Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) urged Associated Student Government senators on Wednesday to consider his 10 years of service to Evanston when voting in the April 3 municipal elections.
However, Newman said he realizes his opponent, Kellogg Prof. Allan Drebin, could have an advantage on campus because of his closer contact with students.
“I can’t make myself a Northwestern professor,” Newman said. “But if people choose to vote on the issues instead of by association, I think I’ll be all right. I’ve spent thousands of hours working on solving problems for my constituents.”
In a speech and question-and-answer session that lasted about an hour, Newman addressed the many disagreements the council has had with NU’s administration.
For example, he said, NU refused to meet with a movie theater company in 1995 that wanted to possibly build a theater on university land at the Northwestern/Evanston Research Park.
“Because of this, I started the public debate on whether Evanston should have a movie theater in downtown,” he said. “I thought it was one thing we could do to improve the quality of life for constituents and NU students. Today, I consider the movie theater a tremendous success.”
One of Newman’s main topics Wednesday was parking for NU students. He said he strongly supports building a new parking garage for students and blamed administrators for not yet erecting one on the lot abutting Engelhart Hall, 1915 Maple Ave.
He also said all on-campus students should be able to make emergency calls directly to the Evanston fire and police departments as well as to University Police.
“Students ought to have the same service from the fire department as every other citizen,” he said. “Instead of going through campus services, they should be connected directly to the city.”
Newman also mentioned instances when he has worked with NU, such as building the Fiedler Hillel Center on Foster Street and expanding police presence on Clark Street.
“I have been effective on these issues,” he said. “I have been responsive and concerned about the well-being of NU students.”
ASG President Adam Humann, who works for Drebin’s campaign and invited Newman to speak at the meeting, said many of Newman’s statements were misleading.
“I agree 100 percent with Alderman Newman that the university needs to address parking,” said Humann, a Weinberg senior. “However, many of the other things he said were inconsistent. He implied that NU has no emergency number, which is not true. He takes credit for the movie theater, but he wasn’t the only one pushing for it on the council.”
Humann also said he was disappointed that Newman didn’t directly address the Northeast Evanston Historic District and the proposed head tax, which would require businesses with more than 1,000 employees to pay a $10-per-worker tax.
“It is one of the major things that will harm students, and he specifically did not talk about it,” Humann said.
City Council tabled the proposal Monday, ending discussion on the issue until next year’s budget meetings.
Fraternity Sen. Matt Aldeman said it was “tough for Newman to make a positive impression on students because the portrait that has been painted of him is so negative.”
“I would expect someone who has been on City Council for 10 years to have done some positive things for students,” said Aldeman, a McCormick sophomore. “The movie theaters are definitely an improvement for downtown.”
Bobb-McCulloch Sen. Stewart Lynn said Newman discussed too many examples from the early 1990s.
“Tensions (between the university and city) have grown a lot more heated since that time,” said Lynn, a Weinberg freshman. “I feel he dodged a lot of controversial questions, and history reflects that he works against the university.”
But Newman told students he has been “supporting and devoting his time to them for years.”
“We are all in this together,” he said. “I want to develop the best community we can possibly have.”
