‘Northwestern needs to pay its fair share’: Groups push for community benefits agreement

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to correct Northwestern’s endowment amount, which is $15.4 billion.

About 125 people came to a town hall meeting Sunday at Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center organized by community groups to discuss a hot button topic: Ryan Field.

Community Alliance for Better Government hosted a forum with speakers from Northwestern University Graduate Workers Union, Most Livable City Association and the Fair Share Action committee of Evanston.

None of the speakers seemed to flat-out oppose the construction of a new stadium at Ryan Field.

Instead, they see Northwestern University’s $800-million Ryan Field project as the opportunity to negotiate an agreement between the university and the city.

“All taxpayers carry the burden of supporting Northwestern,” said David Ellis, former co-chair of the Fair Share Action committee of Evanston, who was a speaker at the event.

“We are now at a time where they do have a reason to negotiate,” Ellis continued. “We need to talk to the aldermen and the mayor and express your views of what you think. I’m not saying the stadium is a good idea or bad idea. All I’m saying is the Northwestern needs to pay its fair share, period.”

CABG President Lesley Williams moderated the event. The four-speaker panel introduced themselves for five minutes each. Audience members wrote their questions down on note cards for Williams to read to the panel speakers.

David DeCarlo, a founding member of the Most Livable City Association, asked the audience to show city council support for establishing the task force Payment In Lieu Of Tax, or PILOT.

First Ward City Council Member Clare Kelly, who attended the Feb. 19 event, proposed this task force July last year to the Finance and Budget Committee. The task force would work toward collecting contributions from large tax-exempt organizations like Northwestern.

The committee supported establishing the task force unanimously Aug. 9, 2022.

Kelly told the RoundTable Feb. 20 that forming the task force wasn’t inspired by the Ryan Field project. She wants to hear if Northwestern President Michael Schill is on board with the task force or not before bringing the task force for discussion with the council.

Northwestern’s Executive Director of Neighborhood and Community Relations Dave Davis wasn’t at the event but told the Chicago Tribune the university won’t make payments because as a nonprofit it doesn’t pay property taxes.

(Second Ward Council Member Krissie Harris was at the Feb. 19 event and Seventh Ward Council Member Eleanor Revelle listened via zoom.)

The 2000 Fair Share Referendum was supposed to require Northwestern to pay for its public services and notify the city before it takes a property off the tax rolls, Ellis said.

“We provide police and fire services for them for no cost,” Ellis said.

Shortly after the referendum passed, Northwestern took its 1900 Sherman Ave. property off of the tax rolls, Ellis said. He estimates that property generates between $40,000 and $60,000 in taxes a year.

“They continue to take tax property off the tax rolls,” Ellis said.

Kevin Brown, senior director of external affairs and community partnerships for the Safer Foundation, challenged Northwestern’s promise that 35% of its subcontracted spending will be with Evanston minority- and woman-owned businesses.

In 2015, Brown worked with the university to create a workforce development and training program for African Americans and Latinos, he said. The program helped 24 people get training and full-time employment at the university. But Northwestern terminated the program after four years because the school couldn’t afford it, Brown said.

“I am upset by the fact that they would approach our community with this ruse to say that we’re creating a project now that’s going to create 3,000 jobs, and we’re going to set aside these jobs and target the most disenfranchised in this community,” Brown said. “It’s not believable to me.”

Brown said Northwestern can afford to contribute more to the city. Northwestern has an endowment of $15.4 billion.

Williams added that there hasn’t been much information about the jobs Northwestern is promising to the community, such as how long the jobs will last.

“Another issue with these supposed jobs that are going to be coming to us, do we know if these are going to be good jobs, and do we know if the jobs with the contractors Northwestern is working with are going to be good jobs?”

One strategy that can help ensure that Northwestern will commit to paying its public services, create jobs for the community and invest in Evanston the way residents see fit is through a community benefits agreement.

Northwestern graduate students voted to unionize after the university didn’t voluntarily recognize their union. Emilie Lozier, co-chair of the University Graduate Workers Union, said the union created a team to help support residents in negotiating a benefits agreement.

Undergraduate representatives from Northwestern’s Students Organizing for Labor Rights, who were in the audience, took the microphone to say they support the community negotiating a benefits agreement with the university.

“The best chance of securing these demands is if we turned our bargaining into a joint community effort, in which many of you would have our backs where we have your backs, and apply pressure on Northwestern jointly because it will require organized and concerted pressure,” Lozier said.

“In exchange for the new stadium Northwestern wants, our community should ask for the things that we value,” DeCarlo said. “I’m going to echo a lot of the points that have been made: direct investment in our schools, commitments in writing for local and minority hiring protections for our unions, free access to the stadium plazas, respect for our zoning laws and more.”

The RoundTable spoke with a handful of audience members after the meeting. Many residents who attended supported negotiating a community benefits agreement.

Bob Hercules, a resident of the Seventh Ward, and his friend Andy Berman, from the First Ward, supported committing to a community benefits agreement.

“I’m strongly in favor,” Hercules said. “Northwestern has not contributed to our community for so many years. It’s time to step up. We can leverage this stadium proposal for community agreements.”

Two women, Anthea and Joanne from the Fifth Ward, who didn’t want to provide their last names, said they felt like the Ryan Field project was a done deal and there wasn’t much more time to negotiate. Both women wanted more action from the city council and Mayor Daniel Biss.

“Show us some genuine support,” Joanne added.

Nancy Sreenan, of the Sixth ward, said council members need to speak up on this issue more.

“My aldermen really ran hard on Northwestern paying their fair share, and I just haven’t heard from Thomas Suffredin on this issue at all,” Sreenan said. “Nothing, nada, zip, zero.”