Evanston City Council delayed approving a map Monday that would reconfigure Evanston’s nine wards, as aldermen heeded a request for more time to make amendments to the chosen map.
After Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) proposed map amendments to meet the requests of Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) and others, Rainey said Monday she realized she might have made “some terrible mistake.”
Bernstein said last week that the amendments were designed so that Rainey, who voted against the original map from the Nov. 3 Rules Committee meeting, would support the plan. Rainey first took issue with the proposal because she said it broke up traditional neighborhoods in her ward.
Though Rainey worked with Bernstein last week to get these residents back in the ward, she said she was not completely satisfied.
“I would like to take another look at my ward,” she said. “I promise, on Girl Scout’s honor, that I will vote for the resulting map.”
Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) also voted against the map originally, but the motivation he expressed differed from Rainey’s.
Moran said he disagreed with the politics of the redistricting process and with the dilution of the Northwestern student vote. He said the public was not involved enough in the selection process — especially with new maps.
“Both at the last meeting as well as this meeting, we had maps not previously discussed at any of the earlier meetings,” he said.
Moran also referred to a proposal he made at the Nov. 3 meeting for aldermen to consider four other maps, which no other aldermen supported.
“That silence was the most profound commentary to the openness of this process,” he said.
Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) said if Moran disliked the proposed maps, he should have proposed a map to suit his interests.
“I respect your dissent,” Jean-Baptiste said. “But I think dissent is not just about word. You’ve got to walk the walk too.”
He said the map was not drawn with any “malice” toward students and would help them participate in the political process.
“Student voices have become much more relevant,” Jean-Baptiste said. “I don’t think elected officials have moved further away from the needs of students. … We’ve come closer.”
Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said Moran’s proposal was an attempt to delay the matter without reason and that he should have told aldermen about his objections prior to the meeting.
“If Alderman Moran had an issue before tonight, he had the ability to pick up the phone like all the rest of us have done,” Newman said.
He said Moran’s objections were not representative of Evanston residents. “Most people in Evanston, except for the real politicos, didn’t even care about this,” Newman said.
The council also addressed residents’ concerns about enacting the map on the day of aldermanic elections in 2005. Herbert Hill, a lawyer for the city, said the effective date would be moved from April 5, 2005, to Aug. 1, 2004.
Buildings Still Frozen
Aldermen also approved the extension of a large-scale residential-construction freeze in the Fifth Ward.
The moratorium originally was proposed to halt the practice of replacing boarded-up properties with large homes. An extension would give the community the opportunity to create a conservation district to preserve the traditional character of the ward’s neighborhoods, Ald. Joseph Kent (5th) said.
Though a similar moratorium extension was on the agenda for the Sixth Ward, Newman voted against a suspension of the council’s rules that would have made the vote possible. A unanimous vote is needed to suspend the rules.
At the Planning and Development Committee meeting prior to the full council meeting, Newman said he thought the Sixth Ward moratorium extension was unfair to ward residents.
One of Moran’s goals was to create a neighborhood conservation district to encompass the entire ward. Newman said this idea, which was supported by the Plan Commission earlier this month, should not affect all of the ward.
“I’m not convinced that the people of the Sixth Ward really understand this,” he said.
Moran said Newman was out of his element.
“I’m trying to understand how you feel that you know the desires of the property owners in my ward better than I do,” Moran said.
Pass on the Gas
The council also delayed voting on a proposal that would increase the taxes of natural-gas customers who use companies other than Nicor Inc. Businesses using other providers pay a lower tax rate than those who use Nicor, the city’s official provider.
At the Administration and Public Works Committee meeting, aldermen and business leaders debated the proposal, which has been on the council’s agenda for more than a month.
Rainey said the proposal is fair because it splits the taxes between businesses and residents.
But Dick Peach, president of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, argued that the tax hike would harm the city’s independent stores.
“I’m worried about all the small businesses in this town,” he said.
Jonathan Perman, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal amounted to another “hit” against businesses and condominiums. Ald. Gene Feldman (9th) said Perman and Peach’s comments upset him and Feldman blamed the business community for not providing specific information on the effects of the tax hike, as he had requested.
“You gave me nothing,” Feldman said. “We get nothing. Nothing. What do I do with that?”
The proposal could be discussed again Dec. 15.
Hail to the Chief
In other business City Manager Roger Crum announced that Chief John Wilkinson of Evanston fire department will retire Wednesday. Wilkinson, who has worked for the department for 36 years, said he wants to leave before he starts to hate his job.
“The reality is, I love what I do,” he said. “That’s why I should leave.”
Wilkinson said Crum will appoint an interim chief, then an application process will begin.
Mayor Lorraine H. Morton said she will be sad to see Wilkinson go after about five years as chief.
Moran praised Wilkinson for his dedication to the department.
“He has rendered loyal and ardent service,” Moran said. “John, I want to thank you for your service.”
The Daily’s Jesse Abrams-Morley contributed to this report.
