointer and Arielle McAlpin - are all headed to college in the fall. This speaks of discipline, dedication and courage on and off the track.

Long after the girls leave ETHS, four shining trophies outside the athletic office will keep their monumental accomplishment before us. Congratulations to the team, their families and supporters, the seniors and the coaches, and especially head coach Fenton Gunter who again has been named State coach of the year.

Why Ask "Why?"- Just Do It Differently

By Charles Wilkinson

There is angst at the core of any question that challenges self to change, to do things differently. It is about why we do what we do in the first place. "Once I figure out why I am compulsive about being on time, or overeat or over-react, or resent the successes of my siblings, covet the corner office of my boss or go crazy with my credit cards, maybe I can start solving my problems. But first I need to know why."

There seems to be no clearer roadblock to personal change than the all-too- familiar maneuvering described above. It is the conversation most everyone has with self when they realize their life is not what they want it to be, that they are living with problems that make no sense yet are such unnecessary kinks in their character. "If I only knew why, I would know how to stop" seems to be a plea for help when actually it merely buys time to continue the "same old-same old."

As creatures of habit, we can all be had by the patterns of behavior we install in our selves. "Familiar" has a safe feeling, even when what is familiar creates ruts we are reluctant to recognize. That is why change seems so difficult, not because we do not know why we are our own worst enemies, but because familiarity breeds familiarity.

Therapists make a living by helping others untangle or untie the knots in their characters. Some make an even better living by mining the "whys?" clients need to answer before change can happen. Really effective therapists, however, challenge their clients to confront the familiar, stop destructive behaviors and make healthy choices for themselves. "Forget about the why for now.
Just do what is good for you and when you are in a better place with your self, the why will be easier to get at," they advise.

Change, unfortunately, is easier to ask for or to think about (as in, "I'll think about it") than to achieve. Perhaps if we can realize that abusive behavior abuses self more than anything else, we can make different choices. Substance abuse is not about abusing the substance; it is about abusing self. The same applies to any behavior that takes us away from the lives we are meant to live.

"Just do it - differently!" adds a twist to the Nike Swoosh. Maybe it would help to use the all-over-the-place familiarity of that logo to remind self that making different choices gets a lot more done than asking "Why?"

In Memoriam

By Peggy Tarr

Each year around this time, I write about the late Ms. Emma Barton as a way to memorialize her. She was a source of encouragement for me and many others. Each summer, Ms. Barton was the hub for the gathering of family and friends at a picnic in her neighborhood to memorialize her late grandson. Although Ms. Barton has passed and the location has changed, the gathering continues.

Because of the proximity of Ms. Barton's birthday to Memorial Day, I looked up the history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day and originally a day to remember those who died in the Civil War. Some Southern states still have separate days to honor the Confederate War dead. Memorial Day "was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic" and "first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery." The South honored their dead on different days until after World War I when Memorial Day became a day to honor Americans who died in any war, not just the Civil War. Memorial Day eventually became a day to commemorate anyone who had died, not just those who died in wars.

In 1915, wearing red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died in war was conceived, poppies being sold "to benefit servicemen in need."

New York was the first state to "officially recognize the holiday" and in May 1966, President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y., to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. The birthplace is uncertain. Women's groups in the South placed flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers before the end of the Civil War as did groups in other areas of the country.

In 1971, Congress passed the National Holiday Act to give three-day weekends for Federal holidays.

In some minds, observing Memorial Day as part of a three-day weekend diminished the significance of the day and reduced it to just another day off. A bill was introduced to the Senate and the House in 1999 to return the observance of Memorial Day to May 30, but nothing has developed.

In December 2000 the "national moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed that asked for all Americans to pause for a moment of silence or to listen to taps at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.

I, like many others, enjoy a three-day weekend, so I can't honestly say I would beat the drum for the return of the holiday to May 30. But regardless of when Memorial Day is observed, all of us can pause a moment to honor those who have passed-those we loved and those we didn't know, those who died in the line of duty and those who didn't, those who died in wars we supported or wars we did not.

