When Weinberg freshman Madhuri Kommareddi received a phone call to meet Ald. Arthur Newman (1st), she jumped at the chance.
She was not a Newman supporter at the time, but after talking with him she was impressed by his knowledge about the city issues. As she learned more, Kommareddi became more involved and is now working to get Newman re-elected.
“If students made an effort to learn about the issues, many more students would be pro-Newman,” Kommareddi said.
During Newman’s previous terms, he has created 300,000 new square feet of office space in downtown Evanston, restored the Chandler building, lobbied for the new Dominick’s Finer Foods Inc. on Dempster Street and Dodge Avenue, kept Dave’s Italian Kitchen and Pineyard in business, improved Evanston’s parks, been influential in the public library and Target, and has continuously worked to improve Evanston-Northwestern relations. He also worked to ensure that el stations would remain open after proposals were received to close one of them down.
Newman points to the new Century Theatres as one of his biggest accomplishments for citizens and Northwestern students. He spearheaded the project for the current cinema, which sits in the Research Park. A new hotel and office buildings will be coming soon. Newman said he was a chief negotiator in these development projects.
Since 1991, Newman has put himself in the middle of Evanston politics, always making his opinions heard. If re-elected, Newman plans to focus on issues such as increased lighting on Sheridan Road, completing the Northwestern/Evanston Research Park and bringing more entertainment downtown.
But during his three terms on city council, Newman’s tactics have gathered vocal critics as well as loyal supporters.
Constituents such as Nicola Beisel, an associate professor of sociology at NU, warn that Newman should not be given total credit for the movie theater project. She points to NU and Evanston as the major figures responsible for attracting the theater project.
Kommareddi, however, said that Newman was a key factor in getting the foot patrol around the Evanston area and increasing student safety.
During his current term, Newman has further faced conflict with the Northeast Evanston Historic District. Newman supported making a large area west of Sheridan Road a historic district, which would prevent new construction on that property. Northwestern administrators objected because the district prevents the university from building along Sheridan Road.
“I feel like I’ve been very fair to Northwestern,” Newman said. “There are almost no zoning restrictions east of Sheridan Road. We’ve basically said east of Sheridan Road you can do what you want.”
Newman says he is standing up for the citizens of Evanston, but some people believe he is not considering their best interests.
“The university has offered the city $100 million to build and the city could greatly benefit from this,” Beisel said. “Newman is against the building west of Sheridan because he is representing his neighbors rather than the city as a whole.”
But Newman has worked against intrusions from big neighbors in the past. In November 1987, he was a lawyer in a case against St. Francis Hospital to stop the hospital from building a helipad. Residents disliked the prospect of noisy choppers flying overhead frequently. When the project was halted, Newman gained popularity among many residents.
Others question Newman’s tactics and the way he handles his role as alderman. He has a strained relationship with key public officials; Mayor Lorraine Morton said she endorsed Prof. Allan Drebin because her relationship with Newman is too hostile.
In response to the mayor’s choice to back Drebin, Newman said, “Mayor Morton is only good at cutting the ribbon.” Newman said he is not concerned about Morton’s endorsement choice because she has not chosen to endorse him in the past, but he has still won.
Beisel said the people on favorable terms with Newman often are the ones who benefit from his policies.
“Newman is a dictator in our city,” she said. “He is making a career by getting Evanston residents against the university. Rules should apply equally to all people and should not be based on whatever Newman makes them.”
Newman said conflict with administrators should not translate to conflict with students. In the past, Newman said he followed student opinion to stop NU from building in the green space outside Foster-Walker Complex. (Administrators dispute that they planned to build there.)
“I understand what it is like to be in college,” Newman said. “I was student body president and I sold beer at Wrigley Field for 10 years and worked to get through college.”
Newman supporters have accused his opponent of having a conflict of interest because he is a professor at NU’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
“Drebin never went to a city council meeting and did not show any interest in Evanston politics before running for this position,” Kommareddi said. “I believe Newman is running because he has a true love for Evanston.”
Decades of experience give Newman significant political advantage, but his political career did not begin on the Evanston City Council. His inspiration for politics came very early in his life when at age 11, he met former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. During his college years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Newman served as president of the student body from 1976 to 1977. After college, Newman attended Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology.
During his 19 years of practicing law, he mainly represented children in family law cases. In the years before his election, Newman served as chairman of the housing commission. Newman lives on Sherman Avenue. He has two sons and a daughter.
“Newman’s experience is unparalleled,” Kommareddi said. “Drebin is an unknown in the political world.”
Newman and his supporters feel the issue boils down to experience.
“I’ve put three touchdowns on the scoreboard already,” Newman said bluntly. “What has Drebin ever done for the student body?”
Daily staffer Ryan M. Daniels contributed to this report.
