Wednesday, April 13, 2022  |   View in browser

4th Ward Meeting and News

Greetings neighbors,

Spring is finally here—isn’t it nice to have sunshine and start to see some green? It’s been a busy month in the Fourth Ward with the city manager recruitment process and the discussion around Margarita Inn. See below for an update on those two topics and come out to the ward meeting on Thursday for that and more!

-Jonathan

Ward Meeting, April 14

Thursday, April 14, 7 p.m.
Robert Crown Community Center, Room D
Also broadcast on Facebook Live here (thanks Dan Coyne)

Tentative Agenda:

• City Manager Search
• Personnel Updates
• Margarita
• Grey Park/Albany Care
• Sustainability Update
• ARPA Update

City Manager Search

Quick summary: City Council is planning second interviews with four semifinalists in a few weeks. We’ll narrow the field down to two or three finalists and then do a round of public engagement as soon as that can be scheduled. If all goes well, we’ll have a new city manager by the end of June.

More detail: Building on the work that the previous recruiting firm had done last fall, the new firm, Stanton Chase, developed a recruitment profile in February and performed a targeted, nationwide search which identified 75 potential candidates. Of those, a dozen or so passed initial screening and their resumes were shared with the City Council on March 28. From that list, we invited six candidates to Evanston for in-person interviews the evenings of April 5 - 7. (That’s why we had to reschedule the ward meeting.) Of those six, one individual dropped out because they weren’t willing to go through a public engagement process, so we interviewed five. We’re inviting four back for second interviews with the Council on April 22 and 26.

We’ll narrow the field down to two or three finalists and then present them to the community as soon as we can get that scheduled, likely early May. We’ll finalize the details of the public engagement process once we select the finalists. We may streamline the public process a little from what we did last time—a town hall, three stakeholder panels, and a final round of council interviews—but for sure the community will have a chance to provide feedback before Council makes the final selection. Once Council has made the selection, we then have to negotiate contract details, allow the new person to give notice at their current job, and relocate. I expect the new city manager will be in place by mid-June at the earliest, hopefully not much longer than that at the latest.

Let’s keep in mind that throughout this process we’re pitching Evanston to potential city managers just as much as they’re pitching themselves to us. I was pleased that one of the semifinalists remarked on how friendly everyone in town was when she spent time in town before her interview—thanks to whoever it was who smiled and made her feel welcome!

Margarita Inn

Photo credit: Adina Keeling, Evanston RoundTable

In case you haven’t been following this issue I’ll bring you up to speed:  Connections for the Homeless, operating at Margarita Inn, has been providing housing for people in need since the beginning of the pandemic. Connections would like to purchase the property and make this a permanent arrangement. To do that they’ll need zoning approval from the City, which wasn’t required under the pandemic emergency declaration.

At first it seemed like Connections might be able to obtain the zoning permission through a purely administrative process, and it didn’t feel right to me that such a weighty decision would be made without any public engagement. That’s why I convened the community discussion on March 13, which drew over two hundred residents. I was pleased with the spirited yet mostly respectful conversation—thanks to all who participated. It’s safe to say that while there are many 4^th ward residents who support the concept, others will not be supportive until we address real impacts to the neighborhood.

As it turns out, the zoning division made the determination that they could not grant permission administratively and that Connections will have to go through the formal special use approval process which can take several months or more. After receiving the application, the City will schedule a hearing before the Land Use Commission and mail official notices to nearby properties. From the Land Use Commission, the application then goes to City Council for final approval.

That brings us to where we are today. Connections has not yet filed a special use application and is not planning to do so until after they’ve done more community outreach and stakeholder engagement—without broad community support, this project can’t be successful. As they mentioned at the March 13 meeting, Connections is planning to develop a “Good Neighbor Agreement” to memorialize their commitments to the community and to define clear channels of communication. This process will allow Connections to better understand community impacts and determine how they can be addressed while also maintaining the best quality of care for their participants. The original timeline for the Good Neighbor process has been pushed back; dates TBD at this point but coming soon.

