I agree with Mike Vasilko (letter posted) and with Mary Rosinski’s comment: “The one thing residents wanted was to be in the loop and I thought there would be more interaction with residents as you evaluated and eliminated candidates and moved forward.”

I don’t understand why you are making these major decisions that will affect everyone in Evanston without  some major input from the community.

Your three budget discussions were not really budget discussions, just more of the same presentations that we saw last year and again this year.

And three 30-minute time slots set aside to discuss what you wanted to ask us does not begin to address budget issues that are plaguing us now.

So, why are residents not allowed to participate  in the budget process

or hiring a new City Manager

or if we should spend $50 million on a new community center?

You know, in my short four-and-a-half years here in Evanston,  and all of the talk back and forth about the new Robert Crown Center,  I have not heard even one person say that they agree with spending $50 million on the new RCC or whether that is the best use of  our  tax dollars. 

What happened to that dialogue we keep talking about?

Ray Friedman