At a budget hearing Saturday, Evanston residents defended branch libraries and city positions at risk of being cut.
Close to 30 citizens gave comments on the proposed budget to the City Council at a three-hour hearing at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave. The budget proposal suggests various measures for reducing the $3 million deficit, including restructuring departments and eliminating full-time employees. At the hearing, residents emphasized the importance of continuing to fund services for those with mental illness, keeping branch libraries open and retaining an Inclusion Specialist to improve access for the disabled.
Eleven residents spoke in favor of keeping the branch libraries open, citing reasons such as the importance of libraries in providing reading materials for children, Internet access for lower income groups, a place for the community to gather and economic benefits to the surrounding neighborhoods.
“The two branches, north and south, are important outposts of the Main Library, public spaces where neighborhoods can shake hands and impart knowledge,” resident Bruce Mitchell said. “That has been the branches’ long and unheralded history, which now may end in a single vote.”
While many residents are in favor of keeping the branch libraries, the city should consider the difference between essential services, such as street maintenance, and outreach services like the branch libraries, Zoning Board of Appeals member Lori Summers said. The city should reduce outreach services until it has enough funding, she said.
The city also proposed eliminating the position of Inclusion Specialist, currently held by Brian Barnes, who handles complaints from disabled residents and advises the city on compliance issues with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Barnes said he has been disabled all his life and has held his position for six years. A public entity with more than 50 employees needs an employee to coordinate compliance under the act, and the position requires life experience as well as training, Barnes said.
“(The proposed cut) is wrong. It’s not just because it’s me,” Barnes said. “This position is unique in that it serves a community that would not otherwise be served.”
Barnes’ expertise was especially useful during the meeting when special education teacher Dan McAndrew raised the issue of the branch libraries being inaccessible to his disabled students, requiring the deactivation of security alarms with each visit. Barnes informed the Council that neither branch is compliant with the act. Later, disabled residents Larry Biondi and Jan Weeks echoed Barnes’ sentiments about the importance of his position, as well as highlighting the prominence of the disabled community in Evanston.
“We are a community that is part of Evanston and has been, for some of us, for 19 years,” Weeks said. “We definitely still exist and don’t intend to go anywhere else.”
Other residents spoke against delaying portions of the tree inoculation program to prevent the spreading of Dutch Elm Disease and reducing hours for the Evanston Ecology Center. Some said they hope the city will continue supporting services for those with mental illness and consider economic development along the lakefront.
The Council may hold two more optional budget discussions before it anticipates adopting the budget on Nov. 22.
