EDITORIAL

Transparency in City Government

City Manager Julia Carroll recently tightened her grip on City employees by mandating that she be notified whenever they speak to the press. She says they may tell her beforehand or afterward, but says as CEO of the City of Evanston she feels she is accountable for "whatever is out there" and thus she needs to know what City employees are saying. In some instances she has insisted on being present at the interview.

As City Manager, Ms. Carroll is fully within her rights to do this. A check with the Illinois Attorney General's office and a Constitutional scholar, plus our own reading of the most recent Supreme Court case on the matter, support her authority for the crackdown.

Nonetheless, we believe it is bad policy.

A policy like this chills the dissemination to the public of information concerning the City's affairs. We have been told that some employees are afraid of retribution if they talk. They are circumspect and limit what they say, sometimes saying they cannot discuss certain subjects. Some think the safer course is to say nothing at all.

The policy restricts and has the effect of censoring and sanitizing information provided to the public. It clouds the transparency of City government. It creates mistrust.

Allen Schoenberger, a constitutional law professor at Loyola University, said the policy is "outrageous" for "a progressive city like Evanston."

Don Craven, the attorney for the Illinois Press Association, said in reference to this policy, "It diminishes the flow of information from the public body to the public. ... When all information comes through one source, that's when bad things start to happen."

Evanston has traditionally cherished public input and public participation in governmental affairs, and Evanstonians have demanded transparency in government. It is, after all, the people's government.

Especially troubling is that these restrictions have been imposed at a time when our City is facing many challenges and many important decisions concerning its future: The City is considering a downtown plan; City Council is considering a proposal for a 38-story tower development in the downtown; aldermen are considering whether to rehab the existing Civic Center or to build a new one at costs pegged at about $50 million; the City is considering how to address on a long-term basis unfunded liabilities of $140 million in its police and firefighter pensions. Rather than circling the wagons, the City should promote the free flow of information.

These are matters that will affect all of us for decades to come. The restrictions also coincide with a huge turnover in the City's administrative staff. By the end of this month, more than 30 employees, including 11 in senior management position will have taken early retirement or resigned in about a 15-month period.

This raises further concerns about what is happening to our City government.

As a first step in trying to restore openness and transparency to City government, City Council should ask the City Manager to rescind her policy toward City employees' interaction with the media.

Civil or Not, Here I Come

By Peggy Tarr

If you haven't already read Charles Wilkinson's article, "The Speech," in the April 2 RoundTable, I encourage you to do so. Charles calmly writes about Senator Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

On April 4 our country (for the most part) honored the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated (murdered) on that date in 1968. Dr. King's quest was for equality for all (that is, equal rights regardless of those traits that categorize people like race, age, gender, national origin).

Without doubt, our country has come a long way in achieving equality since those turbulent days of the sixties, as witnessed by the number of "categorized" people in upper management jobs and government positions and certainly by a "categorized" man becoming a viable presidential candidate.

Obviously, I have not stood in Rev. Wright's shoes, and I have never heard a complete sermon by him. But I do know how frustrating life as a "categorized" person can be -- the constant abuse, the constant insults, the constant assumption that one is (supposed to be) too stupid to recognize the abuse, insults and unequal treatment.

I understand the resulting anger. Fortunately, until the media stepped in, Rev. Wright had an outlet for his anger by putting it into words before his congregation. Unfortunately, for too many, their anger is taken out on family members or people on the street. As an African-American, I can assure you that every day I am the victim of abuse or bear witness to other "categorized" people being abused (victimized). I am fortunate enough to have other outlets for my anger and frustration, which includes writing about it, complaining about it, or being able to pay for counseling.