I miss Ms. Barton every day of the year. Memorial Day simply provides a special day to remember her. Love you always, Ms. Barton.

"Look for me in the silence..."
- Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye

Letters

Negative Impact of African-Centered Curriculum
An Open Letter to D65 School Board Members and Superintendent Murphy:

Effects of the decision to implement the ACC pilot program at Oakton are already being felt in our neighborhood. We live in the Oakton district and have children who will soon be entering kindergarten. Our neighborhood includes several families with kids the same age as ours. This is an economically and racially diverse neighborhood, and is in many ways the embodiment of the best of Evanston's mix of race and class. Recently, however, we have begun to hear that several families who had been planning on sending their kids to Oakton for kindergarten are making applications for private kindergarten instead as a direct result of the ACC "experiment" at Oakton.

Our neighborhood provides one small but tangible example of how ACC is already working to drive kids out of the public school system. These are kids with parents who are active and who would be conscientious about their involvement with the public schools.

In an e-mail to us, Marianne Kountoures of the School Board said recently that the ACC plan is based on "separation according to academic need" rather than race. If this were true, and the ACC were truly a remedial program, we wouldstrongly support it. We believe our school system should investextra resources in helping kids who struggle in school. What the ACC plan suggests, though, is that remedial needs are inherently connected to an African-American child's identity. It is based on the belief that race and remedial need are so intimately connected that they cannot, and should not, be separated. This is a dangerous philosophy and a bad foundation for public policy. The suggestion that intellectual capacity and race are linked is unsupportable and offensive, and yet the view that the ACC is a remedial program makes precisely this connection.

The negative effects of ACC are already easy to see in our neighborhood. In a few years, the effects will also be evident in the school itself. This will be measured not only in a diminished experience for the kids in the ACC program, but also in the high number of kids whose parents opt out of Oakton altogether. At that time, when the Board looks back to evaluate what the ACC has done to Oakton, I hope that it looks into the statistics on these "missing" kids and calculates the costs of their absence.
--Ian Hurd
and Elizabeth Shakman Hurd

Applause for Smoke-free Ordinance
Editor:

The American Cancer Society congratulates the Evanston City Council for passing a 100-percent-comprehensive smoke-free ordinance that will save lives. It is a victory for the health and well-being of all Evanston workers, residents and visitors for generations to come.

Last year, about 2,900 Illinoisans died from exposure to hazardous secondhand smoke. As the leading cancer-fighting organization in Illinois and the nation, the American Cancer Society is proud that this law will in fact save lives, prevent cancer and other diseases, diminish suffering and reduce health care costs.

On behalf of our volunteers, donors and, most importantly, cancer patients and their families, we honor and thank all who participated in this historic campaign.

We commend the Evanston City Council, and especially Alderwoman Elizabeth Tisdahl, for their unflappable leadership and partnership. Evanston's leadership will be a great example for other communities and contribute to Illinois' going smoke-free.

We also salute the Evanston Clean Air coalition and their leaders Don Zeigler, Dr. Catherine Counard and C. Margaret McClaskey and the Evanston Community Health Advisory Board and the many citizens and volunteers who provided a strong voice that demanded action.
Today we can celebrate a victory for the health of Evanston workers, visitors and residents, who will have the right to breathe clean air.And for this, we say thank you.
--Sandra Z. Lewis, Ph.D., Advocacy Chair, American Cancer Society, North Shore Region

Excrement Discontent
Editor:

Since the alley runs below my bedroom
A certain dog owner makes me fume
I don't appreciate
Discarded defecate
With rising repellent poo perfume.
--Robert Bagby

KEB Congratulates Earth Day Contest Winners
Editor:

On Thursday, May 11, eight students from Evanston received awards for their winning entries in the 17th Annual Earth Day Contest sponsored by Keep Evanston Beautiful, Inc. This year's theme was keeping Evanston's environment clean and beautiful for the future. Students were asked to write a letter, an essay or a newspaper article and address their writing to Julia Carroll, Evanston's City Manager.

