Latest news with #EnvisionEvanston2045
Chicago Tribune
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Evanston mayor breaks tie to OK appointee to Land Use Commission
New City Council members made it close, but not impossible, for Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss to cast a tie-breaking vote to approve his appointee to the city's Land Use Commission. The commission is currently charged with giving final approval for Envision Evanston 2045, an initiative that would increase density that Biss has strongly supported. Councilmembers Tom Suffredin (6th), Clare Kelly (1st), Parielle Davis (7th) and Matt Rodgers (8th) voted 'no' to Lutheran Grace Church Lead Pastor Luke Harris joining the Land Use Commission. Councilmembers Shawn Iles (3rd), Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th), Bobby Burns (5th) and Juan Geracaris (9th) voted to approve the mayor's pick. In Evanston, the mayor is responsible for appointing members to the city's Boards, Commissions and Committees. Those appointees are then voted on by the City Council, and need a simple majority of votes to join a board. Before casting their votes, city councilmembers gave their opinion on their vote. 'I have never had the privilege of being able to be underqualified for a position. I've never gotten a position over someone else who had higher credentials, and so I'll say that this is a soft spot for me,' Davis said. 'Quite frankly, I find this appointment to some degree insulting,' she said, because of Harris' lack of experience compared to other applicants to the commission. Previously, Biss allowed former Commissioner George Halik's term to expire in order to create a vacancy on the Land Use Commission. Biss also attempted to appoint to the commission an affordable housing expert who specializes in low income housing tax credits, but the appointee was met with significant pushback following the discovery of her social media posts that critics said were ageist and biased in favor of making Evanston more dense. Iles, the Overnight Shelter Director for Interfaith Action of Evanston, was under fire by some public commenters and Kelly who speculated that because of his employment and Lutheran Grace Church's ties to Interfaith Action, he could not cast an impartial vote to approve Harris to the Land Use Commission. Iles checked with Corporation Counsel Alexandra Ruggie to ask whether his vote would meet the city's standard of a conflict of interest. Ruggie said Iles' vote would not be considered a conflict of interest under the city's ethics code. 'It's just not there,' Ruggie said. 'It's just too far removed.' Lutheran Grace Church is one of 40 churches that provide funding to Interfaith Action, but a large portion of funding comes from individual donors, Iles said. Iles commented, 'He (Harris) has direct experience with affordable housing. I find him to be a passionate, informed, thoughtful member of our community. I think he can serve us well both as a younger person and as a renter,' he said. Rodgers said prior to the meeting, he met with Harris over coffee to discuss his interest in being on the commission. 'I was impressed with his commitment to affordable housing in Evanston, and making sure it's some place that people can move to and live.' 'However, I do have a number of reservations about his overall qualifications for this position,' he continued. 'Outside of recommending for the comprehensive general plan and the zoning ordinance, affordable housing is a very small part of what Land Use does.' 'I mentioned to the mayor in my letter to him that if Mr. Harris was nominated to (the) Housing and Community Development (Committee), I would be 100% supportive of that. I think that's a great place for them to do the work they are interested in doing and accomplishing great things for Evanston,' Rodgers said. Burns commented on the city's form of council-manager government, which some on the council have described as a 'weak mayor' government because the mayor does not vote or make motions, and does not typically give their opinion on agenda items during a council meeting. 'The one area where the mayor does have some influence, and obviously what you're seeing here today still needs to be confirmed by this council, is appoint people to BCC's (Boards, Commissions and Committees),' Burns said. 'In my opinion, that is the way a mayor with a limited influence in this form of government can try to think about how to compose a BCC in a way that helps to deliver on the things that he told his constituents in the community were important to him, important to them, etc.,' he said. 'I don't think there's anything improper with that. That's just to me the way that it works when you have that ability as a mayor,' Burns said. 'As council, up here, we have to use our own lens whether or not we feel we agree with that composition.'
