continued

Mayor Vetoes Affordable Housing Ordinance, Recommends Impact Fees

Together the two mandated that 10 percent of the units in all new developments of more than 25 units had to be affordable.Thirty percent of those affordable units had to be built on site. The developer had the option of building the remaining units in another part of the City or contributing to the City's affordable housing fund.

Mayor Morton said the ordinance had the potential to be a "spiral of hazards," would "create more problems than it solved" and could "result in unrealistic expectations among the people for whom we want to provide avenues for home ownership." She also said the ordinance would add expense and another layer of administration to the City" and would "limit the number of qualified citizens who could be accommodated at any point in time."

The Mayor enumerated Evanston efforts and accomplishments in the area of affordable housing: The City has twice the 10 percent mandated by the state, including 800 housing voucher (formerly called Section 8) units. Several funds are available to develop affordable housing - Community Development Block Grants, the Mayor's Special Housing Fund and HOME funds.

In addition, private organizations such as Evanston Housing Coalition, Reba Place Fellowship, Evanston Community Development Association and Housing Opportunity Development Corporation already have developed affordable housing in Evanston.

In support of her veto, Mayor Morton said a report prepared by Valerie Kretchmer and Associates "did not fully support" the ordinance. For these reasons, she said, and others not stated, she vetoed the ordinance.

Nonetheless, she said, "Every member of this Council - and that includes the Mayor - is committed, totally committed, to affordable housing."

Mayor Morton recommended instead that Council implement development impact fees on new construction of 15 units or more. She thought this avenue would be more procedurally straightforward and would provide more opportunities for ownership of affordable homes in all parts of the City. It also would "provide a stream of income for posterity," said the Mayor.

Alderman Cheryl Wollin, 1st Ward, referred the issue of affordable housing back to the Planning and Development Committee.

She, along with Aldermen Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 2nd Ward, and Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, expressed disappointment at the Mayor's veto of the ordinance, which had taken about five years to craft and bring to Council.

Ald. Jean-Baptiste said, "We have to find some way to move forward."

"Madame Mayor, I am profoundly disappointed in your veto," said Ald. Moran. He also said he did not believe the Kretchmer report validated her veto. Stressing the need for affordable housing so that different types of people can remain here or move here, he said, "We have to keep Evanston, Evanston."

Ald. Wollin said she was discouraged by the veto and did not think that impact fees would solve the problem.

"We've done a study of the feasibility of impact fees. We need them, but I don't think this is the route to go," she said.

She agreed with the Mayor's enumeration of funding sources and programs but did not believe they were sufficient.

"Evanston does more and maybe Evanston cares more, but we can't sit back on our laurels and say it's done. We used to have about 25 percent affordable housing here, but now it's about 19 percent.... I am not willing to give up on the issue."

continued

Will Aldermen Refuse the Refuse Charge?

But Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, said that was like "comparing apples to coconuts," because the other communities are served by private haulers.

Those charges, she suggested, probably represent the entire cost of the trash-hauling service, while Evanston's fee is designed to only cover a quarter of the cost, with the rest coming from general tax revenue.

City Manager Julia Carroll and Public Works Director David Jennings were unable to provide an immediate answer to the question of whether the other communities use tax revenue to subsidize the trash-hauling fee.

The $15.80 rate in Oak Park, for example, would represent a 20-percent savings over the estimated total cost of Evanston's service, if it is not supplemented with tax funds.

Ms. Carroll has estimated that Evanston's sanitation costs are about 11 percent higher than those in neighboring communities, and she has pledged to develop a plan to reduce those costs over the next year.

Ald. Rainey also suggested that the City simply stop collecting yard waste to eliminate the $498,000 cost of that seasonal service.

"We have to have garbage pickup. We have to have recycling, because it saves money by reducing the solid waste stream," she said.

"We don't have to have yard waste collection. People can compost it - leave it where it is," she added. "Tell people there are six private companies out there they can contract with if they just have to have their yard waste taken away. Feel free. But I don't think the City should spend money on this."

Civic Center Petition Drive Well Under Way

The first gathering of petitions by Friends of the Civic Center netted a total of about 1,300 names. The committee seeks to gather enough signatures - slightly more than 1,800, according to the City Clerk's office - to have a referendum question about saving the Civic Center placed on the April 17 ballot. The question is "Shall the Evanston City government remain in the current Civic Center, located at 2100 Ridge Ave.?" The question is advisory only; that is, even if it were to pass, it would not mandate any action by City Council.

