Evanston resident Peggy Tarr, a candidate for Fourth Ward alderman in the April 3 elections, filed a complaint with the city’s Board of Ethics against her opponent in the race, Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th).
Tarr said she mailed the complaint April 2 to avoid any accusations that she might be motivated by the election’s outcome. Bernstein said the charges amount to “sour grapes after losing.”
In her complaint, Tarr charges Bernstein with making slanderous remarks and challenging her First Amendment rights, as well as charges based on a dispute between Tarr and Bernstein last fall.
Bernstein denied Tarr’s accusations.
Tarr’s complaint calls for Bernstein to attend courses in sensitivity training. Tarr said she hoped the class would be taught by someone outside of the city’s staff.
The quarrel between Tarr and Bernstein stems from a mural that was painted on the north wall of the Metra underpass on Greenleaf Street.
Both Linda Dean and Louis Cutler presented their ideas for the work before the Public Arts Committee last fall. When Dean was awarded the job, Tarr said she vowed to file a complaint saying Bernstein and the director of Evanston’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation Department helped Dean bypass the committee. Tarr said Bernstein showed preferential treatment in selecting the mural’s artist.
Bernstein denied showing any such treatment and said he had no influence over the commission.
Dean said Bernstein had nothing to do with the painting; Metra granted her the authority to paint the mural on the underpass and the committee agreed to the picture.
Tarr’s complaint also follows up on problems she had with Bernstein’s involvement with Nichols Neighbors, a neighborhood group with which Tarr and Bernstein were both involved.
Tarr said Nichols Neighbors’ bylaws prohibit the group from having any political affiliation, but Bernstein said the group could meet at the Democratic Party of Evanston Headquarters.
Bernstein called the charges “garbage,” and said the complaint “was not really subject matter the board can address.”
Tarr’s complaint includes remarks that date back to November 1998. Most recently, Tarr said Bernstein accused her of making anti-Semitic remarks and his wife accused Tarr of distributing anti-Semitic literature.
Also, Tarr said Bernstein acted inappropriately by criticizing remarks she made before the city council on behalf of the neighborhood group in November 1999. Tarr said Bernstein’s harassment of her speech violates her right to free speech. Bernstein said he never participated in the group as an alderman, but only as a concerned neighbor.
Bernstein strongly denied all of Tarr’s claims and called her accusations unfounded.
Bernstein has the option to address the complaints with a letter to the board or an appearance at its next meeting. Bernstein said he likely will address the board himself.
“I don’t think it justifies my time to sit down and write something,” Bernstein said.
