Undisturbed by the occasional e-mail pop-up noise, Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl allows herself a beat before answering each question. When she responds, she speaks with utter calm in a steady, thoughtful rhythm.
This is the voice that-in City Council meetings, at budget workshops and in sessions with congressmen-has led the City of Evanston in forging new relationships with Northwestern, in lobbying state and federal legislators and in earning $18 million in federal money for affordable housing, all in her first year as mayor.
“The thing that really stands out with Mayor Tisdahl is her focus,” City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. “She’s very determined to make sure that Evanston gets more from Washington and Springfield. … She’s done a lot to raise our profile and it’s already starting to pay off.”
As the city underwent major changes during the first 12 months of her four-year term, the mayor “evolved” with the job as well, she told The Daily in a recent interview.
“Mayor Morton and Jay Lytle, who used to be mayor, told me when I ran, ‘You’re going to be the face of Evanston,'” Tisdahl said. “I couldn’t quite figure out what they meant by that, and now I get it.”
Despite the mayor’s success bringing in grant money and building stronger relationships, economic issues stained Tisdahl’s freshman year. A $9.5 million budget deficit, exploding police and fire pension debt and the overarching national recession landed on her desk and demanded attention. In response to these economic woes, Tisdahl guided Bobkiewicz and the Evanston City Council through a painful budget process that slashed city services and cut dozens from the payroll without raising property taxes.
But don’t expect to hear about all of this from her, said former Mayor Lorraine H. Morton.
“She’s not a person to make a lot of talk about what she’s done,” Morton said. “She just does.”
BUDGET
After five months of clashing over the fate of the city’s branch libraries, the Evanston Community Media Center and the dental clinic-to name just a few of the budget items-the City Council finally approved the fiscal year 2010 budget in February. The aldermen cut enough to balance the $9.5 million shortfall and to put some money back in city funds for economic security.
Though Tisdahl as mayor didn’t vote on the budget, she led the council through the process, moderating the debate between aldermen and listening to constituents. The toughest cuts-like layoffs and libraries-were some of the most difficult decisions the city has faced, she said.
“The budget is devastating,” she said. “We had to let 36 people, who had done very good work for the City of Evanston, go.”
Jackie Brownlee, who worked as an executive secretary for 21 years in the community development department, was one of the three dozen people who were let go. Brownlee said she doesn’t blame Tisdahl, however.
“It’s unfair that such an awful process had to happen in her first year,” Brownlee said. “She’s barely got her feet wet as mayor.”
During the mayoral race, candidate Barnaby Dinges named the budget as one of the largest problems for the new mayor to tackle. Now the NU alumnus gives his former opponent “good marks” on managing the deficit.
“She’s done what she needed to do in terms of balancing the budget and getting city spending somewhat under control,” Dinges said. “Tough decisions were made and she and the city manager helped lead the council where they needed to go.”
Though Tisdahl could have asked Bobkiewicz to look into alternative proposals in which the city would cut less and tax more, she said hiking property taxes could threaten some Evanston residents on the verge of foreclosure.
“My greatest goal in running for mayor was to have our revenue match our expenditures without increasing taxes so much that we lose the diversity in this community,” she said.
$18 MILLION
Near the end of budget season, early on the morning of Jan. 14, 2010, Tisdahl received a phone call from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill), who had some good news.
Her reaction on the day?
“Yippee-yowee-yay!”
Tisdahl learned Evanston had earned an $18 million grant from the federal government to renovate foreclosed buildings and convert them to affordable housing. The money will go specifically to a few census tracts in south and west Evanston, where the foreclosure rates are highest.
“We’re the poster child for foreclosures,” she said, adding the city received the funds because “we needed it.”
Though three months have passed since city officials received notification of the grant, the federal government still hasn’t transferred the money.
“We’re preparing, we’re getting our systems ready,” said Susan Guderley, neighborhood planner. “We need to make sure we’re spending our money according to the requirements in the grant.”
Officials said Tisdahl’s relationships with state and federal legislators contributed significantly in winning the grant. Tisdahl traveled to see Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill) and Durbin to lobby for their support of Evanston’s bid.
“Congresswoman Schakowsky has been thrilled to work with Tisdahl,” said Sarah Baldauf, Schakowsky’s communications director. “The two have worked together for decades.”
By grant rules, the city must spend all the money by early 2013, three years after the January announcement.
“The clock is ticking,” Tisdahl said.
TOWN-GOWN RELATIONS
A few weeks ago, Tisdahl’s two grandchildren, whose photos hang on her office wall, baked cookies for University President Morton O. Schapiro.