However, the committee members believe, it would give a picture of where Evanston voters stand on the matter. Almost two years ago City Council voted to relocate the City's government headquarters from the present building at 2100 Ridge Ave. Even though there are some new aldermen on the Council at present, the matter has not come up for another vote. Although no site has been identified, the City is looking at two sites downtown - the library parking lot and the lot where the farmers market is held in the summer and fall - and at a site on Emerson Street between Ashland and Darrow avenues. Friends of the Civic Center is an ad-hoc committee whose members include design professionals, architects, preservationists, Mayor Lorraine Morton, former Mayor Jay Lytle and other concerned citizens. They hope to convince the Council to renovate the existing building. While Council members say they believe it would be less costly to build a new building, committee members dispute Council's figures. The Civic Center Committee, composed of all nine aldermen, met in executive session on Jan. 10. Afterward, Alderman Delores Holmes, 5th Ward, said the committee had reached no decisions.

Plan Commission Approves West Side Plan

By Bill Smith

The Plan Commission has unanimously approved west side plan documents prepared by two consulting firms despite concerns about housing costs, building design and park land.

The Jan. 10 vote sends the overall plan to the City Council's Planning and Development Committee for further review, while the detail work of reviewing zoning changes will fall to the Plan Commission's Zoning Committee.

Commissioner Larry Widmayer, attending his last meeting as a full voting member of the commission after two terms on the panel, said he is concerned about the impact of City requirements for new streets and affordable housing on the cost of the new homes.

"We have a target price point in the plan for townhouses of between $350,000 and $400,000," Mr. Widmayer said. "If you add the cost of selling one unit in ten for $200,000, then the market-rate units are $425,000."

"If the developer has to pay the cost of streets, they quite quickly become $500,000 units," he added, "and that dramatically changes the target buyer."

Planning director Dennis Marino said the City does want to carry out redevelopment of the old industrial area in a way that makes it economically feasible, but has not made a formal commitment to pay for the cost of new streets.

Commissioner Albert Hunter said neighbors who participated in the planning process had very strongly favored establishing a traditional street grid in the area.

Mr. Hunter, who was succeeded as commission chairman by James Woods at the meeting, added he feared the street-grid goal might be lost as individual parcels are developed.

But Mr. Marino said the recommendations are intended to see that that problem does not occur.

Commissioner David Doetsch said he thought townhomes proposed in the plan needed bigger front porches to encourage people to sit out and talk to their neighbors, as a way of enhancing security by putting more "eyes on the street."

But Leslie Oberholtzer of Farr Associates said the consultants wanted to be careful not to "be the architects" for the area and "allow some freedom and breadth" for the designs.

She said the plans call for many traditional neighborhood features - including eliminating front driveways by having auto access off rear alleys, requiring that front entrances face the street rather than an interior side yard and requiring a specified percentage of glass on the street-facing facades - so people will be able to look out their windows at what is going on in the neighborhood.

She said the area's existing homes have a mix of small stoops and full porches and that the planners would have further discussion with a focus group of residents about design details before recommending detailed zoning rules.

The plans cover the area along the former Mayfair rail corridor from Simpson Street south to Lake Street.

Mr. Hunter said he hoped the desire of residents at the south end of that area to have it preserved as an open, natural space can be met.

"We're dealing with the French versus the English conception of nature here," Mr. Hunter said. "The French want a finely manicured park. The English want a wild garden. If all this area was leveled and flattened with an eight-foot wide asphalt path, it could be boring compared to the environment that's there now."

Commissioner David Galloway said he also would encourage development of that area as "wild, or informal, parkland."

Mr. Marino said the plan does call for the land in question to be park space.

He said City planning staff members have met with parks and recreation department officials who hope to see more parkland in the area, but that those goals are constrained by the reality that reserving more land for parks would increase development costs - and the price of the new homes.

ECF Announces New Green Communities Fund

Eleanor Revelle and Ellen Galland

A "green fund" has been created at Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) in honor of Eleanor Revelle, immediate past ECF board chair.

The Green Communities Fund, created last fall, will encourage individual, organization, institutional and community actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or otherwise conserve the Earth's resources, thereby contributing to a healthier environment. Local green architect Ellen Galland helped establish the fund.

"Our first step will be to set priorities to determine how best to use the funds to help Evanston become a greener community," said Ms. Revelle. "Ellen and I are contacting people from a variety of issue areas to talk about the environmental challenge Evanston faces and how we as individuals and a community can address those and reduce our carbon footprint."

"The fund will make it possible for local not-for-profits to further energy efficiency in their buildings, operations and lifestyles," said Ms. Galland. As an example, she said, "A day-care center could apply for a grant to get an energy audit. Then they could find out such things as where and how much to insulate, or whether to replace windows to make the building more energy-efficient."