We were fortunate to have Ms. Carroll present the awards. The city manager is a strong supporter of KEB, and it was a pleasure to have her at the awards ceremony. The children were thrilled to meet and have their photograph taken with Ms. Carroll.

The winners are listed below, along with their grade, teacher and school:
Kindergarten - Second grade
First place: Conor Harrigan, 2nd grade, St. Athanasius, Miss McKenna
Second place: Arij Virani, Kindergarten, Bessie Rhodes, Ms. Hill
Third place: Leticia Torrez, second grade, Washington School, Mr. Candimill
Fourth place: April Taylor, Kindergarten, Oakton, Mrs. Berry;
Third-Fifth graders
First place: Anna Winter, fourth grade, Dawes, Mrs. Nyamweya
Second place: Kaigh Walsh, fifth grade, Orrington, Ms. Kipfer
Third place: Grant Colbert, fifth grade, Kingsley, Ms. Warren
Fourth place: Ramzy Sabbara, fifth grade, King Lab, Mrs. Hunt

Thank you to all the teachers who supported this contest and all the students who entered it. We received more than 250 entries.

Thanks to all of the generous Evanston businesses that donated prizes. The teachers of the award-winning students also received a gift certificate donated by one of the following Evanston businesses: Healing Touch Massage Therapy, Tapas Barcelona, Wolfgang Puck, Dave's Italian Kitchen, Fire House Grill, Lupita's Restaurante, Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop and Paper Source. And thank you to Ms. Carroll for presenting the awards.
Congratulations to all the winners.
-- Sue Thompson, Coordinator, Earth Day Contest

To the Plan Commission: Quo Vadis?
Open Letter:

I refer you to the photo view of Davis Street looking west at Judson Avenue across Hinman Avenue toward Chicago Avenue. There is enough of a geological rise to create an optical (Optima?) effect. The height of the new Georgian building will more than visually match the height of the 500 Davis Street building. The height of the proposed 1515 Chicago Avenue/ Promenade building will visually overpower this westerly sightline.

The subject property is in a D-4 zone. "D" is supposed to be a transitional area. West of 500 Davis, the sightline goes from the present two- to three-story building to a 20-story building. Is this an example of transitional planning? 500 Davis is more than two or three stories; however 1515 is half again as high, or higher than that. This is hardly a transition from downtown to residential. It is the "Kapow Effect": intrusive.

Being on that corner (Chicago and Davis), 1515 threatens the delightful, low- rises directly across Chicago Avenue, especially that block of Davis between Chicago and Fountain Square, which in itself has been allowed to lose its charm as a focal point in the area.
The 1515 shadow effect along Davis is another concern. Note the immense shadow produced by the building along Chicago Avenue at the northwest corner of Chicago and Main. The result is a dinginess along Chicago Avenue that is just plain ugly and depressing. So what will be the 1515 shadow effect along Davis Street?

Why must we continue to invite and encourage another high-rise? Why do we keep selling our formerly unique souls for another intrusive, glassy mess of potage? The glass approach has lost its novelty; already these designs have become dated. It is a "quick and dirty" approach: Glass can go up in a hurry, requires less labor, and costs less for materials. But glass does get dirty, particularly in wind and heavy traffic. How tedious, repetitious, and banal! No amount of green spots can compensate for that glass. And how will the green really be kept green?

What is "fair market value" for an alley in this location? At present the alley of Chicago Avenue is swallowed up by the 1515 footprint, allowing 1515 to overpower one of Evanston's most charming, noteworthy apartment buildings, the Chaumont. It is a real architectural treasure; award-winning, landmarked. Isn't such closeness a real and potential danger to the integrity of the Chaumont because of the depth of the pile-driving, earth-moving, gritty activity?

Keep an open space, an alley, between any 1515 development and the Chaumont. Move the present alley south, even though that reduces the 1515 footprint and net profit. Why was such a dense, intense closeness allowed? This must have been encouraged, and for what measly purchase price? This town gives developers a lot, thanks to Planned Development loopholes. It is past time to demand our equivalencies, and then some.

And what about infrastructure: sewers, water pressure, traffic signaling, a ruptured, torn-up busy, busy intersection?