Several definitions are given for the word civil: "Of citizens in their ordinary capacity, or of the ordinary life and affairs of citizens, as distinguished from military and ecclesiastical life and affairs. Of or pertaining to civil law; relating to private rights. Of social order or organized government. Adhering to the norms of polite social intercourse. "

The truth may hurt, but when it comes to unequal rights in America: "Veni, Vidi ..." but not yet "Vici."
*"Veni, Vidi, Vici" (Latin, "I came, I saw, I conquered." (Julius Caesar's report to the Roman Senate of a victory)

A Piece of One's Mind

By Charles Wilkinson

In less than seven months, the die will be cast. At present, not even the stars above know who will be voicing the Presidential Inaugural Oath come January 2009. Between now and Election Day, November 4, masses of media will continue to assault the sense, common and uncommon, of every American who has even the slightest care for the future of our nation and our world.

Though by now the rhetoric of the parties and their candidates is solidly predictable, the wise voter should keep an open mind in the months remaining. The way this presidential race is going, anything can happen - and probably will.

In simpler times, the party conventions took care of the sorting-through process, often behind closed doors, in power clusters of delegates determined by the primaries. But the explosion and omnipresence of the media changed all that. Party conventions have become rubber-stamp rituals certifying and touting the winners of year-long -- and getting longer -- popularity contests. Seems like the first Tuesday in November is becoming more and more like the finale of a combined "American Idol"/"Survivor" show.

To offset the circus of talking heads, editorial and op/ed declaimers, and the e-mail trash from laughers and loonies, I have established three criteria to help me decide how I will vote come November:

• To look for someone I can trust to consistently voice my concerns to the nation-at-large and specifically to its lawmakers
• To listen seriously only to those who respect my mind (which I hold open) and my values (which I hold dear)
• To try to send someone to Washington who knows how it works since change can never happen otherwise

While recognizing the differences between parties and the importance of their conventions' platforms, I ultimately vote person, not party. I need a president who deserves my respect and honors in some small way my ideals; and I continue to believe many others are like me in that regard.

A vote is a precious thing. Determining where it goes should not be a last-minute, what-the-heck kind of decision. That can happen when one makes the mistake that a vote is about the candidates and what they profess. Partly true, perhaps, but the most powerful vote is about self and what one believes. In a democracy, every voice deserves to be heard, not as an echo of someone else's mind but as a piece of one's own.

Letters to the Editor

Evanston Cannot Be Everything
Editor:

In Gordon Peters' April 2 letter to the editor, among other items, he is happy the library branches were not closed and regrets that each budget cycle closing the libraries is considered.

Each person has pet projects and expenditures, but Evanston must wake up to reality.

Our taxes keep going up and pushing people out of the market and the City - keeping a mixed-income economy is a priority for some that will thus probably go by the wayside.

Decisions have to be made. We can't be "all things to all people" and not pay a steep price:

• a university town,
• a mixed-income community,
• a retirement community,
• a sanctuary community,
• a community having halfway houses,
• a place for retired folks and yuppies,and on and on.

People will have to decide if they want to have multiple libraries or take public transportation to a well-stocked library (I bet the children prefer the Main Library to the North or South branches);

• to treat for elm disease and ash borer;
• to have community art festivals;
• to have (hideous) public art; brick paved sidewalks downtown (and the constant repair);
• to keep out large merchants;
• to kill off large businesses and all manufacturing;
• to tie up citizens' time with endless zoning meetings over properties for neighbors wanting to keep development (read: even slightly lower incomes) out;
• to spend money and time fighting Northwestern (maybe if NU can build such an endowment and run such a big corporation, we should get them to run the City, or at least take over the endless consulting contracts);
• to have two school districts (hasn't helped the schools much has it?), ... and cling to probably 1,001 more "priorities" and "must haves."
Children think everything is free; adults should know better.
- John Fuqua

City Mismanages Taxpayer Dollars
Editor:

Two items in recent issues of the RoundTable struck me as emblematic of why Evanston's government and management are constantly scrambling to find fines and fees to fill the fiscal hole they have dug for us.

1: Our City Council has commissioned a $384,925 makeover of Fountain Square to be completed by Memorial Day. At the same time, the plan to re-develop that same area moves inexorably forward; though the developer's plan has caused nothing but conflict, it will almost certainly be implemented in some form. What, exactly, is the point of the City's throwing almost $400,000 away on a redo that will itself be redone in short order?

