It’s time for the years of mutual acrimony between Northwestern and the city it calls home to give way to a respectful and constructive partnership, say the candidates running for mayor of Evanston.
But when it comes to specifics, they mainly fall back on a long-standing city gripe: NU isn’t pulling its own weight.
All four mayoral candidates offer differing plans to combat the strained town-gown relations. Common among most initiatives is the idea that both NU and Evanston need to move forward from past gridlock and focus on common goals.
The problematic relationship has its roots in finances: NU’s tax-exempt status on its 250-acre lake front campus and Evanston’s budget concerns. The cash-strapped city has repeatedly asked NU to make payments in lieu of taxes when the university takes property off the city’s tax rolls, a plan some colleges support. NU has rejected the proposal because the school already pays taxes, including some, such as the athletic contest tax, specifically targeted at the university.
When Mayor Lorraine Morton appointed Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th), now a candidate for mayor, to the council in 2003, Tisdahl’s first goal was to improve the city’s relationship with NU.
“I thought it would be easy to make it better,” she said. “I was very wrong.”
If elected mayor, Tisdahl said she would like NU to aid distressed Evanston taxpayers. NU could pay for its disproportionate use of fire services, as well as help repair the city’s salt and water services, she said.
Besides helping financially, NU could lend its intellectual capital to the city, Tisdahl said. In the past, Tisdahl has urged the council to require safety locks on handguns, but other aldermen warned that the National Rifle Association might take Evanston to court. To combat the issue, Tisdahl wants NU to offer up a pro bono attorney to challenge the Supreme Court’s Heller decision, which affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess firearms for private use.
“We are a community, and it does nothing but benefit everybody if we work together,” Tisdahl said.
Jeanne Lindwall (Weinberg ’71), a candidate for mayor, agreed NU isn’t paying its fair share of taxes, mainly the cost of its fire service calls. She wants to sponsor an ongoing conversation between Evanston and the university to compromise.
Specifically, she would develop a strategic action plan for the city that would outline future goals for Evanston and its institutions, including NU. But she recognizes that in the past, measures to improve NU-city relations have failed.
“The City Council is frustrated because it’s been trying to have that dialogue for years and it hasn’t gone anywhere,” Lindwall. “I think the city’s reached out, and Northwestern politely says, ‘No, thank you.’ I have a problem with that as an alum.”
If she were mayor, Lindwall would want Evanston and NU to focus on shared goals. By drawing on common ground, the city and university could work on mutually beneficial projects, she said.
Rejecting the idea of strained town-gown relations, Stuart Opdycke, another mayoral candidate, has no specific initiatives to improve the city’s relationship with NU. Some past sticking-points, including NU’s monetary contribution to the city, should be left alone, he said.
“Would I like to see NU sit down and open up the checkbook and give the city a check for 3 or 4 million bucks a year? Sure, that would be nice, but it’s not going to happen,” he said. “Previous (university) presidents have said for years they’re not going to do that, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s a dead issue.”
Instead of charging Evanston more fees, Barnaby Dinges (Medill ’86), also a candidate, wants to build an economic development partnership between the city and NU. Evanston’s relationship with the university is his No. 2 concern, right after the budget and taxes.
Dinges has called for a summit with NU, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and entrepreneurs in Evanston, including students, that could lead to economic development and job creation. He also wants to improve marketing to involve Evanston residents in NU culture. One of his ideas is to offer reduced-price tickets to Evanston residents at NU sporting events, which would lead to more revenue and a better town-gown relationship, he said.
“If the two entities come together with mutual respect and mutual understanding and mutual need, a lot can be done,” Dinges said. “The answer is in building and working together.”