Beyond approving a 30-unit housing development on Emerson Street, City Council appointed three new members to the Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees and adopted an ordinance to reduce the speed limit near the new Foster School during its Monday night meeting.
During public comment, some residents criticized Evanston for a Free Palestine’s presence at the city’s recent Fourth of July Parade.
Here are three takeaways from Monday’s meeting:
1. Council appoints three new members to EPL board
Council unanimously approved a resolution to appoint three new members to three-year terms on the Evanston Public Library board, following an amendment to remove Ald. Shawn Iles (3rd) from consideration. Evanston residents Sharef Al Najjar, Liz Kenney and Gus Granchalek were appointed, restoring the board’s quorum.
During public comment, EPL’s assistant library director and current interim Library Director Heather Norborg urged councilmembers to approve the new members.
“A fully constituted board provides the governance and continuity needed to support the library’s mission and plan for the future,” she said. “Approving these appointments is an important step towards restoring a fully-seated board.”
This action followed mass resignations during and shortly after the EPL board’s June 17 meeting, which left just two of its nine seats filled as of June 30.
At Council’s June 22 meeting, councilmembers considered appointees but postponed action. They discussed whether to appoint Iles, who previously served as EPL board president, but some expressed concern that placing a councilmember on the board would only heighten existing tensions about governance and oversight between the city and library.
In a letter published in the Evanston RoundTable before Council’s Monday meeting, Iles announced he was withdrawing his name from consideration for appointment to the EPL board. He wrote that he initially suggested his appointment believing it would facilitate communication between the city and EPL, adding that his master’s degree in library and information science and 10 years on the board made him well-qualified.
“I pursued the appointment as an act of community service,” Iles said at Monday night’s meeting. “I care deeply that we have a strong, independent library in Evanston, and I do not wish to give the perception that my appointment is oversight from Council.”
Iles said that after discussions with past and present EPL board members and community leaders, he decided to withdraw his name.
Following the amendment to remove Iles’ name, Council voted unanimously to appoint the board’s three new members.
“We now have a library board with a quorum of people approved with full terms,” Mayor Daniel Biss said. “My intention is to continue working with the many community stakeholders who have been so generous in helping think through this to make sure that we get four more excellent appointments to the library board forthwith.”
The EPL board is expected to have a quorum during its Wednesday meeting, but four of its nine seats remain vacant.
2. Speed limit reduction on Emerson Street ahead of Foster School opening
Council also unanimously approved an ordinance to reduce the speed limit on a portion of Emerson Street from 30 to 25 mph.
The change will impact Emerson Street from Evanston’s western city limit to Green Bay Road. Evanston/Skokie School District 65 requested the change in anticipation of the Foster School’s August opening at 1600 Simpson St., which will increase pedestrian activity along the Emerson Street corridor, according to a traffic study commissioned by the district.
Ald. Bobby Burns (5th) spoke in favor of the ordinance, citing studies that he said demonstrate that reducing speed limits by even 5 mph can decrease pedestrian and vehicle accidents.
Several residents also spoke in support of the measure, including 6th Ward resident Elliot Oats, who filed paperwork last week to run for mayor in the 2027 special election.
Burns noted that Emerson Street is currently designated an Illinois Department of Transportation Type III hazard based on factors such as speed limit and traffic control and volume.
With the reduced speed limit, Emerson Street will no longer classify as a Type III hazard, Burns said, and more walking and biking will be encouraged.
3. Residents express concerns over antisemitism following Fourth of July Parade
Public comment was dominated by arguments over the Evanston for a Free Palestine contingent in this month’s annual Fourth of July Parade.
The advocacy group’s presence at the parade drew criticism on social media from the Chicago Jewish Alliance, a group “dedicated to defending the Jewish people, standing proudly for the State of Israel, and confronting antisemitism,” according to the organization’s website.
On July 6, CJA’s Instagram account posted a July 5 email exchange between CJA President Daniel Schwartz and Biss. In the emails, Schwartz criticized City Council and parade organizers for permitting the group to walk.
In response, Biss wrote that the Evanston Fourth of July Association, which organizes the annual parade, independently chose the parade entries. He added that he “strongly support(ed) their decision” to accept Evanston for a Free Palestine’s application to march in this year’s parade.
At Monday night’s meeting, Evanston residents, along with CJA members and representatives, expressed disappointment with Biss’ response to their criticism and condemned the group’s inclusion.
Evanston residents Alisha and Josh Vincent, who attended the parade, said the group created division and alienated Jewish residents.
Alisha Vincent said they “felt compelled to stand up and march” with a sign that read “End Jew Hatred” alongside marchers from Evanston for a Free Palestine, which she claimed spreads “hate and lies about Israel and the Jewish people.”
Josh Vincent criticized a banner that read “Stop the pogroms and free Palestine,” which he called a “gross historical inversion” that “erases Jewish history and recasts the victims as the perpetrators.”
“On a day meant to bring Evanston together, the parade became a scene of division, anger and grief,” he said.
Also during public comment, 6th Ward resident Gavin Wallace said that seeing Evanston for a Free Palestine march in the parade made him feel proud of his city.
“I hear that people are getting scared when they hear freedom,” Wallace said, responding to previous speakers. “I don’t know if the Fourth of July is really for you.”
Biss, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, said he appreciated the range of opinions expressed during public comment, adding they demonstrated the importance of free speech. He said this same principle underlied the parade’s inclusion of Evanston for a Free Palestine.
In a Monday Substack post detailing his perspective, Biss wrote he opposes government censorship of opinions about Israel and Palestine that are “peacefully voiced.” He added that his position has remained consistent regardless of the opinion being expressed, “from the encampments at Northwestern University to the recent local visit by a member of the Israel Defense Forces.”
At Monday’s meeting, the mayor argued that to deny the group’s entry to the parade would have been “un-American” and “a deliberate effort to silence a bunch of Evanstonians.” He also highlighted the ideological diversity within Evanston and its Jewish community.
“As a Jewish person myself, I am personally offended at the idea that others who see the world completely differently than me would purport to speak for the entire Jewish community,” Biss said. “I think we can be better than that.”
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
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