Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl returned to Evanston after a three-day visit to Washington, DC to attend the 79th winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors.
Mayor Tisdahl attended a variety of meetings and functions while at the conference, among them a joint delegation of mayors meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, lunch with Senator Dick Durbin and a meeting with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.
At the White House, the mayors stressed the importance of continued funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and the need for continued focus by the Obama administration on issues impacting cities. The Mayor thanked Sen. Durbin for his continued support of issues important to Evanston and asked for his continued support for the City’s application to open a Federally Qualified Health Center with Chicago-based Erie Family Health Center in Evanston. She reported that he pledged his continued support.
The Mayor discussed the FQHC with Congresswoman Schakowsky as well. The two also talked about “issues related to violent crime in Evanston.” The Congresswoman pledged her support on both issues. Mayor Tisdahl said she was especially surprised and impressed that when she arrived in Rep. Schakowsky’s Capitol office, the only ones there were the Congresswoman and her Spanish tutor. Rep. Schakowsky has been studying Spanish for years.
Mayor Tisdahl is also a member of the Mayors’ Coalition Against Illegal Guns, which endorsed HR 308, a measure that would limit the number of bullets a gun magazine can hold to ten.
As a member of the Mayor’s Water Council, she discussed the issue chromium levels in water with the EPA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Quality Issues and was assured that no changes in EPA regulations on the subject were planned for the near term.