Education is another field where Ms. Revelle sees an opportunity for the Green Communities Fund to make a difference. "People can become more aware of what they're doing, both at the individual and the organizational levels," she said.

In the coming weeks Ms. Revelle and Ms. Galland will convene small focus groups of "local experts and concerned citizens who have something to offer along these lines - energy, green building, planning, transportation and science education," said Ms. Galland.

These conversations will help determine how the funds will be used, she added.

"The Foundation is pleased with the creation of this fund and the community interest that it is generating. Because the Foundation has done very little funding of environmental projects in its first 20 years, we have a great deal to learn about how we can best support the work of making Evanston a greener community. The plan to convene focus groups will accelerate the learning process," said ECF executive director Sara Schastok.

The initial endowment of $35,000 may be considered seed money, as only 4 or 5 percent will go toward grants. Additional funds are welcome; contributions may be sent to Community Foundation, 1007 Church St., Evanston, IL 60201. Anyone wishing to learn more about the Green Communities Fund may contact ECF at 847-492-0990 or at green@evanstonforever.org.

EEA Pays Off Ecology Center Addition

Last month members of the Evanston Environmental Association presented the City Council with a final check to pay for the addition to the Ecology Center.

Pictured left to right are Jean Esch, Mayor Lorraine Morton, Marti Bjornson, EEA president Elizabeth O'Connor, Gordon Guth and Jan Weeks. Photo courtesy of Evanston Environmental Association

Evanston Remembers Martin Luther King Jr.:The Legacy and the Man

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Clarence Page spoke of Dr. King's relevance to today's problems. Photos by Claire Bryant

In speech, song and drama, residents of Evanston honored Martin Luther King Jr. over the long holiday weekend. Dr. King would have been 78 on Jan. 15, the day most of the celebrations took place.

At Northwestern University, at Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, at various schools and in a diversity walk between the Music Institute of Chicago and Second Baptist Church, people remembered the man, his vision and his legacy.

Haven Middle School students, working with drama teacher Betsy Quinn and Northwestern University students, presented "It's Up to Us," a drama about civil rights efforts in Evanston. At Fleetwood-Jourdain, Bennett Johnson, activist and long-time leader of the Evanston/North Shore branch of the NAACP was the featured speaker at the annual celebration, held this year on Jan. 14.

Clarence Page, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and Chicago Tribune columnist was the keynote speaker at noon, and Harry Lennix, in the evening, at two of Northwestern University's events.

Mr. Page, quoting liberally from many of Dr. King's speeches, described the progression of Dr. King's vision from desegregation to economic justice. "There was more to Dr. King than desegregating buses. He sought economic justice, and he sought to liberate the mind," said Mr. Page.

He spoke of the amazement, shock, anger and backlash when Dr. King expanded his work of justice to include the economic inequities and the "unjust" war the country was waging at the time in Viet Nam - where poor black youth were sent "to secure liberties they themselves could not enjoy at home."

Northwestern alumnus Harry Lennix, who gave the keynote speech at the Alpha Phi Alpha candlelight vigil, urged NU students to make their voices heard on issues of social justice.

Further back in time but closer to home were two speeches, remembered last week, that Dr. King gave in Evanston.

Dr. King spoke at Beth Emet the Free Synagogue just two days before his 29th birthday, on Jan. 13, 1958. His speech was an exhortation to agapic love and nonviolence.

Agape, the Greek concept of love of mankind, Dr. King said, would act as "redemptive good will for all men." He predicted a time when desegregation would give way to "real integration ... when men come together spiritually."

In 1958 in segregated Evanston, Dr. King said, "... [W]e are on the threshold of the most constructive periods in our nation's history. ...Civil rights is not some ephemeral domestic issue but an eternal moral issue that may determine the destiny of our nation as we struggle with Communism."

On nonviolence, Dr. King said, "Meet hate with love. ... Meet physical force with soul force. ... Love [those who oppose you] because God loves them. ... Do not hate the person who does the evil deed, but hate the evil deed he does."

The speech was played again at Beth Emet on Jan. 12.

Last week as Northwestern University held an all-day commemoration of Dr. King's legacy and accomplishments, Mayor Lorraine Morton referred to Dr. King's speech at Northwestern on March 14, 1965.

"He referred to the three dimensions of life - length, breadth and height," said Mayor Morton; "We all have a length of life, and it is our right and our responsibility to discover our life's work. ..." The breadth of life is in caring for others, and the height, Dr. King said, is "to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart.

He said the complete life is when the length, breadth and height are equal," said Mayor Morton, adding that Dr. King said, "'We must do a little job in a big way - an ordinary job in an extraordinary way.'"