2: The City is advertising for a human resources assistant to "provide routine support, including: mail, phones, reception, bill payments, file mgmt., payroll, testing/training and interview scheduling."

The annual salary range is $45,845-$56,394. This seems a mighty high price to pay for an entry-level position whose only requirement is an "associates [degree] and/or equivalent of 2-3 years administrative support experience."

In a year when the City Council has raised taxes to bail the City out of a shortfall in pension funds that never should have occurred in the first place, these two actions seem emblematic of the City's gratuitous mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.
-- Nancy Ethiel

Thanks Early Childhood Professionals
Editor:

We would like to thank all early childhood professionals for the important work they do to support the children and families in this community. Without the dedication and support of child care and early learning teachers and providers, parents would not be able to have the peace of mind that their children are being cared for in a safe, loving and appropriate environment.

From May 4 though 10, teachers and providers across the country are being recognized for their dedication to the children in their care. The years from birth through age 8 are a crucial stage for learning - they lay the foundation for children's success in school and beyond. Childcare Network of Evanston acknowledges the work that early childhood professionals do to create early learning environments for children.

It takes a committed person to be successful in the demanding world of today's early childhood professional. This is a good time to recognize something we should remember all year: If we want our children to succeed in school, we need to support the teachers and providers that give them a great start on learning.

In Evanston, we recognize and commend your unselfish dedication, compassion and strong family values that are demonstrated through your work everyday. From 6 to 8 p.m. on May 6 all Evanston early childhood professionals are invited to "Pamper Yourself" at Family Focus, 2010 Dewey Ave. For more information call 847-475-7070, ext. 26.
-- Martha Arntson, Executive Director, Childcare Network of Evanston

Tower
Editor:

How tall will a tall tower tower
If the tall tower can tower tall?
How bad is a bad Council counsel
If a bad council counsels at all?

-- Robert Bagby

Son of Skyscraper
Editor:

Many Evanstonians have spent money, time and energy demonstrating their conviction that a downtown skyscraper is not in the best interest of our City. At the March 24 Planning and Development meeting, the developers, knowing that they did not have enough votes to get their project approved, asked for two weeks to make changes to the skyscraper.

The aldermen generously allowed for a continuance, giving the developers time to re-group and provide a more acceptable project. Several aldermen warned them that they could not come back with just a shorter building. Nevertheless, at the April 8 meeting, the developers did just that -- they came back with a 38-story skyscraper (plus two stories of additional height) and with almost nothing else changed.

Although the building is less tall (by 22 percent), the skyscraper is now wider, meaning that in terms of volume (# of units), we have basically an identically large, tall structure. The developers, therefore, blatantly ignored concerns about traffic, parking, pollution, demands on City services, etc. Even more galling, the developers also completely disregarded the concerns of several aldermen (and many residents), who stipulated clearly to the developers that they needed to come back with a project that would provide public benefits and would serve the City as an economic engine.

Incredibly enough, and showing a high degree of arrogance, the developers offered another skyscraper devoid of public benefit, with almost the same retail space, and with no office space. The aldermen had offered the developers the luxury of a continuance, a burden to the residents and the City, yet they came back with practically the same thing.

The result is that we now have to spend more long, weekday nights making the same arguments, wasting our time, wasting the City's resources.

In the end, I hope that the Council does the right thing by voting on the side of residents who have demonstrated tremendous commitment to preserving the unique character of Evanston. In the future, however, we need to ensure that our City government works in a more responsible and accountable manner so that we don't have to fight the same battles over and over again.
-- Peter Sanchez

Evanston Has a Local Bank
Editor:

At the last City Council meeting Mayor Lorraine Morton asked why a local Evanston bank could not provide financial services to the City rather than giving such work to banks outside the City, most of which are not headquartered in Illinois, much less Evanston.

I believe there is only one "local" bank in Evanston, the First Bank and Trust with four banking offices within the city, the most recent one newly opened on Main Street, and another in Skokie. First Bank and Trust was formed by three bankers - two of whom came from banks in Evanston, State National Bank and First Illinois Bank, both banks since absorbed by Chase Morgan Bank

When First Bank and Trust was formed with local Evanston investors some years ago, it took space in the incubator in the Research Park, where it joined a lot of other small, growing companies. During this time it raised local capital and created a board of directors that reads like an Evanston "Who's Who?" After two years it opened up its doors at 820 Church St. in a building it subsequently purchased.

