Another candidate has joined the race to take over the ninth ward alderman position that Coleen Burrus will vacate April 24.

Schona Buranda, the fifth person vying for the position, is the program director of outreach and partnerships at Good News Partners, an affordable housing organization in Chicago. She was previously executive director at the Evanston Community Development Corporation.

“I’ve lived in Evanston for over two decades and I raised my kids here,” Buranda told The Daily. “I’ve been very involved and the city needs someone who cares enough about its constituents in Evanston and at large. I want us to become the best city in the United States.”

Buranda will join the four other candidates — Dan Coyne, Shawn Jones, Mary McAuley and Brian Miller — at a forum April 23 hosted by Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl at the Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave.

Burrus, the current 9th Ward alderman, is leaving her position to take over as director of corporate and foundation relations at Princeton University.

At a meeting earlier this month to hear community feedback on the replacement alderman, Tisdahl told The Daily she was not sure when the new alderman would be selected, but she said she hoped to have someone by the time Burrus leaves.

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