With elections for local government seats less than a year away, a group of Evanston residents gathered Wednesday night to brainstorm ideas for increasing public involvement in the political process.
The planning meeting for Public Service Challenge 2004 drew more than 40 business, community and government leaders to the Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Ave.
Jay Lytle, former Evanston mayor and co-chairman of the Challenge, informed the audience of the organization’s purpose to “develop, recruit and train candidates that will participate in our civic activities.”
In preparation for the March 2005 elections for Evanston mayor, aldermen, and four members each for the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and District 202 boards, the group is planning two workshops in the fall aimed at training candidates for public office and informing them of Evanston residents’ most important concerns.
Public Service Challenge also facilitated workshops for the 2001 and 2003 elections.
“We don’t try to say these are the answers but these are the issues that you and your associates should be dealing with,” Lytle said.
The audience divided into three groups to develop preliminary ideas concerning city issues, education and civic engagement.
During the city issues meeting, participants discussed topics ranging from the budget to community development to Evanston-Northwestern relations.
“This is an issue that will haunt every City Council from now until hell freezes over,” said Dick Peach, former president of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce. “What you do with it is a different issue.”
The civic engagement meeting drew many community leaders who stressed the importance of attendance at government meetings and involvement in citizen organizations.
Activist Michele Hays, chairwoman of Brummel Park Neighbors, said the Public Service Challenge needs to stress the rewards of public service.
“If I’m going to sit in a meeting for four hours, what am I going to get out of it?” Hays said.
Communication between the school boards and parents and the achievement gap between students of different backgrounds were discussed at the education meeting.
George Mitchell, president of the Evanston-North Shore branch of the NAACP, said after the meeting that the proper use of limited financial resources is a key issue.
“The real trick to that is how to prioritize what needs to be done and what should be done and commit the resources to that basis,” Mitchell said. “And that’s the hard part.”
Lytle ended the meeting by urging audience members to sign up for subcommittees facilitating program planning, logistics, communication and community outreach for workshops tentatively planned for Oct. 16 and Nov. 13.
He noted that Evanston contains an “enormous” amount of qualified people that can become good leaders.
“What we’re trying to do is tap into that group,” Lytle said.
