The Most Livable City Association (MLCA), a non-profit focused on quality of life for all communities in and around Evanston and advocating for accountability in local government, today issued a list of ten urgent questions for City of Evanston officials. It called on Mayor Daniel Biss and members of the City Council to provide answers quickly, so that community members can evaluate whether the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the new Ryan Field protects Evanston’s interests.
“For months, Mayor Biss and certain City Council members have been making backroom deals, trading away zoning protections and hiding from public scrutiny,” said MCLA President David DeCarlo. “These discussions have not included community members most impacted by the zoning change, nor have they included the community groups that expressed concerns about a benefits package for the stadium.”
Supporters of NU’s new “public benefits” package have claimed it is worth $157 million. But last night, Northwestern’s Chief Operating Officer Luke Figora admitted that “certain councilmembers may have come to their own math” regarding the value of the deal. Figora refused to attach “a specific price tag” to it, the Daily Northwestern reported.
The purpose of these “Ten Questions,” added DeCarlo, is to “elicit important information about how decisions regarding the stadium have been made. The community deserves transparency and honest dealing from its elected leaders.”
MLCA’s Ten Questions are:
1. When did Mayor Biss start negotiating with representatives of Northwestern and/or Pat Ryan and when did he make a deal with them for his vote?
2. Why does the agreement effectively bar the City of Evanston from ever changing the zoning again by letting Northwestern sue to stop the City from doing so?
3. Why does the agreement let Northwestern stop paying all the purported public benefits if the Citylater changes the zoning?
4. Why does the agreement allow Northwestern to reduce the public benefits “at Northwestern’s discretion” if the City imposes “unreasonable restraints” on concerts?
5. Would enforcing local and state laws against noise pollution constitute “unreasonable restraints”?
6. Why does the agreement fail to specify significant penalties if Northwestern violates its provisions on security, traffic, and other measures designed to protect residents?
7. Why is there still no reimbursement schedule detailing how Northwestern will pay the City for police, fire, and parking enforcement services?
8. Why is Northwestern making its “Good Neighbor Fund” payments to the City contingent on rezoning when its peer universities make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to their hometowns without demanding to rewrite their laws?
9. Why is Northwestern giving nothing to Evanston’s public schools (the only purported public benefit for schools would come from a surcharge on concertgoers) when it can afford to pay the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) $1.2 million to come play a single football game?
10. The Johnson Consulting report commissioned by the City cited “a number of questions that remain unanswered in the transportation analysis. It is recommended that the transportation analysis be revised….” Why haven’t these questions been addressed before granting a permanent zoning change?
To learn more about the Most Livable City Association, visit its website: https://www.mostlivablecity.org. Donations are welcome.
