Members of the Associated Student Government chided aldermen at Monday’s Evanston City Council meeting for not considering student rights, as aldermen introduced a map to redraw the city’s wards that could be approved Nov. 24.
At the Nov. 3 meeting of the Rules Committee — composed of all nine aldermen — the committee selected a map proposed to the City Council by Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) that kept students in two wards and maintained the traditional black majorities in the Second and Fifth wards.
ASG members originally joined the redistricting process when Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) proposed a map that would have divided the on-campus student vote among three wards — the First, Second and Seventh. The on-campus student vote is currently divided between the First and Seventh wards.
The selected map keeps on-campus students in the same two wards but shifts approximately 550 of these students from the First Ward to the Seventh.
Most of the students at Monday’s meeting blamed aldermen for not considering students’ concerns when making their decisions on redistricting.
“While students are not a protected class, at the same time we have issues,” said Weinberg sophomore David Kim, a senator for 1835 Hinman dorm.
Communication junior Matt Hall said he was particularly angered by comments made by Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) at the Rules Committee meeting about not wanting a student alderman on the council.
“I think that’s reprehensible,” said Hall, ASG’s secretary/parliamentarian and member of the Executive Board. “I think that’s wrong.”
Alds. Edmund Moran (6th) and Ann Rainey (8th) were the two members of the committee to vote against the selected map.
At Monday’s City Council meeting, Moran again expressed his support for considering students’ rights and said students are probably “the most homogenous community of interest” in Evanston.
Moran said he thought the council was acting too hastily in moving forward on the selected map.
“This is a particular low point in terms of the democratic process as it is manifested by the City of Evanston,” he said.
Newman said although he appreciated the students’ comments, the views were not necessarily the concerns of the entire student body. He also said many of the people supporting the students were residents who voted against him in the 2001 municipal elections.
“There’s a lot of people who are making speeches on the student concern that are more concerned about electing another First Ward alderman,” Newman said.
He also called on NU administrators to increase the number of officers on the University Police force in light of the recent attacks on students on and off campus. Newman said administrators should address this problem in any way possible.
“The top two administrators (at NU) are getting paid $500,000 a year,” he said. “If you simply paid those two top employees $400,000, they could spend it on a bigger police force.”
In other business, the council delayed voting on a proposal that would increase the natural gas tax paid by businesses and residents who do not use Nicor Inc. Currently those who use Nicor are taxed at a higher rate than those who use other providers.
Rainey said she supported the gas measure because it would bring the amount businesses pay more in line with that paid by residents of single-family home.
But Ald. Gene Feldman (9th) said he wanted to know how the increase would affect businesses before he made up his mind on the issue.
The city’s Administration and Public Works Committee will discuss the issue again at its next meeting Nov. 24.
The Planning and Development Committee also discussed a possible ordinance that would create licenses for all landlords in the city. For properties that had repeated violations, these licenses could ultimately be revoked.
The committee also heard residents’ comments about possible rezoning of the land Kendall College occupies and delayed a decision on a proposed condominium development at 801 Chicago Ave.