Chicago Tribune
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss touts safety, future density, in State of the City address
Hours before announcing his bid for U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky's seat in next year's election, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss touted Evanston's accomplishments and aspirations, from a proposal for greater density to more informed police responses, at a standing-room-only State of the City address on Wednesday. It was his first such address after winning about 63% of the vote in last month's mayoral election. The address, held at Evanston Space, brought in over 100 people to the city-sponsored event. Biss said it has been two years since the city has seen a murder, a feat not accomplished since the 1970s, and pushed for more affordable housing in Evanston, while taking shots against President Donald Trump. In his next four years as mayor–which could be curtailed if he wins the Congressional election — Biss will continue his efforts to lead and pass Envision Evanston 2045, an effort which updates the city's zoning code and serves as its comprehensive plan for the next 20 years. It has received a mix of support and criticism from Evanston residents when it comes to constructing bigger buildings and increasing density throughout Evanston. Biss will also need to balance the next year's budget without American Rescue Plan Act funding from the federal government after the Covid-era dollars ran out. Some city leaders noted, after Biss announced his run for Congress, that campaigning will take a significant amount of the mayor's time and energy, and they wondered aloud where that would leave Evanston. Biss touted the achievements of the Crisis Alternative Response Evanston (C.A.R.E) team, whose members have the training to respond to mental health and non-violent 911 calls. The team went through training at Oakton College last summer and has since responded to over 1,500 calls, Biss said. 'It's been a game changer in this community,' Biss said, adding it has opened lines of communication in Evanston for trust to be established. In April, the Evanston Police Department was selected the 2025 Illinois Crisis Intervention Team Department of the Year by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training & Standards Board. Prior to that, Evanston Police Chief Schenita Stewart was awarded Police Chief of the Year by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. 'More important than any prize or any word or any speech is that violent crime has plummeted in the city of Evanston,' Biss said. 'These changes are making a difference.' Biss then spoke about Trump, whose administration attempted to cut federal funds to Evanston and other municipalities, he said, but was blocked by a federal judge from doing so. 'The administration in Washington is terrifying people across Evanston… It's making the management of city government much harder — as we don't know what we're going to find out tomorrow about missing revenues.' 'In Evanston, we believe in fighting back. We believe in fighting back in any way we can. Before Donald Trump even took office on January 20, we had passed the strongest Welcoming City Ordinance in the state, possibly even in the country, to ensure that we are not doing anything to collaborate with or assist civil immigration enforcement that is counter to our community's values.' Biss said the city must ready itself for potential threats to federal grants, but also remain on course to implement innovative programs such as the C.A.R.E. team. 'This brings me to one of the main live topics that exists in our city government right now, which is Envision Evanston 2045: A hard issue, a complicated issue, an issue that has all kinds of nuance and all kinds of tactical components and all kinds of subtlety and all kinds of intense emotional balance,' Biss said. Biss repeated pillars of the comprehensive plan: to allow for more housing in Evanston, to create more housing in Evanston and to implement sustainable practices in Evanston in alignment with the city's Healthy Business Ordinance. 'There is a lot of good that will come in this, but it's hard work, and it's complicated and it's contentious, and there have been tough conversations.' 'My message to the community is very simple,' Biss said. 'We have to stay in these conversations. We have to welcome every voice to the table. We have to make sure that every point of view is represented and heard… We cannot accept the idea that it's too hard, it's too controversial… We're just going to ultimately back down.' 'We have to remember who we are. As Evanston, we see society's toughest challenges, we study society's toughest challenges and then we do what we can to address society's toughest challenges.' He cited an example from Evanston's history when Connections for the Homeless was formed in 1984. With a lack of support from municipal leaders to house the homeless, Biss said faith leaders took it upon themselves to use their houses of worship as shelters. 'The city said, 'Great idea. Too bad about the zoning,'' Biss said. 'A familiar sentence, that turns out.' Faith leaders found a loophole then, Biss said. 'The zoning did not permit a shelter. The zoning also did not prohibit an all-night prayer vigil. And how about one tomorrow night? How about the night after that? And how about the night after?'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Evanston voters re-elect Daniel Biss as mayor, per unofficial results
