Several members of the city’s Finance & Budget Committee took its chairman to task at their meeting Tuesday, Dec. 13, for sending a letter to the mayor and council members […]
Author Archives: Bob Seidenberg
Bob Seidenberg is an award-winning reporter covering issues in Evanston for more than 30 years. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.
Posted inCity News
Council approves $395 million budget with pension funding at 100%
A precedent-setting $395 million 2023 budget was unanimously approved by Evanston’s City Council Monday, Dec. 12, and includes a plan to put public safety pension contributions on a 100% funding […]
Posted inCity News
Rules Committee rejects proposal to expand Referrals Committee
A City Council member’s proposal to expand the size of the city’s Referrals Committee, giving the group greater representation as it assigns items for public discussion, failed to move forward at […]
Posted inBusiness & Economy
Economic Development backs two businesses with big plans
Two businesses are asking the city to help them with big plans. And last week, they cleared the latest hurdle on the way to to the City Council to ensure funding approval.
Posted inBusiness & Economy
Bookends & Beginnings asks city for $475,000 to move from Bookman’s Alley
Bookends & Beginnings, celebrated as Evanston’s hidden gem and a must-stop destination for book lovers visiting downtown, faces an uncertain next chapter after a city committee backed only a portion of its funding request Wednesday, Nov. 30, for a move to a new location.
Posted inCity News
Residents play important role in rat control, city says
Many may associate rats with mid-summer or even deep winter, after spotting one hot-trotting across an alley after lunching on food scraps from an overflowing dumpster. But in fact, the […]
Posted inCity News
City Council moves to get ahead of decades-long pension curve
Evanston City Council members voted Monday night to place funding of police and fire pensions on a 100% track, a step forward toward addressing one of the city’s biggest financial liabilities […]
Posted inCity News
Creating a new political map is a real balancing effort
Wards Eighth and Ninth sit next to each other on the southern edge of the city. Ward Eighth, with 8,845 people, according to the 2020 Census, weighs in at just above […]
Posted inBudgets
City Council wrestles with pension funding, possible property tax hike
Evanston City Council members may consider a small property tax increase to firm up the plan to fund police and fire pensions at 100% the actuarial required amount. Officials have estimated […]
Posted inCity News
Library statement acknowledges land’s Indigenous history
Evanston Public Library officials led off their regular board meeting at the main library Nov. 16 with a reading of a land acknowledgment statement, recognizing that Evanston and the library facilities are on the land of Indigenous people.