Months before he declared his reelection campaign, Mayor Daniel Biss jokingly challenged potential rivals while flexing Evanston’s nascent plan for public campaign funding.
“This was like an anti-incumbent mayor initiative, basically,” Biss told a largely supportive crowd at his State of the City address. “So get your petitions ready.”
His May speech — and his detractors’ not-so-quiet goal of toppling him next year — seemed to tee up a rambunctious mayoral race. Yet the jokes and invectives have since laid low. When the contest’s filing window closed Oct. 28, only one challenger had emerged: Jeff Boarini.
In his first formal interview since filing to run, Boarini told The Daily that “people have been cut out of the loop” in city government. He vowed to “unite this community” by boosting transparency and accountability.
And he recounted his introduction to Evanston politics, which he said came by way of his romantic relationship with Ald. Clare Kelly (1st), a prominent critic of the current mayor.
“Just spending time with her, I began to pay more attention to what was going on with City Council,” Boarini said. “And my background is corporate. So I compared what I was seeing happening at City Council meetings and processes with what I saw happening with City Council and finances, and I was disturbed by what I saw.”
The April 1 municipal election bills a two-man race that promises to offer some unusual intrigue. Biss, the incumbent, drew brickbats from residents last year over his tie-breaking vote in favor of allowing commercial concerts at a rebuilt Ryan Field. The uproar brought long-brewing conflicts over government accountability and the pace of development to the fore.
In the wake of Biss’ vote to approve Northwestern’s project, the “Better than Biss” campaign to unseat the mayor emerged. Some opponents denounced Biss as a power broker complicit with the University, a portrayal the mayor has repeatedly repudiated. As the Ryan Field battle drags on in county court, however, other issues like planning have also entered the spotlight.
Boarini staked out a more moderate stance on Biss’ term, calling the incumbent a “very smart man.” Like Biss, Boarini said he leans toward a “yes in my backyard” stance on development.
Still, Boarini said he remains “leery of rushing into zoning reform,” which Biss has touted through the Envision Evanston 2045 rezoning initiative.
“I am not alone in thinking that many of the outcomes of Envision Evanston were predetermined before the process ever began, regardless of how many Post-It notes were put on boards around the city,” Boarini said.
The challenger pledged to “adhere” to the city’s processes, saying that Biss’ frequent use of special orders of business stifles transparency and public input. Boarini, a 34-year resident of Evanston, cited his past as a creative director for McDonald’s in arguing for new leadership to helm the city’s complex finances.
Boarini called the commercialization of Ryan Field “risky,” saying he fears the University could create an entertainment zone in the largely residential neighborhood. His election fund listed the Most Livable City Association — which has led the legal fight over the stadium against NU — among two groups that would receive his campaign’s unused fundraising money.
Biss, meanwhile, has defended his support for NU’s project, calling the resulting pact “historic” because of the benefits the University has promised the city.
After his landslide victory in 2021, Biss boosted his political muscle. The mayor maintained a strong donor base even before he declared he would run for reelection. And he claimed the mantle of Evanston’s dominant Democratic Party, succeeding longtime committeeman Eamon Kelly earlier this year.
Biss told The Daily that regardless of any challenger, he’s “proud of the record that I’m running on.” He also weighed in on Boarini’s relationship with Clare Kelly, who announced she would run for reelection.
“I know that if my wife and I served on the same board or have parallel roles — the way my relationship with my spouse works, we make a lot of decisions together. I don’t know that I would be able to maintain independence in that situation,” Biss said, though he added that he would not hold having a romantic partner against anyone.
Boarini’s longtime wife died of cancer in 2021. “One thing led to another,” he said, and now he has been in a relationship with Kelly for more than a year.
Steve Hagerty, who preceded Biss as mayor, said the contest would still raise questions about independence.
“I think one big question that the voters are going to have to answer is, ‘Are we comfortable having a mayor and a potential councilmember — if the 1st Ward alderwoman is reelected — in a long-term relationship?’” Hagerty said.
Boarini told The Daily that he does not foresee conflicts of interest on the dais, unless he needed to make a tie-breaking vote on a proposal by Kelly. He said he would recuse himself if that arose.
Likewise, Kelly told The Daily she would recuse herself from any potential conflict, adding that she wants to see a stronger city ethics code.
“We’ve talked about this a lot,” Boarini said last week. “And we’ll continue to talk about being possibly on the dais together. But we’re very transparent and open about our relationship. And I can tell you — assure you — that our only interest is better government in Evanston and well-representing the residents of this city. Period.”
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Related Stories:
— Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss announces reelection bid
— Biss recaps testy year, looks ahead to Evanston’s future in State of the City address
— ‘Better than Biss’ political committee seeks 2025 challengers for Mayor Daniel Biss