Evanston voters appear to want to keep the momentum going on a number of issues in the city, including Ryan Field, reparations, Envision Evanston and others, by retaining the incumbent mayor, unofficial Cook County Clerk's office election results show. Mayor Daniel Biss declared victory over challenger Jeff Boarini after unofficial results showed he had captured about 60% of the vote to about 40% for Boarini. 'I want to thank Jeff for running, for giving the community a choice, for making points and bringing forward issues that I think we'll all be better off for having discussed together,' Biss said to his supporters at an election-night campaign gathering. With 100% of Evanston's precincts tabulated in the April 1 election, unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk's office show incumbent Evanston Council Members Clare Kelly, Krissie Harris, Bobby Burns, Jonathan Nieuwsma and Juan Geracaris leading in their races. City Councilmember Devon Reid (8th) was the only incumbent to be losing Tuesday night, unofficial results show, to former Evanston Land Use Commission Chair Matt Rodgers. City Councilmember Tom Suffredin was showing about a 9% lead over his challenger Candance Chow for the hotly contested 6th ward race, unofficial results showed. Newcomers Shawn Iles and Parielle Davis were also in the lead for open seats in the 3rd and 7th wards, respectively. In his next term, Biss will face big issues in Evanston, including charting the future of the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, continuing to oversee Ryan Field and dealing with a K-8 school district, Evanston-Skokie District 65, in dire financial straits. The next City Council's first big items will include the consideration of Envision Evanston, the city's comprehensive 20-year plan and an updated zoning code, which received heavy pushback from Evanston residents in the months leading into the election. Previously, Biss campaigned hard for the Envision Evanston plan, but the city had to dramatically slow the pace of the project due to dissenting voices. 'Envision Evanston 2045 was a tough issue in this campaign,' Biss said. 'To those who are concerned about some of the changes we've been discussing, I hear you. I respect you. I appreciate that your voice is just as critical as every other voice, and that's why we slowed this down. That's why we created opportunities for more discussion and more engagement.' 'I need to say that every voice counts equally and so to those of you, or those maybe not in this room, who would say, 'Hey, nobody is asking for this,' I say simply, 'you are wrong.'' 'You don't know my friend, Katie, who, when you ask her how she feels about Evanston, she says, 'The thing I love best is the new bagel shop in my neighborhood, and I just want more people so there can be more customers for more small businesses like that,'' Biss said. 'And you don't know the couple whose door I knocked on a couple months ago in the Fourth Ward who are way too busy with their multiple jobs and their small child to even really be paying attention to municipal politics at all. 'But when I ask them what's on their mind, they said, you know, we live in this two-unit building, and it was so hard for us to find something like this in this town… Could you do something so we could have more of those in this town?' Biss, a former state representative and state senator, has maintained that he will not seek higher office during his next term as Evanston mayor.
Chicago Tribune
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Evanston voters re-elect Daniel Biss as mayor, per unofficial results
Evanston voters appear to want to keep the momentum going on a number of issues in the city, including Ryan Field, reparations, Envision Evanston and others, by retaining the incumbent mayor, unofficial Cook County Clerk's office election results show. Mayor Daniel Biss declared victory over challenger Jeff Boarini after unofficial results showed he had captured about 60% of the vote to about 40% for Boarini. 'I want to thank Jeff for running, for giving the community a choice, for making points and bringing forward issues that I think we'll all be better off for having discussed together,' Biss said to his supporters at an election-night campaign gathering. With 100% of Evanston's precincts tabulated in the April 1 election, unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk's office show incumbent Evanston Council Members Clare Kelly, Krissie Harris, Bobby Burns, Jonathan Nieuwsma and Juan Geracaris leading in their races. City Councilmember Devon Reid (8th) was the only incumbent to be losing Tuesday night, unofficial results show, to former Evanston Land Use Commission Chair Matt Rodgers. City Councilmember Tom Suffredin was showing about a 9% lead over his challenger Candance Chow for the hotly contested 6th ward race, unofficial results showed. Newcomers Shawn Iles and Parielle Davis were also in the lead for open seats in the 3rd and 7th wards, respectively. In his next term, Biss will face big issues in Evanston, including charting the future of the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, continuing to oversee Ryan Field and dealing with a K-8 school district, Evanston-Skokie District 65, in dire financial straits. The next City Council's first big items will include the consideration of Envision Evanston, the city's comprehensive 20-year plan and an updated zoning code, which received heavy pushback from Evanston residents in the months leading into the election. Previously, Biss campaigned hard for the Envision Evanston plan, but the city had to dramatically slow the pace of the project due to dissenting voices. 