In these past 10 years of operation First Bank and Trust has offered discounted mortgages to first-time Evanston home buyers and provided grants to numerous non-profit organizations, including the Evanston Community Development Corporation, a local group that is trying to revitalize Evanston's west side.

The bank has also sponsored many downtown and Evanston events including free entertainment, and is always the first to put money into the pot when a community issue needs private sector financing. Its free pumpkins on Halloween have enlivened many children's parties in less fortunate areas of the City, and its employees give freely of their time to many organizations and causes.

I bring this to the attention of RoundTable readers because the City of Evanston is currently seeking a bank to handle most City financial business.

As I recall, there has long been a City policy of "Buy Evanston First," specifically approved by the City Council to award city business to local Evanston business owners if possible. Most bids that come from vendors or contractors to do City work are carefully screened to see if Evanston companies are involved, or if Evanston residents will be employed. If these vendors are Evanston businesses or plan to hire Evanston workers, they are given an edge in selection - as it should be.

"Buy Evanston" is good public policy - it employs Evanston residents, supports Evanston businesses and keeps local money mixing within the community instead of it being shipped out to some corporate office in Ohio.

I would like to see the City give First Bank and Trust of Evanston a close look when it is time to evaluate bank bids for the city's financial business. One thing we have learned about local banks: What money goes into a local bank tends to stay in that bank's city or neighborhood.

The first rule of good economic development is to increase private investment in a community. What better way to leverage our economic development efforts than by giving City business to Evanston companies and institutions -- like First Bank and Trust -- and other local companies that hire our citizens and pay our taxes.
-- Ron Kysiak, Evanston Inventure

Disclosure: First Bank and Trust is one of 13 private and public sector members of Evanston Inventure. First Bank and Trust also holds my mortgage and my bank accounts.

Tower's Shadow Would Erase Chicago Border
Editor:

In reading the many editorials and articles in the RoundTable, and speaking with many friends who live in Evanston about the direction the City is taking in the creation of the "skyscraper/condominium" glut in the downtown, I thought it interesting to look back at Evanston's history to see where we have come from and where we might be going.

I quote a short section of "Evanston History" that is published by the Evanston Library: "In 1874, Evanston expanded by annexing North Evanston, and then South Evanston in 1892. Yet, even as Evanston grew, it was threatened by the even greater growth of Chicago. Urban sprawl almost swallowed Evanston, but the smaller city was determined to preserve its independence, and by 1904 had on three occasions rejected annexation to Chicago."

Yes indeed, Evanston did in fact reject the annexation to Chicago. Until now. Living in Evanston since 1965 -- my husband since 1952 -- we have seen many changes in Evanston, some good and some bad.

The most recent explosion of downtown Evanston has been not only disappointing in its over-development of high rises, but unsettling as well. With the new "tower" of nearly 50 stories being developed (or 40, depending on the whims of the developers), I have to admit ... yes, Chicago finally got its way. We will have finally become "swallowed" by Chicago. I have heard a variety of statements from many friends and neighbors: "If I wanted to move to Chicago, I would have" or, "Whatever happened to the quaint town I moved to?" or, "Remember when we had nice shops to go to?" Yes, whatever happened to the town we all moved to?

It is obvious that the City Council has a vision of the future for Evanston. I am not sure it is the same vision of its constituents. As the "Evanston History" states, "The city developed to accommodate the people's needs." My question is this: Does this tower meet the needs of the people of Evanston?
-- Pam and Jim Elesh

Accelerated Inaction by D65 Leaders
Editor:

It is ironic that, at the April 7 District 65 School Board meeting, the first two items on the agenda were the African-Centered Curriculum and the report from the Differentiation Committee.