What about businesses along West Davis between Chicago Avenue and Fountain Square? Very inspired traffic guidance will be a necessity since the Mather, et al, will be a-building a block away and with its tunnel?

Will the developers share in the cost of restoration, reconstruction, or will the suffering Evanston taxpayers pay for the privilege of seemingly endless Central Business District inconveniences?
In the Central Street area there was a discussion of a developer donating $15,000.00 to help pay part of a sewer improvement. A drop in the bucket!... but it is a start!

Also, what about demographics? So far our planning and economic development continues in a paralysis mode concerning the needs and wants of local shoppers. Instead, we have developments that appear to cater to a student and short- term population in the CBD, and a plethora of fast food eateries.

How do you develop such a sense of civic awareness and pride in CBD hi- rises? Such condos are not neighborhoods, they are not future architectural treasures. What we have instead is clutter not civic cohesion.

Whatever became of the remark of the Council that we should pause, reflect and digest what has been built in the CBD? Indeed, before continuing another round of developments?

Look about you with critical eyes. Think... then ask not what developers can do for us, rather really look at what has been done to us.

This 1515 project is too high, too dense, too out of context. Indeed, Quo Vadis?

To The Evanston Plan Commission May 10, 2006
I refer you to the photo view of Davis Street looking west at Judson Avenue, across Hinman Avenue toward Chicago Avenue. Note, there is enough of a geological rise which creates an optical (Optima?) effect. The height of the new Georgian building will more than visually match the height of the 500 Davis Street building. The height of the proposed 1515 Chicago Avenue/ Promenade building will visually over power this westerly sightline, even above the 500 Davis height.

The subject property is in a D- 4 zone. "D" is supposed to be a transitional area. West of 500 Davis, is going from a presently 2- 3 storey sightline to a 20 storey building, an example of transitional planning? Indeed, 500 Davis is more than 2- 3 stories, however 1515 is half again, or higher, than 500 Davis. This is hardly a transition... it is "The Kapow Effect", intrusive.

Also, being on that corner (Chicago & Davis) 1515 threatens the delightful, unique low- rises directly across Chicago Avenue; especially that block of Davis between Chicago and Fountain Square, which in itself has been allowed to lose ITS charm as a focal point in the area.


The 1515 shadow effect along Davis is another point of concern. For example, note the immense shadow effect produced by the building along Chicago Avenue at the NW corner of Chicago and Main Street. The result is a dinginess along Chicago Avenue that is just plain ugly, depressing, so what will be the 1515 shadow effect along Davis Street?

But why must we continue to invite and thus encourage another hi- rise? Why do we keep selling our formerly unique souls for another intrusive, glassy mess of potage? Enough, enough... the glass approach has lost its novelty; already these designs have become dated. It is a "quick and dirty" approach: i.e. glass can go up in a hurry, less labor, less materials cost, and glass DOES get dirty, particularly amidst wind and heavy traffic. How tedious, repetitious, how banal! No amount of green spots can compensate for that glass... and how will the green really be kept green?

And, what IS "fair market value" for an alley in this location? The present alley of Chicago Avenue is now swallowed up by the 1515 footprint, which allows 1515 to overpower one of Evanston's most charming, noteworthy apartment buildings: The Chaumont. It is a real architectural treasure; award- winning, land marked. Isn't such closeness a real and potential danger to the integrity of the Chaumont?... because of the depth of the pile- driving, earth moving, gritty activity?

Keep an open space, an alley, between any 1515 development and the Chaumont. Move the present alley south, even though that reduces the 1515 footprint and net profit. Why was such a dense, intense closeness encouraged from the beginning? This MUST have been encouraged, and for a measly purchase price? This town gives developers a lot, thanks to Planned Development loopholes. It is past time to demand our equivalencies, and then some

In the Central Street area there was a discussion of a developer's donating $15,000 to help pay part of a sewer improvement. A drop in the bucket, but it is a start.

And what about demographics? Our planning and economic development continues to ignore the needs and wants of local shoppers. Instead, we have developments in the CBD and a plethora of fast food eateries that appear to cater to a student and short-term population.