'Envision Evanston 2045 was a tough issue in this campaign,' Biss said. 'To those who are concerned about some of the changes we've been discussing, I hear you. I respect you. I appreciate that your voice is just as critical as every other voice, and that's why we slowed this down. That's why we created opportunities for more discussion and more engagement.' 'I need to say that every voice counts equally and so to those of you, or those maybe not in this room, who would say, 'Hey, nobody is asking for this,' I say simply, 'you are wrong.'' 'You don't know my friend, Katie, who, when you ask her how she feels about Evanston, she says, 'The thing I love best is the new bagel shop in my neighborhood, and I just want more people so there can be more customers for more small businesses like that,'' Biss said. 'And you don't know the couple whose door I knocked on a couple months ago in the Fourth Ward who are way too busy with their multiple jobs and their small child to even really be paying attention to municipal politics at all. 'But when I ask them what's on their mind, they said, you know, we live in this two-unit building, and it was so hard for us to find something like this in this town… Could you do something so we could have more of those in this town?' Biss, a former state representative and state senator, has maintained that he will not seek higher office during his next term as Evanston mayor.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Evanston candidates push back against proposal for increased density, Envision Evanston
Candidates for Evanston mayor and City Council debated what the next four years, and the next 20 years, should look like in the city at a forum hosted at the former site of Second Church of Christ on Feb. 9. The city's proposal for a new zoning ordinance, called Envision Evanston, quickly emerged as a lightning-rod topic for the candidates. The zoning proposal would permit increased density in the city, even outside the downtown, according to previous reporting. At the forum, most candidates balked at a proposal to allow four-unit buildings to be built on lots currently designated for single-family homes. That provision is outlined in Envision Evanston 2045, for which the timeline for implementation has recently been dramatically extended. In the April 1 election, all but one of the seats on the City Council is being contested, and challenger Jeff Boarini is taking on incumbent Mayor Daniel Biss for the mayoral seat. The Envision Evanston proposal has turned into a political talking point for many of the candidates vying for a seat on the City Council, as some residents have protested its proposals to increase housing density. At the forum, 8th Ward City Councilmember Devon Reid was the sole candidate to publicly advocate for more housing to be built in that ward. During the portion of the forum dedicated to mayoral candidates, Boarini threw political punches at Biss's record in his opening remarks. 'I'm running because Evanston deserves a mayor who focuses solely on Evanston and is not focused on his next political job,' Boarini said, perhaps poking at Biss's previous roles as a state senator and representative, as well his bid for governor in 2018. Boarini also referenced the emergency evacuation of elderly Black residents from an apartment complex that left 24 without a permanent home after the city's inspectors deemed the property unsafe to live in. 'How do you justify your silence on that, and what can Black residents and other residents believe in your leadership to protect them from displacement?' Boarini asked. Biss said, 'Those buildings were not unsafe because of anything the city did, but they were, unfortunately, so unsafe the city had to take action to keep the residents safe.' 'This is an unimaginable situation that the residents are being put through, and so we have a responsibility to do what we can to help them,' Biss added. 'We've provided a lot of support, rental assistance for two years for most residents, moving costs, storage costs, working with Connections for the Homeless and other entities across the community to help the residents being displaced find other housing, most of them in Evanston. And so this situation was created by a third party that's not part of the city.' For his question, Biss took a lighter note. 'What's your favorite thing to do in Evanston on a Sunday afternoon?' Biss asked Boarini. 'It would be take a nap,' Boarini said, adding in other leisurely activities. In regards to Envision Evanston, Boarini said the city should have taken more time than the year-long campaign for Envision Evanston so far. He also took a jab at Biss for his comments to another Evanston news publication, when he told it in December that it was 'immoral' to extend Envision Evanston's timeline. 'You have to get all the right people into the room at the beginning of any project, and that's how you achieve success, particularly the people who might object to what you're doing,' Boarini said when asked how he would implement Envision Evanston. 