ASG senators will listen to brief speeches and ask questions to the potential aldermen, who will represent parts of North Campus including Sargent Hall, Bobb-McCulloch Hall and the fraternity quads.
Incumbent Ald. Stephen Engelman said he has worked for 10 years to improve Northwestern-Evanston relations because he believes his student constituents will benefit from closer interaction.
“While the actual students change, the issues that confront the students don’t change,” he said. “As long as you’re here and as long as you’re part of my ward, I need to be sensitive to your needs.”
Engelman also said he wants to spend the next four years revamping the Central Street area by adding entertainment venues for live music, theater and second-run movies.
Seventh Ward candidate Karl Gromelski also will address students tonight. He said Evanston’s problem is that it mismanages its money and then blames NU for not contributing enough to the city. Gromelski said City Council should start working with NU faculty to improve investment and financial planning strategies.
“Northwestern has some of the sharpest minds in the country, and these minds could help us solve these problems,” he said. “They can help us with their brainpower – it doesn’t have to be their wallet.”
A third candidate visiting NU today is Howard Levin, who said he wants NU to start giving $14.5 million a year to the city. He said the money would make students’ lives better by improving the quality of Evanston’s services.
“It would be better for (students) if the city had enough money to fix the roads and if the fire department could properly respond to calls from campus,” he said.
The final candidate, Junad Rizki, said he has not done much research into the demographics of his ward.
“To be honest, I didn’t know there were many students in the ward,” he said.
Rizki said students did not have as much invested in Evanston as other residents.
“(Students) are going to be here for four years – then they are going to leave,” he said. “(They) are not going to buy a house here.”
But Rizki said he looked forward to listening to students’ concerns.
ASG President Adam Humann said the candidates’ desire to speak to the Senate showed how important the student vote will be in the April 3 municipal elections.
The ASG Senate heard First Ward candidates Allan Drebin and Arthur Newman on Jan. 24 and Jan. 31, respectively. Senators will vote to support one of them in the first meeting of Spring Quarter, Humann said.
Humann said he did not know enough about Seventh Ward politics to support a candidate but that the Senate might still decide to support a candidate.
