Approximately 13,000 Evanston residents cast ballots in last Tuesday’s municipal elections, a drop in voter turnout since the 2017 election, City Clerk Devon Reid said at City Council Monday night. This year, around 25 percent of the city’s registered voters cast a ballot a 5 percent increase from the voter turnout in the February.
Evanston Now
Recap: Administration and Public Works Committee
Here s a recap of our live coverage of this afternoon s Evanston City Council Administration and Public Works Committee meeting.
The meeting is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
A packet with information on the agenda items is available online.
Meeting called to order at 4:03 p.m.
Alderman Tom Suffredin, 6th Ward, is chairing the meeting. Aldermen Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, and Cicely Fleming, 9th Ward, are also present.
No speakers present for public comment.
Consent agenda
Suffredin asks to have A17 and A21 removed
With those exceptions, consent calendar is approved.
Back to public comment … Mike Vasilko objects to various items.
After months of campaigning, and a tumultuous final four weeks leading up to the generals, Evanston’s 2021 municipal elections came to a close Tuesday night.
When the dust settled, City Council saw three new aldermen emerge with a potential fourth leading in a race that remains too close to call.
As of Wednesday night, the margin of victory in three races is within 100 votes. Candidates in the 1st, 2nd and 8th wards are waiting as remaining mail-in ballots trickle in, votes that could decide the race. Approximately 3,000 mail-in ballots were sent out to residents, and those votes can be postmarked as late as April 6, meaning some may still be in transit.
Ald. Cicely Fleming (9th) was re-elected Tuesday night to serve another term on City Council after running unopposed.
Fleming, who was first elected to the seat in 2017, will serve the 9th Ward from 2021 to 2025. She was the only candidate without an opponent this year in an election cycle where a slate of progressive candidates challenged most incumbents on the council. These newcomers saw some early success, ousting Alds. Don Wilson (4th) and Ann Rainey (8th) in the February primary.
2021 saw the highest number of aldermanic candidates since 1993, the year Evanston switched from two representatives per ward to one.
Fleming, who is also a founding member of the Organization for Positive Action and Leadership, recently opposed the city’s implementation of the Restorative Housing Reparations Program on the grounds that the program should not be called reparations.