Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl formally announced that she will not stand for re-election next April, confirming an announcement she made on Twitter last week. She made the announcement in July, she said, because she wanted to give any candidate considering a run for mayor a clear and early message and time to put a campaign together.
Candidates cannot begin soliciting signatures on petitions seeking an Evanston elected office until September, with those petitions due in December.
Mayor Tisdahl was elected mayor in April 2009 after serving as the Seventh Ward alderman and as president of the Evanston Township High School Board. She credited former Mayor Lorraine Morton with encouraging and persuading her to run in 2008, saying “I certainly never thought of it on my own.”
Mayor Tisdahl said, “I have loved every minute” of her time serving as Evanston mayor, including even time meeting with the mothers of victims of violent crime. She praised the grace and strength of Evanston mothers. “People say you could not possibly love every single minute of it,” she said, “but I have.”
Mayor Tisdahl has presided over a time of relatively harmonious City Councils, and she praised both City staff and her fellow Council members, including those who retired during her term, for such harmony. “I have been honored to represent this City,” she said.
But her term is not over, she emphasized. “There is plenty of work to do between now and May” when the new mayor will take office, she said, “so let’s do the work.”
As for what’s next, Mayor Tisdahl made it clear that she will remain active in the community in some capacity. “It is time for new adventures, it’s not a farewell.”