While Connections is taking the time to do their stakeholder engagement, the City has some homework to do as well. We’ll use this time to research similar operations in other communities, so we have a fully informed perspective on what best practices in homeless facility management look like, and what that means in terms of community impact. The special use process allows the City to put conditions on zoning approval, so this might be a legal mechanism to mitigate negative impacts. What could those conditions be? Staffing levels and ratios, admissions restrictions, program requirements, neighborhood litter patrols, neighborhood communications, security, etc.? Maybe some of these ideas aren’t as good as they seem and maybe some fit better into the Good Neighbor Agreement, which itself could be a condition of special use. We’ll have many opportunities to address these questions as the process unfolds.

A number of you have asked about my position. Bottom line: I would like to see this work. The need for a permanent facility to house people in need on a short-term basis has long been acknowledged in Evanston, and now we have an opportunity to do the right thing. But we shouldn’t do it unless we do it right. First and foremost, doing it right means providing safe and stable housing for people who would otherwise be on the street. But doing it right also means significantly minimizing any negative impacts, which are real and felt most keenly in the immediate neighborhood. We’re not there yet, but I believe we can get there if we work collaboratively and as a community.

So what can you do?

1. Stay informed and stay tuned for future neighborhood meetings dedicated to this topic. (We’ll cover this at the ward meeting Thursday but will have other items on the agenda as well.)
2. Let me know your thoughts.
3. Let me know if you’d like to serve on the Good Neighborhood Agreement working group.

Evanston Beach Passes Now Available

The City of Evanston's Parks and Recreation Department has announced that Evanston beach passes are now available. Beaches will open for the season Memorial Day weekend.

To ensure all community members can access and enjoy Evanston public swimming beaches, the City will provide free season beach passes to Evanston residents. Residents can pick up passes for their household with proof of residency (60201 & 60202) from the Robert Crown Community Center, Levy Senior Center, Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, Ecology Center, and Chandler-Newberger Community Center during their office hours. Passes are available now and will remain available throughout the summer. Passes will not be available at the Morton Civic Center.

Proof of residency may include a driver's license or most recent utility bill. Evanston high school students may show their school ID to receive a free season pass.

Celebrate Earth Month in April with Community Events

Help celebrate Earth Month by participating in community events throughout April!

Each year, Earth Month brings together millions of people throughout the world to celebrate environmental progress, educate each other about stewardship and justice, and advocate for sustainable policies and practices. By participating in Earth Month locally, you help support implementation of Evanston's Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP).

Community Events

Tuesday Repair Café - Tuesday, April 19, 10 a.m. to noon
Attend Evanston Public Library's smaller repair event at the Robert Crown Branch Library, where Repair Café volunteers can spend more time working with you to fix your small appliance/general repair item. Sign up!

Get your bike ready for Spring! - Thursday, April 21, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
In this hands-on workshop at the Robert Crown Branch Library, bike mechanic Liam Ouweleen from Wheel & Sprocket Evanston will show how to get our bikes ready for spring. Bring your bike and leave ready to ride!

10-Second Climate Film Festival - Friday, April 22, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Join D65 Climate Action Teams and Citizens’ Greener Evanston in celebrating Earth Week with a 10-second Film Festival at Rotary International, 1560 Sherman Ave.

Ecology Center Celebration - Saturday, April 23, 10 a.m. to noon
Stop by the Evanston Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Blvd., for family-friendly activities.

Self-Organized Neighborhood Clean Up - Saturday, April 23
Clean up a park or public space in your neighborhood. Volunteers can pick up gloves and trash bags at the Evanston Ecology Center or Robert Crown Community Center beginning Thurs., April 21.

How to Talk to Children about Climate Change - Wednesday, May 4, 7 p.m.
Join Genie Albina, Earth Week Environmental Curriculum lead, for a workshop at the Robert Crown Branch Library focusing on how to age-appropriately talk to your children about climate change at home.

Jonathan Nieuwsma    
Councilmember, 4th Ward
jnieuwsma@cityofevanston.org
www.cityofevanston.org