Early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, Evanston and the Margarita Inn reached a deal: The city provided the hotel a chance to pay off outstanding debt in exchange for sheltering homeless individuals in partnership with the nonprofit Connections for the Homeless.
In 2022, Connections petitioned City Council for a special use permit, intending to continue the arrangement. First Ward incumbent Clare Kelly and Ald. Tom Suffredin (6th) were the only two councilmembers to vote against the proposition.
First Ward challenger Stephen Hackney said this vote formed the impetus for his campaign.
“There (was) no good argument against the Margarita Inn,” Hackney said. “If (the opposition) had carried, that was 120 people that were going to be on the street that day. That’s not OK. That’s not responsible government.”
Kelly and Hackney are facing off in the 1st Ward race in Evanston’s April 1 election.
Kelly told The Daily that she stands behind her vote. She was concerned about the lack of specific protections for residents’ safety outlined in the operating agreement.
Hackney argued that this vote reflected a pattern in which Kelly stands as the dissenting voice on City Council — to Evanston’s detriment.
“We’re always going to have different opinions, but you need people that are generally trying to pull on the doors in the same direction,” Hackney said. “And if you always have somebody that is working against you, everything just starts to break down really quickly.”
Kelly disagrees, emphasizing the many projects in which she’s collaborated with other councilmembers.
Furthermore, Kelly said there’s value in her opposition, as it allows her to advocate for the residents.
“I don’t always toe the line,” Kelly said. “I don’t work for the mayor. I work for the residents.”
Kelly has a long history of civic engagement in Evanston. She grew up in the 1st Ward and taught at Evanston Township High School for 30 years. She spearheaded the movement that shut down the Evanston Northwestern Hospital’s medical waste incinerator in 2004, which she said led to state and national legislation that restricted the practice of burning medical detritus.
Hackney moved to Evanston in 2010. He worked as a trial lawyer for 25 years, spending most of his time at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago. He retired a couple of years ago to focus on community service and serves on the board of Connections for the Homeless and LINK Unlimited Scholars.
Both Kelly and Hackney emphasized the need to direct resources toward the economic revitalization of the downtown area.
During the pandemic, Kelly said she advocated for allocating a portion of Evanston’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to small businesses. She also said she recently directed funding for a grant program to incentivize businesses to stay in Evanston.
“Much of this ward is downtown,” Kelly said. “I continue to be the advocate on the dais for small business, for local businesses and understanding their impact and their benefits to our community.”
Hackney pointed to the importance of corporate headquarters, like that of Rotary International, to bringing office workers downtown.
He said the city needs to prioritize drawing life science and biotechnology companies into Evanston — industries he said are the future.
“We have capital and so what we need to do is find a way to create the centers of excellence that leverage Northwestern’s expertise here and then can provide a growth engine for business and our economy,” Hackney said.
Debate over the relationship between the city and NU has also dominated council discussions.
Hackney said he’d like to focus on crafting a strategic vision for the relationship to avoid “one-off engagements.”
Kelly highlighted her efforts to create a center for community partnerships, fashioned after the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center.
“(We’re) working with them to help establish a really strong democratic relationship that’s mutually beneficial, that’s not extractive, but that really lays ground rules so that we don’t have issues like what we had with Ryan Field,” Kelly said.
Both candidates also stressed the importance of affordable housing initiatives, but with different ideas in mind.
Kelly has been a vocal advocate to slow down the Envision Evanston 2045 timeline.
She said she’s proud of her successful efforts to separate rezoning measures from the comprehensive plan and is looking forward to soliciting more community input.
Hackney called for a “hard edit” of Envision Evanston. He said this is an opportunity to combat the need for housing and the downtown vacancy rate.
“The cities that figure out how to satisfy that demand and adapt to it are the ones that are going to win the next half century,” Hackney said. “We want one of those cities to be us, and our secret weapon in this is our willingness to innovate.”
Email: sophiebaker2028@u.northwestern.edu
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— Ald. Clare Kelly challenged by retired lawyer Stephen Hackney for 1st Ward seat