How do you develop a sense of civic awareness and pride in CBD high-rises? Such condos are neither neighborhoods nor future architectural treasures. We have clutter, not civic cohesion.

Whatever became of the Council's advice that we should pause, reflect and digest what has been built in the CBD – and do it before continuing another round of developments?

Look around with critical eyes. Then ask not what developers can do for us; rather, look at what they have done to us.

This 1515 project is too high, too dense, too out of context. Indeed, Quo Vadis?
--Ann C. Dienner

Say No to "Choice" Schools
Editor:

I have been reflecting on discussion by the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 School Board urging a mythic pursuit of Choice in our school community, a massive undertaking requiring redistricting and significant new expenditures.

There is no public clamoring for an arts school. I have heard nobody discuss wanting a "diversity" or "integration" school theme, because that is why a great many of us choose to live here in the first place. The diversity enriches us, but only when we deign to be an integral part of it. There hasn't been a peep about single- gender schools or alternative classrooms. We already have two K-8 schools.

We do have an Afro-centric Curriculum Committee and asked for 120 students in a simple pilot program and were denied half of that.

Jonathan Kozol gave a lecture a few weeks ago which I was fortunate to attend. He expressed disgust at what we refer to as Choice schools. He calls the transformation "the boutiquing of our schools."

He stated that he viewed it as a very trendy, elitist practice in urban areas. While the mission is invariably "to unify" in whatever ways, what boutique schools do is to further stratify our children. The upper and middle classes seclude their children in arts and language academies. The families of poorer children opt out, left behind in new ways.

We have seen this already in Evanston, with the dearth of African-American enrollment in TWI. What will the Choice school system – or as George W. Bush calls it, "the ownership society"– do to the achievement gap?

What parents do want is safe schools, decent technology in all of them, experienced teachers, a solid variety of electives, fewer standardized tests and to not have their children bused all over town. It's simple. We needn't reinvent the wheel here.

As taxpayers in this school district, we lack the desire to fund this arduous journey, one that would begin with going out and seeking another high-rent educational firm to do yet another in-depth study, replete with focus groups, community forums, endless board discussion ... enough already.

Besides, the point of a referendum is to purchase hard goods — school renovations, equipment upgrades, perhaps — not to cover the operating expenses, of say, busing, and definitely not to fund mythic journeys.

Here's a more conscientious idea: Poll District 65 families. Ask us directly what is on our minds. We'll tell you that we feel polarized, cheated, and that you are wasting the talents of the District administrators whom our tax dollars pay.

We want the Board to be accountable for their actions instead of constantly floating these issues back out into the community in new ways. There is a majority view in our community about what we want our schools to look like. Cap TWI. Spend the next year fortifying General Education. Stop wasting our time and tax dollars with these idealistic, dead-end notions.
--Grace Pigozzi

Recognize ETHS Track and Field
Editor:
Come on, Evanston. I know we can do this. We as a community need to show these girls the acclaim and love they so richly deserve for their accomplishment.

Winning the State title in track and field for Evanston Township High School is worthy of the honor that comes with representing our community. To do it four years in a row is deserving of special recognition like none other.

Here are some ways that we can honor these girls:
1) The news media can write up an article recognizing the girls individually for what they have done.
2) The community can request that the business establishments put up banners and flyers congratulating them for their achievements.
3) We can call Mayor Morton and our aldermen and request that a day in honor of our fleet-footed champions be established as ETHS Girls Track Day.

You, as well, can think of more ways to honor the girls and them make them known.
--John C. Thomson

Dismal Night At Council
Editor:

There was an incident at the May 22 City Council meeting that I found most disturbing. What was even more disheartening than the incident itself was the fact that no member of the Council did anything to mitigate or respond to it.

After the vote was taken on the Darrow Corners development – the vote being five against the proposal and four in favor – Alderman Moran made a plea to the Council members to change one vote and allow the plan to proceed.