The African-Centered Curriculum is a program for K-3 students. It will now be extended through fifth grade though the School Board and Superintendent Murphy unanimously agreed that there has been no assessment of the performance of the program. The greatest evidence of success of this program came from a parent who movingly described how it empowered her child.

Other parents have equally movingly cried out for programs for their high-achieving student. Yet there are no such accelerated programs in D65. In that same School Board room, I have heard parents speak with passion about their gifted child. Yet there is an utter lack of programs for gifted children.

After a six-month study, and a 100-plus-page report, only six sentences weakly propose to "support" acceleration and "celebrate" the gifted child. There will be no programs to serve these children, which the same report states comprise over one-third of children in our District. Other programs are begun and expanded with no assessment, but when it comes to acceleration and gifted programs, there are only studies, reports and talk of more studies and reports.

Superintendent Murphy spoke of changing the "culture" in our schools as the path forward. If there is a culture that needs to be changed, it is the culture of inaction on the part of the School Board and Superintendent. Only when that culture changes will we have a curriculum centered on the needs of all our children.
--Seth Lichter

Tower Is Symbol of Greed
Editor:

We need a massive condominium development in the heart of downtown Evanston like we need a hole in the head or cancer - even if it's less than the height of a skyscraper.

The developers, Focus Development and Klutznick-Fisher, are showing no special sensitivity to Evanstonians by presenting us with a shortened version of their monster project.

Contrary to their assertion that they "understand Evanston," all public opinion that I've seen in the local press, and everything that I've heard from people, has been overwhelmingly opposed to it.

This development team has their eye solely on their anticipated bank account, not the needs of Evanstonians. Only a fool would think otherwise.

I respect the needs of our City Council to find a way to pay the City's bills, but at the same time I'm fully convinced that there have got to be better ways than with monstrous, ugly buildings like this - in the heart of our downtown, no less.

I'm pleased to read, for example, that the City may seek legislative help for its pension funding issues - that's thinking outside the box - and is considering other alternatives.

If more creativity and thoughtfulness were put into choices of revenue streams - revenue streams that don't rob Peter to pay Paul - we wouldn't have to be staring at these horrible options of "towers."

How do other cities around the country comparable to Evanston raise revenue without compromising their city's integrity, charm or character?

Maybe our City Council members could get some ideas from them.

Maybe there are some professionals in our community reading this who could offer some suggestions to the City Council for more appropriate revenue streams.

I love Evanston and wouldn't have lived here for 13 years if I didn't. And our City government has to be doing a lot right for me to say that.

I have praises for Evanston up and down, which is why I'm so concerned about the direction the City is going in if you look at the big picture developing over recent years.

I see clearly a metamorphosis of Evanston into a city that may not be able to be called by that name; a metamorphosis that's taking it backward not forward, and the tower represents a powerful juncture. Evanston is trendy and popular, and developers keep swooping down on it with voracious appetites to build large condominium projects.

Their appetite seems endless, and if it keeps getting fed, I think we're putting nails, one by one, into the coffin of the Evanston we all knew - the once charming city - and turning it into a city that might be called a "Developers' Haven." One full of massive condominium projects, but not charm, and maybe not people any longer either.

If you haven't already done so, I urge all readers to contact their alderman to vote "No" on the Tower.
--Michael Zucker

Bag the Bags
Editor:

In my walks around town, I've noticed more and more folks are not only forgetting about the Evanston recycling rule that plastic bags are not to be put in the bins, they are carefully putting recyclables in plastic bags and tying them up. I would say the percentage of bins I see with plastic bags in them is reaching 40 percent or more.

This growing practice amazingly goes without any notices sent from the City to residents, though it effectively turns recycling into garbage. Here's why:

In the process of recovering recyclables, Groot, the City's recycling company, first dumps everything into a pit. It is then scooped up with front loaders and placed on conveyor belts that use various means to separate the materials.

Magnets are used, vibration is used, blowing air is used. None of these techniques can get through a plastic bag and no recycling company, Groot included, can afford to pay employees to open plastic bags and take out the contents. So, guess where the plastic bagged stuff goes?