Evanston Symphony Orchestra and Three Crowns Park

By Chris Cascarano

Penelope Sachs, left, of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra; Sian Stevens, center, of Three Crowns Park, and Cathy Carr of ESO stand under the banner that shows Three Crowns's sponsorship of ESO's upcoming concert. Photo by Chris Cascarano

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra will be having a concert Feb. 4. The event will be sponsored by Three Crowns Parks and will celebrate classical romantic tragedies.

"It is a great opportunity to reach into the community," said Sian Stevens, Marketing Director for Three Crowns Park.

Evanston Symphony Orchestra's Music Director, Lawrence Eckerling, will lead the program titled "Classy Lovers." The program will feature Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Joliet" and Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story"

The event gives both organizations opportunities to benefit, said Penelope Sachs, executive director of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra.

Three Crowns Parks will have an opportunity to present their new independent living facility and the Evanston Symphony Orchestra will be provided funding, she said.

Edward Aaron will also perform at the concert. He will perform the "Rococo Variations" by Tchaikovsky, for cello and orchestra, and "Meditations from Mass" by Bernstein, also for solo cello and orchestra.

Mr. Aaron is the nephew of Evanston Symphony Orchestra's concertmaster, Julian Aaron, and pianist Susan Aaron and has also worked with acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

In collaboration with the "Classy Lovers," the Evanston Symphony Orchestra will be displaying children's artwork inspired by the music for "Play Me A Picture, Paint Me A Tune," a progran active since 1996. The Children's work will be displayed at Evanston's Public Library and Blick Art Materials in downtown Evanston.

The Evanston Symphony Orchestra is a community-based organization that meets once a week and performs five concerts a year and celebrated their sixtieth anniversary last year.

The concert will be held at the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive. The concert will begin at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $5 for students. Call 847-864-8804 or visit www.evanstonsymphony.org.

Surge of Horns Shows Support for Anti-War Rally

By Mary Helt Gavin

From left, Reva Denlow, Karen Vroegh, Maureen Sheehy and Dorothy Lloyd-Still begin to light their candles at surge rally on Jan. 11.

Evanston was one of hundreds of places across the nation where voices and signs were raised in opposition to President George W. Bush's proposed surge of troops into Iraq.

Police estimated that about 400 persons lined Ridge Avenue north and south of Church Street, holding signs and candles, occasionally chanting antiwar slogans. The real noise came from the streets, as nearly every vehicle on Church Street or Ridge Avenue sounded a horn in support of the rally.

Signs read "Who will pay for Bush's lies?," "Bring the Troops Home Now," "War Is Not an Option," "No Blank Check" and "Don't Get Bushwhacked;" and "No More War" was often heard echoing over the Ridge Avenue traffic.

The tone of the vigil was solemn, coming on the heels of vigils that had marked the 3,000th U.S. death in the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq.

There was a marked difference in the make-up of this crowd from many of the vigils and rallies held in Evanston over the few years: While the baby boomers, many of whom protested the Viet Nam war, were still highly represented, persons who appeared to be in their 30s and 40s and families with young children were more apparent at his vigil than at some held at Fountain Square.

Even before the president's speech on Jan. 10, when he announced his intention to increase troops in Iraq, plans were made for these vigils and rallies. National and local peace and justice groups nationally, such asMove-on, United for Peace and Justice, CodePink, True Majority and the local North ShoreCoalition for Peace and Justice (NSCPJ)called for people to come out to the streets and stand together. The invitation from NSCPJ read, "to say 'NO' to the proposed surge in troops in Iraq. Please join us in Evanston as we again stand together in a visual expression of opposition to this unending war."

In response to a question about how he, as a veteran of the Viet Nam conflict, felt about the anti-war protests, Chief Nilsson praised the NSCPJ coordinators for their notice and cooperation, "Dickelle [Fonda, one of the NSCPJ founders] called me and said they would be here. This is so much better than the 60s, when protestors would show up and then police would show up and things would happen.

"The police are here for two reasons: to protect the people - we don't want anyone falling off the [steep] wall [on the west side of Ridge Avenue] into traffic - and to protect people's Constitutional right to express themselves," Mr. Nilsson said.

NSCPJ coordinated vigils in other North Shore communities as well as the Evanston one, hoping to urge "Congressman Mark Kirk and Senators Dick Durbin and BarackObama to stop President Bush's escalation of the Iraq War and to thank Representative JanSchakowsky for her strong opposition to any escalation."

Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Durbin and Mr. Obama have all issued statements opposing the escalation of troops in Iraq.