Ald. Tom Suffredin (6th) pushed back after 6th Ward candidate Candance Chow alleged Suffredin is a “walking conflict of interest” in a Thursday morning news release.

Incumbent Suffredin and Chow are vying for Evanston’s 6th Ward City Council seat in the April 1 election.

In the news release, Chow cited Suffredin’s role as an active lobbyist in Springfield while serving on Evanston’s City Council to argue he has skewed loyalties. Suffredin refuted her claims in an interview with The Daily on Thursday. 

“I think it’s just a desperate attempt by an opponent to portray me as something that I’m not, rather than address the deficiencies in her candidacy,” Suffredin said.

Chow expressed concern that Suffredin’s priorities may not align with the city’s, noting his advocacy for groups with differing interests as a lobbyist. The release claimed he lobbied for $1 billion in state funding for the Chicago Teachers Union last year, rather than focusing on Evanston’s own public school districts, which according to Chow, do not receive the mandated level of funding. 

Chow also pointed to an instance in 2018 when Suffredin advocated for the reversal of Evanston’s video gambling ban. At the time, Suffredin was also lobbying for Novomatic Americas Sales, a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest gaming technology companies. Chow called this a clear conflict. 

“It puts a question on my mind, as a resident, of how do we know whose interests are being served,” Chow said. 

Suffredin argued that his lobbying work does not influence city decisions, since he has never had clients with business before the council. He added that in his 20 years as a lobbyist and last eight years as a councilmember, he has never had an ethics complaint filed against him. 

The release also included Chow’s call for a City Council ban on elected officials and city employees from lobbying for private clients before any Illinois government entity. She cited Chicago’s April 2020 lobbying ban ordinance as a model, arguing that Evanston should adopt similar measures.

“There is no reason why Chicago should have stronger ethics and transparency ordinances than Evanston,” Chow said in the release.

In response, Suffredin asserted that Chow’s proposal conflicts with Illinois law. He referenced the Illinois Lobbyist Registration Act, which grants Chicago unique authority to impose lobbying restrictions that other municipalities, including Evanston, cannot enact.

Both Suffredin and Chow have campaigned fiercely, pushing distinct visions for the city. Chow, who served on the board of Evanston/Skokie School District 65 for almost seven years, said one of her major goals is to achieve financial stability for the city. 

Chow referenced the city’s deficit spending and stressed the need to do more long-term planning to diversify revenue sources and relieve the burden on taxpayers. 

“(We should) do a real assessment of the programs that we offer, analyze and kind of look at what is the return on those programs, whether that be what type of impact it’s having in the community and is that what we intended and assess whether that’s the best use of taxpayer funds,” Chow said.

Suffredin, who has served as the 6th Ward alderman since 2017, has consistently advocated for better municipal services, infrastructure and more transparency in the council. 

The incumbent said he hopes the new council will take a more structured, long-term approach rather than relying on yearly budget cycles regarding infrastructure. He added that much of the infrastructure in the city has exceeded its usable life. 

“We have a lot of infrastructure that is just waiting to break, and that’s how we’ve approached things, and I’ve used the analogy before, where like a person who uses the emergency room as their primary care physician rather than doing preventative health,” Suffredin said. “And so the next council is gonna have to be very serious about what we’re gonna do about attacking that backlog.”

Suffredin criticized the council’s inefficiency, citing the delayed distribution of Monday council meeting packets and its excessively long sessions that overlap with District 65 school board meetings. That limits residents’ ability to attend both, he argued.

Suffredin and Chow both said it’s important for the new council to spend sufficient time discussing Envision Evanston 2045, the city’s new comprehensive plan and rezoning overhaul. Chow said Envision Evanston hasn’t been articulated well to residents and the new council must find avenues to allow further discussion.

Additionally, the candidates mentioned transportation issues in the 6th Ward, expressing concerns about the distance to the train station and the inefficiency of the bus system. 

As Evanston voters prepare to cast their ballots, both 6th Ward candidates argue it comes down to trust. Suffredin has highlighted his time on City Council, while Chow has argued her problem-solver attitude and school board experience will uplift her bid. 

Early voting for Evanston’s municipal election begins on March 17, with Election Day on April 1.

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