'Everyone who is a stakeholder must be involved, and so that's where I would have begun the process.' Biss said his comments to the other publication were 'stupid' and they 'generated a headline that left an impression that I really regret.' Biss fleshed out his comments at the forum: 'It's a mistake to go too fast because we need to get it right, because it's complicated, because there's a lot of different neighborhoods in Northwestern (sic), I mean Evanston, including some near Northwestern, where there's certain considerations, and others where there aren't. And each of those neighborhoods needs to have a different set of eyes on this,' Biss said. 'At the same time, it's a mistake to go too slow… what we're trying to achieve here is important,' Biss continued. 'I want an Evanston where District 65 teachers can afford to live, where our police officers, our civil servants, our nurses who work in the hospital, can afford to live. And that requires dealing with our affordability crisis across all income levels, and it requires a diversity of types of housing stock.' The comprehensive plan also has language in it to help the city achieve its climate goals, revitalize downtown and to freeze or lower property taxes, Biss said. City Council seats Candidates for City Council seats, with the exception of 9th Ward City Councilmember Juan Geracaris, who is in the only uncontested race, also took questions on Envision Evanston. In the 1st Ward, City Councilmember Clare Kelly is running for re-election against Stephen Hackney. Kelly has previously spoken against Envision Evanston's process as being 'rushed and reckless.' In the 2nd Ward, incumbent City Councilmember Krissie Harris is facing off against Jacqueline Mendoza and Darlene Cannon. In the 3rd Ward, current City Councilmember Melissa Wynne is not running for re-election. Three candidates, Gennifer Geer, John Kennedy and Shawn Iles are competing for that seat. Iles did not attend the forum. In the 4th ward, incumbent City Councilmember Jonathan Nieuwsma is running unopposed on the ballot, but resident Margaret Welch is running a write-in campaign. 'We need to try something different downtown,' Welch said of booming developments which could greatly increase density to Evanston. 'I moved to Evanston because I wanted to live in a suburb.' 'It's not a dog whistle to say you want to live in a suburb,' Welch continued. 'I happen to know a Black woman who told me once that (they) grew up here and said, 'We don't go south (of) Howard (Street).' It's a little less dense, it's a little less noisy, it's a little more safe.' Nieuwsma said downtown Evanston is heading in the right direction, and cited vacancy numbers from before and after the pandemic. 'I think encouraging residential development downtown is one very important thing we can do to bring back some vitality to our downtown,' he said. In the 5th ward, candidates Carlis Sutton and incumbent Bobby Burns spoke about the incoming Foster School, affordable housing, and the emergency removal of residents from an apartment complex at 2018 Wesley Avenue. In the 6th Ward, candidate Candance Chow is challenging incumbent City Councilmember Tom Suffredin. The two did not speak to each other in a single session as the other candidates had, however, because of scheduling conflicts. Unlike much of Evanston, the sixth ward does not have a Metra or CTA Purple Line 'L' train station stop. Suffredin said that should be taken into consideration when the city considers developments involving parking lots, as much of the ward's residents drive. 'It's critical that the needs of areas of Evanston like Northwest Evanston are considered because it's unrealistic for people up here to be dependent on transit and be able to do all the things that people do in their cars,' Suffredin said. In the 7th Ward, City Councilmember Eleanor Revelle is not seeking re-election. Parielle Davis and Kerry Alexander Mundy Williams are running against each other for the seat. Mundy Williams said single-family homeowners felt blindsided by Envision Evanston and its zoning proposal. 'I think there are places where we can add density, but they need to be looked at very seriously. And I think that the single family homeowners who chose that lifestyle and pay property taxes and worked hard to buy their homes deserve to be heard when they say that they don't want something else happening in their neighborhood,' Mundy Williams said. For a potential removal of single family zoning, Davis said the city should adopt that policy with the particular needs that Evanston has. '(Zoning) decisions impact what we have the property taxes to do with regards to affordable housing, but also what we can do with regards to transportation and making public transit more accessible,' Davis said. In the 8th Ward, City Councilmember Devon Reid is running against the former chair of the city's Land Use Commission, Matt Rodgers. Rodgers did not attend the forum. 'Unlike my colleagues on the north end of town, they (business owners) are actually calling for more density,' Reid said. 'They want to see more housing units along Howard Street, because they know that the more people that live on Howard Street, and the more that we can diversify the income demographics of our area, the more that their businesses will be supported, the better that Howard Street will be, the safer Howard Street will be.' Still, Reid was skeptical as to whether an overhaul of the entire city's zoning code would be the 'panacea and the cure for all our affordable housing issues.'