He pointed out that the plan was actively supported by the alderwoman of the Fifth Ward, Alderman Delores Holmes, as well as by Alderman Lionel Jean-Baptiste, Alderman Cheryl Wollin, and himself, as well as by significant segments of the neighborhood residents and community groups, and that we have endorsed the concept of affordable housing in our civic plans and public statements.

He had barely completed his statement when Alderman Ann Rainey rose in a fury and lashed out at Ald. Moran in a manner that suggested she felt personally attacked, which was by no means the case. If anyone was shown disrespect it was very definitely Ald. Moran.

This was a terribly painful moment, and Alderman Moran's pain was evident. No one on the dais spoke a word, no one mentioned the importance of civility to one another, no one alluded to the fact that it is hard to value the work of a City Council that does not maintain an appropriate level of dignity and decorum.

All in all, this proved to be a very dismal evening for the City of Evanston.
--Francis Seidman

Courageous Leadership
Editor:

Five members of the Planning and Development Committee voted to follow the recommendation of the Plan Commission to deny variances to HODC, developer of the proposed Darrow Corners affordable housing complex.

I commend their courage and leadership in the face of incredible pressure to approve the project, coming from some factions within the community and from several outside of it.

The debate over Darrow Corners was difficult and intense because the issue of affordable housing in our community has become so emotionally charged. We all want for Evanston to remain a diverse community that offers housing and economic opportunity to the full socio-economic spectrum.

And the proposed development had several positive aspects, not the least of which was the use of 6.5 million dollars in low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), described as "federal tax dollars that will be spent on affordable housing in some other community if not here" or "free money." Well, the hard truth remains that nothing is really free.

In several key areas, Darrow Corners failed to conform to the Neighborhood Plan – a document that was the product of four years of long, arduous meetings and which was just adopted by the City Council last fall. The plan calls for the development of a retail service center on Church between Brown and Darrow, an expansion of ownership units in the Fifth Ward, where the proportion of rental units to ownership units increased 11 percent from 1990 to 2000, and basic infrastructure, like parking, that would support continuing economic development.

For these reasons, many of the neighborhood groups who had put so much work into drafting the Neighborhood Plan objected strenuously to Darrow Corners and the Plan Commission unanimously recommended that the HODC planned development be denied.

Still, there was hand-wringing and soul- searching and a valiant effort on the part of Alderman Delores Holmes to find a compromise that would bring the opposing neighbors and the developer together. In the end, the "free money" made it impossible to reach any substantive compromise, as the requirements for use of LIHTC financing are numerous and intractable.

There could be no commercial space using this financing unless the entire proposal was resubmitted, carving out space on the first floor that would be built with some other financing.

There could be no ownership units in the building for 15 years, a daunting waiting period for a person of limited means to begin building equity.

And finally, the developer would not alter the plan to either reduce the number of units or to increase the number of parking spaces to be in compliance with Evanston's zoning requirements because, once more, a change – any change – would scrap the existing application for LIHTC funds. HODC did not wish to restart the process, and I can't say that I blame them.

But the neighbors who had worked so hard on a plan for their community deserved the courtesy of an honest give-and-take dialogue. The intoxicating, reserved $6.5 million precluded that exchange.

Throughout the process, Alderman Delores Holmes has been a tireless and honest broker. From the start, her intention was to bring a development that would allow her struggling neighbors to remain in the Fifth Ward; that development changed with alterations of available real estate and then became cemented in LIHTC financing.

In response to the vocal opposition that resulted, she held countless meetings with neighborhood groups, listening openly to their concerns, and in the eleventh hour, hosted another five meetings of the Planning and Development Subcommittee to seek agreement.

She has earned the respect and support of her constituents and has energized the community to work together for economic development and diverse housing options.

We also recognize the courage and leadership of the five aldermen who voted to adopt the Plan Commission's recommendation to deny this proposal.

It is never easy to turn down an affordable-housing development; especially one that has drawn such scrutiny. But they respected the difficult, messy process that brought us this far.

They recognized that we cannot ask for citizen participation if we are then prepared to ignore their work.

They, too, deserve our thanks and respect.
--Muffy McAuley