In addition, plastic bags jam machinery that can shut down a production line until the jam is removed. Newspapers wrapped in plastic bags should be removed from those bags before being put in your bin.

You can see this process in action by visiting www.groot.com and clicking on the video link "What Groot Industries Means to You."

An easy-to-remember rule is that no plastic without a recycling number on it should go into the bin. Bags, sheeting, bubble-wrap, packing, peanuts, and styrofoam are all to be thrown in the garbage, or, in the case of plastic grocery bags, taken back to the grocery for recycling.

It's vital that recyclables be left loose in the curbside bins or placed into paper bags that are open so the contents can spill out easily. There should be no food residue on any recyclables. Without food residue, squirrels are not a problem.
--Clif Brown

Reality Check Needed on Cost of a New Civic Center
Editor:

It's hard to believe that only a few years ago members of the Civic Center Committee were talking of a brand new city hall that would cost taxpayers "little or nothing."

It sounded too good to be true back then. Now the $48 million reality has been dropped in our laps.

But even that price tag doesn't reflect the true cost of a new building. It presupposes that the City won't have to build a new parking garage because 400 spaces will be available in existing garages.

Perhaps they will, or perhaps not, and we'll have to face the reality of a few more million dollars in construction costs.

And then there's the reality behind the Civic Center TIF, which makes the cost of a new city hall appear $13-$14 million cheaper. But the TIF takes away much- needed money from our schools for the next 23 years.

Either our children will have to pay the price or we will, through another property tax increase.

The reality is that we won't know the true cost of a new city hall until all of the bills come due and it's too late. Now is the time to stand up and give the City Council a reality check.
-- Eric Diekhans

What's Happening to Evanston?
Editor:

Condos. This loaded word has been hanging heavy with emotion and controversy in the Evanston air for years now. It's hard to go anywhere or converse with any Evanstonian without hearing talk about the development epidemic that has overtaken our City.

In fact, condos are only the tip of the iceberg. All kinds of new structures are sprouting up like tulips in the spring.

But why? When did Evanston forfeit her traditional, small-town feel and become the hot spot for condominiums and a Mecca for business and entertainment?

On the surface, the answer is simple. When asked about Evanston's urban growth spurt, Alderwoman Cheryl Wollin simply answered, "People want to be here. People want to move here. People want to build here."

Well put. But in the spirit of the age-old "chicken or the egg" debate, are they building to accommodate more people, or are more people coming to accommodate the buildings?

Is there really a demand for a 50-story skyscraper to reshape our skyline? I asked this to Ms. Wollin.

"Well, we live in a capitalist society," she chuckled.

However, our alderperson may be forgetting that although America may be capitalist, this is Evanston. People here aren't afraid to argue their opinions.

More development would benefit our economy. However, some claims need clearing up regarding the extent of this potential profit: Claims that the 708 Church tower is capable of bringing in millions in tax revenue are false. An accurate estimate of revenue, after the building is completely occupied and assessed, ranges from $400,000 to $500,000.

And there's no way of knowing how many people will actually purchase one of these luxury condominiums.

As in the case of the 1700 Central St. development, they might not at all. Developers recently had to request a building extension from City Council because the expected number of pre-construction buyers was alarmingly low. (This explains the gaping empty lot at the site.)

The bottom line is that our quaint little town is growing up. Evanston has always had her own identity; we're not just a "Chicago suburb" like so many of our neighbors.

This urban boom has only defined that identity further. Is it possible to embrace our new-found popularity, while still maintaining our historic charm? Of course.

Ultimately, Evanston's fate is up to you. It is crucial for Evanstonians to stay informed on the development issues in Evanston.

If we don't voice our opinions, developers will have the freedom to build whatever makes them the most profit (and chances are that will be a mammoth skyscraper or something with brightly colored balconies). America may be capitalist, but more importantly it's a democracy.

Read local newspapers, and stop in at a few City Council meetings.

You have no right to complain about anything that gets built, torn down, or remodeled unless you've gotten involved. And with endless opportunities available, you have no excuse not to be.

After all, you live in Evanston, so have an opinion.
-- Emily Krochmal