Midway through a tense panel discussion with Mayor Daniel Biss during Evanston’s Feb. 9 candidate forum, mayoral hopeful Jeff Boarini addressed the significance of the apparent disconnect between Evanston residents and city staff in their day-to-day interactions.
“As mayor, I would set the tone that residents matter,” Boarini said. “So when we hear complaints from people, we need to follow up on those.”
Boarini’s solution? To move the Evanston 311 service hotline to the purview of the mayor’s office.
While Boarini jested quickly afterward that he “may regret” the 311 proposal if elected, Biss clapped back at the proposal as a move that overrides the city’s government. Biss said the suggestion was one reflective of someone seeking to be a “strong mayor,” hinting at an earlier instance when Boarini had made the same allegation about Biss.
The system, which consists of a call center and an online resident support center, is meant to streamline responses to residents. Residents can call the hotline for help with various issues, from forestry and public works to special trash pick up or rat extermination.
Evanston 311 has received 2,800 requests since Jan. 1, 2024, and it currently takes an average of six days for the center to complete a request. General information about the nature of these requests and their resolution are publicly available through the program’s website.
“Everyone is put in a single system so that we can be truly equitable in terms of the order of response, and we can see data about what people are concerned about,” Biss told The Daily.
With the mayoral election looming around 40 days away, both candidates have focused on promoting their visions for Evanston’s mayoral role. Boarini’s proposal to change Evanston’s 311 hotline would strengthen this role.
Biss said Boarini’s proposal was unaligned with how Evanston’s current system of government functions. He stressed the importance of maintaining the integrity of Evanston’s city manager to avoid the politicization of crucial day-to-day service roles and emphasize collaboration in government. Evanston 311 continues to remain under the command of City Manager Luke Stowe.
“I don’t hire people. I don’t fire people,” Biss said. “It underscores that we really need someone who understands how city government works.”
However, Boarini emphasized his connection and commitment to Evanston residents, who he said are at “the top of the organizational chart” for mayoral responsibilities.
Boarini told The Daily he developed the 311 proposal from conversations with residents in campaign coffee chats. At these chats, Boarini said residents share instances where they were unable to reach city staff.
He affirmed that the information is purely “anecdotal,” and that he does not know if the issue is pervasive in the hotline.
However, he said mayoral oversight of the 311 hotline would make use of the city’s “most consistent way” to connect with the community.
“I want to make sure that the street-level issues that people deal with in the city are being heard at the mayor’s office,” Boarini said.
If elected, and if Boarini were to follow through with his suggestion to extend the mayoral purview to include 311, he may run into logistical and legal issues with the Evanston City Code.
The code delineates the city manager’s duty to appoint and remove all directors of departments and the power to hire all employees. In contrast, the mayor can only appoint members to board, commissions and agencies authorized by City Council.
An alteration of the code would require a vote by City Council.
“I doubt it’s legal. I would expect that it would probably require a referendum,” Biss said. “I respect our form of government, and so I take those rules very seriously.”
While former Evanston mayor Steve Hagerty “applauds” Boarini for his emphasis on directly evaluating residents’ needs, he said the move was unnecessary.
Instead, Hagerty points to the wealth of information public officials, including the mayor, can gain from the 311 system as it is right now, including from weekly reports made by the city manager’s office. He said that Boarini would have access to this information if elected.
“Let’s not fix things that aren’t broken,” Hagerty said.
Boarini acknowledges the logistical challenges that would come with rearranging the city’s 311 function.
Yet, he emphasized his overall intention was to make residents feel heard by the city government.
“The intent of getting more information and a regular flow of information from 311 to the mayor’s office is something that should be accomplished,” Boarini said.
Email: MarisaGuerraEcheverria2027@u.northwestern.edu
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