By Ketul Patel and Megan CrepeauThe Daily Northwestern

The Evanston City Council considered whether to send a “sacred cow” to the slaughterhouse during its Saturday morning budget workshop.

Though the item was not on the agenda, aldermen spent 45 minutes discussing whether to close Evanston’s two branch libraries. The proposed shutdowns have been floated repeatedly for at least five years, and Saturday’s discussion signaled the council’s growing unease about the future of the libraries.

Alds. Melissa Wynne (3rd) and Edmund Moran (6th) brought up the subject because they wanted to alert supporters of the North and South branch libraries about a possible closing.

“I want to see maybe not a final vote, but I’d like to see a straw vote about how broad the support is for eliminating any branch libraries,” Moran said. “I’ve been telling people this is not an issue.”

But Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) said the council should look at the issue in terms of the jobs that might be lost due to budget constraints.

“I suggest that we put it back on the agenda so that we can look at it (in) context,” he said. “I think that when people make statements about what they’re for and what they’re against, we’re on the same page. I’m for taking a look at the totality of what is presented to me so we can make a decision.”

Jean-Baptiste said the proposed city budget included the most extensive cuts he had seen as an alderman.

“We want to engage in deeper cuts,” he said. “I want to make sure we are not having any sacred cows that we are exempting from that because there are other sacred cows that are getting sacrificed.”

The library provides an important service by promoting literacy and reaching out to younger residents, said Ald. Cheryl Wollin (1st).

“We’re not cutting jobs just to cut jobs, we are cutting functions,” Wollin said. “This to me is an essential service.”

But Jean-Baptiste said other aldermen were too focused on their own specific areas and should look at the gap in the library’s outreach to parts of the city, referencing the lack of a west Evanston branch.

Moran told Jean-Baptiste he supports having a west Evanston branch but that such a project might not come to fruition if the North and South branches are closed.

“If we cut the branch libraries now, the notion of having a West Side branch will be dead,” Moran said. “The force of economy will be such that if they’re amputated from (the) city’s operations, they will be amputated for good.”

The council also discussed ways to get more money to the city’s insurance fund, which pays for claims and lawsuits against the city. Matthew Grady, director of finance, said the city has far less than the $2 million it needs to handle future claims.

Grady proposed continuing a financing strategy in which the city issues bonds to fund water or sewer projects. The city then transfers revenue from water and sewer operations to the insurance fund. The city used this strategy after it had about $23 million in liabilities in the insurance fund in 2003-04.

The aldermen also listened to Assistant City Manager Rolanda Russell regarding the transition of the Human Relations Commission. Russell said city staff was proposing to keep both human relations specialists but lay off the commission director. The original recommendation included cutting the director and a human relations specialist. Russell would oversee the commission.

Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) asked Russell how familiar she was with the landlord-tenant relations in Evanston, considering Russell has only been on the job for about two months. Russell replied that she’s a “quick study.”

Jean-Baptiste said the transition seemed to be adding more man-hours merely for the sake of cutting one job. He added that he was worried that the human relations commission would become less efficient due to the cuts.

The council will hold an additional budget workshop Wednesday night, and the city will hold a public hearing on Feb. 5. The council will vote on the 2007-08 city budget next month.

Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected]. Reach Megan Crepeau at [email protected].