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By Cherranda Smith
Jun 4, 2021
Earlier this year, Evanston, Illinois became the first city to offer its Black residents reparations, now those residents are rejecting the program. “It’s not reparations,” longtime Evanston resident
NBC News. “And that’s for sure,” Giles, a retired Chicago Public Schools educator, added.
Giles automatically qualified for the $25,000 reparations payment since she lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969, but she, like many other eligible residents, are hesitant because of the program’s racism and lack of community input.
Hundreds of Black residents have shown their support for an online group called Evanston Rejects Racist Reparations, where they’ve demanded the program stop and go under re-evaluation.
City Council tabled an ordinance Monday to replace the Board of Ethics with a Special Counsel, an independent attorney who would investigate complaints of ethics violations by city officials and employees.
Council members discussed who would be in charge of reviewing ethics violations. Ald. Cicely Fleming (9th) said residents should be involved in making decisions about the complaints.
Fleming said the city should consider modeling its process off of Skokie, which employs citizens, two of whom Corporation Counsel Nicholas Cummings said are lawyers, as part of its Ethics Commission. In Skokie, the commission has an Ethics Adviser who may be an employee or officer of the city and is appointed by the Village President.
UpdatedWed, May 12, 2021 at 11:10 am CT
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The Evanston City Council chambers sat empty Monday evening as the outgoing mayor and City Council met online for about two hours before the new council arrived in person to be sworn into office. (Jonah Meadows/Patch)
EVANSTON, IL In its final action before farewells and final remarks from the outgoing 80th Evanston City Council Monday, an ordinance to eliminate the Evanston Ethics Board and replace it with a special counsel failed by a single vote.
Under the proposal, complaints would be investigated and prosecuted by a single appointed attorney, with hearings held before an administrative hearing officer instead of an appointed tribunal of residents.
Evanston Now
Senior apartments to carry alderman’s name
The 60-unit affordable senior apartment building under construction at 1015 Howard St. was named this afternoon for retiring 8th Ward Alderman Ann Rainey.
Alderman Ann Rainey with developer David Block.
The 60-unit affordable senior apartment building under construction at 1015 Howard St. was named this afternoon for retiring 8th Ward Alderman Ann Rainey.
Developer David Block of Evergreen Real Estate Group said the name would honor “one of the most dedicated public servants that I’ve ever worked with.”
Dozens of people turned out for the dedication ceremony.
Mayor Steve Hagerty said, “You can be an elected official, and you can stand up there and vote ‘no’ to lots and lots of things, or you can be an elected official who has vision, who understands the partnerships that you need with the private sector, with the non-profit community, with the faith community, and you can get a hel