Northwestern representatives, community officials and Evanston residents brought their concerns directly to Springfield on Thursday.
The first-ever “Evanston Day,” organized by the City of Evanston and NU, had community members including University President Morton O. Schapiro traveling to the state’s capital to lobby state representatives.
Schapiro met privately with state leaders to thank them for their continual support of need-based financial aid, said Bruce Layton, Schapiro’s assistant for government relations. Meanwhile, Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and city officials lobbied legislators on issues concerning police and firefighter pension reform, preserving the city’s share of income tax and obtaining a health clinic for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
The confluence of University and city interests under a “united front” illustrated amiable town-gown relations, Layton said.
“It showed our local representatives the solidarity between the city and the University,” he said.
The delegation also demonstrated harmony between the multifarious interests of the city, officials said.
Evanston residents presented a cross-section of voices in which everyone got the chance to make their case to state representatives before the legislature recesses, Assistant City Manager Martin Lyons said. Representatives from the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Evanston, Family Focus, Youth Job Center and other community organizations joined the delegation.
“We presented a community vision,” Tisdahl said.
After arriving, Evanston representatives lunched at the Governor’s Mansion, where Jerry Stermer, chief of staff for Gov. Pat Quinn, advised them on lobbying state legislators.
Evanston representatives then put his advice to practice, heading to Secretary of State Jesse White’s office to make their cases to state legislators and have several hours of meetings and discussions.
Representatives from Evanston schools presented their concerns about uncertain state funding.
“There is a great need for the state to continue funding general state aid and state categorical payments such as early childhood development,” District 65 Communications Director Pat Markham said.
School representatives used the opportunity to stress how the demographics within Evanston school districts differ from the state government’s perception of Evanston. State officials often consider the city to be a wealthy Chicago suburb, but 42 percent of D65 students qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch because their parents have low incomes, Markham said.
Mark Schroeder, director of community relations for NorthShore University HealthSystem, said the delegation’s wide access to state officials impressed him.
“This group was allowed to really voice their interests to key leaders in the state government,” Schroeder said.
Afterward, the delegation headed to Schapiro’s reception at a club in Springfield.
In a speech, Schapiro identified the theme of the evening as the “joining of the town and the gown,” said first-year Bienen graduate student Kyle Asche, who performed jazz with several other NU students at the reception.
Tisdahl said legislators were impressed with the turnout of Evanston residents, which she estimated to be between 60 and 70 people.
Despite the turnout, Evanston won’t get all it wants from the state, she said.
“Usually with lobbying legislatures you want to come home with a pot of gold,” Tisdahl said. “There’s no pot of gold to be had in Springfield.”