“I don’t eat cookies, but my wife and kids loved them,” Schapiro said.
But an exchange of baked goods wasn’t the only thing that made Ald. Coleen Burrus (9th) call Tisdahl’s relationship with NU “unprecedented.” In the past few months, the mayor held a welcome party for NU’s new president, they’ve cheered at a basketball game together and, more substantially, they’ve collaborated on city goals.
For example, NU released a video in support of Evanston’s bid to become a testing town for Google’s new high-speed broadband Internet, and both Schapiro and Tisdahl will lobby state representatives on April 29 in Springfield.
“We’re going to continue to work together productively,” Schapiro said. “There’s a level of trust and understanding that should serve us both well-the town and the University.”
In addition to her meetings with Schapiro, Tisdahl has met with NU Associated Student Government senators, ASG President Mike McGee said.
“Her coming to Senate was a good first step, but we still definitely need to do a lot more,” the Communication senior said.
Open communication, more connections with lower-level organizations and further collaboration with the city would all improve town-gown relations, he said.
“NU students are very talented and would love to work with Evanston to better our community as a whole,” he said. “She has the ability to connect with students, to push a lot of these initiatives. I hope she takes advantage of that.”
“COLLABORATIVE” LEADER
Earlier in Tisdahl’s first year, an Evanston resident contacted the mayor asking for help. The resident said she was very ill and the one positive in her life was a dog she adopted from the animal shelter. The dog, however, turned out to be a “terrific jumper” and easily bounded over her fence on a whim.
The resident needed higher fences, but that would have been against city regulations.Tisdahl, who said she often feels like a “traffic director,” connected the woman with Bill Dunkley from the zoning department. She got the resident higher fences and kept her high-jumping pet.
“I didn’t have anything to do with the resolution,” Tisdahl said. “The resolution was pure Bill Dunkley. But what I do as mayor is frequently put people who have a problem in touch with the person at City Hall who can actually
solve the problem.”
Tisdahl chose the right people, made the right calls, and together found a solution. That’s her leadership style, officials said.
“It’s really collaborative,” Burrus said. “She does an amazingly good job at keeping the council informed on what’s come across her desk. She really wants to maintain a level of collegiality among the council members, and she tries to find compromises so that everyone will come out with a win.”
A key example of this, Tisdahl said, is the teamwork illustrated in Evanston’s bid for Google’s new ultra-high speed broadband pilot program. NU, Evanston Hospital, both school districts and the business community contributed with videos and other shows of support.
“That’s Evanston at its best,” Tisdahl said. “Whether Google gives us the broadband or not, I’m very proud of an Evanston where we all work together to accomplish a goal.”
One of the residents who collaborated on the application was Morton, who first met the mayor when Tisdahl coached her granddaughter’s softball team about 15 years ago.Morton appointed her as alderman of the Seventh Ward in 2003 and endorsed her candidacy during the election.
“She’s the kind of person who doesn’t flaunt herself,” Morton said. “She’s very steady, very thoughtful and exceedingly giving.”
Tisdahl, who said upon getting elected she had “big shoes to fill,” still calls the former mayor for background information when an issue comes up and she is unfamiliar on its history.
“In terms of having ‘big shoes to fill,’ I have figured out a way to fill them,” Tisdahl said. “I just call on Mayor Morton frequently and have her come and help.”
This self-deprecating humor is far from uncommon in a conversation with the mayor.
“I like to get people to work together,” she said. “Because I’m relatively inept, I’m not going to be able to do it all myself in any possibility, so I like to get a group together.”
THE NEXT THREE YEARS
Although many see Tisdahl’s first year as “solid,” the mayor will have a lot on her plate for the next three years of her term, Dinges said.
“You walk around downtown Evanston and there are still a fair amount of storefronts that are empty,” the former mayoral candidate said. “In general the mayor and the council need to continue to work to make a more business-friendly Evanston.”
Ald. Mark Tendam (6th) agreed, saying economic development will be a “huge push.”
“Her priorities will be getting money just to keep things going,” he said.
Another problem in the financial arena is the $159 million debt owed to the police and fire pension fund, said Stuart Opdycke, another of Tisdahl’s opponents in the mayoral race. With the state-mandated deadline to pay off the money approaching in 2033, pensions are sure to be a controversial issue during her term.
“It’s going to take leadership and it’s going to take nerves of steel, but I think Mayor Tisdahl is up to it,” Opdycke said.
The city may face underfunded pensions, escalating water costs and economic stagnation, but Tisdahl said she remains lighthearted after occupying the office for a year.
“It’s a lot more fun being mayor than I thought it would be,” she said.
