After 11 years of service on the Evanston City Council, Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) will not run for re-election next term.

“I told myself that I’m going to be the same human being going in that I am coming out,” the 61-year-old Chicago-native said. “Now I have a much shorter fuse. I don’t suffer fools as well as I did 11 years ago. I’m getting tired.”

Throughout his career, Bernstein has been actively involved in community development from his former job as the city’s zoning lawyer to his vocal presence on the Planning and Development Committee.

Most recently, he played an instrumental role in the shaping of the city council’s plan for west Evanston.

Although the alderman said his approach to public office has become less idealistic over the years, his cynicism toward politics has not tainted Bernstein’s love for Evanston.

“We have the framework of what the world should be,” he said. “People of different races and cultures and socioeconomic statuses living and working together … (We can) truly be an integrated, progressive kind of community.”

Bernstein has lived in Evanston for 33 years. He has been involved in many not-for-profit organizations, such as the Evanston Historical Society and the Evanston Bar Association.

But the alderman said he is most proud of becoming the first father to be named Volunteer of the Year by the Parent Teacher Association at his daughter’s elementary school.

“My wife and I have always been community-oriented,” he said. “We wanted to make this a better place.”

After practicing law with his wife for years, Bernstein became an assessor for the city and then ran for alderman in 1996. However, his path to elective office began a long time before his move to Evanston.

“It’s something that I sort of was always destined to do,” he said. “I’ve been involved with student council and fire associations and that sort of stuff all the way up.”

Although he has always been attracted to politics, Bernstein does not consider himself to be a politician. Rather, being a member of the City Council is “an extension of his public service.”

Ald. Cheryl Wollin (1st) said Bernstein is dedicated to constantly improving his ward.

“He’s very earnest and is passionate about what he does,” she said.

His proudest legislative accomplishment was fighting the state government for nearly nine years to allow a four-way stop sign to be placed at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Dempster Street.

Through this and other political bouts, Bernstein said he learned to understand the issues thoroughly, whether it is the placement of a stop sign or a new development plan.

He said he researches each project beyond the information provided by the city staff.

For Bernstein, understanding both sides of any issue is a priority – especially in controversial issues such as development.

“Development is a mixed blessing,” he said. “It comes with inconvenience … but at the end of the day, you have to have development. Either that, or you raise taxes to such a degree that only the elite could afford to live here. And I don’t want to live in that kind of a community.”

The threat of surging taxes is now more relevant to Evanston than ever, as the city faces a substantial deficit in the police and fire pension funds.

To complement tax hikes, many expect the size of the city staff to shrink.

“City government is in a state of flux right now,” he said. “The City Clerk is retiring. I don’t know that there’s a lot of internal communication. We’re in need of some serious cleansing in our employment status over there.”

Although he will no longer vote at council meetings after his current term, Bernstein’s presence will not completely disappear from city politics.

“I’ll be available to scream, yell and holler at (the council), but I think it’s time for me to move on.”

Reach Sean Walsh at [email protected].