Constituent Services

The thing that makes an alderman stand out is their commitment to serving their constituents—whether it’s a call about a nuisance property, the need for city services or seeking information.

Ann’s Great 8th Message Board provides an online portal to interact with their neighbors and the alderman. This tool serves as a way for Ann to share targeted information and respond to concerns or issues on a daily basis—and currently has more than 41,100 messages. In addition to using this digital public forum, Ann schedules meetings to discuss large projects happening in the ward or are focused to specific neighborhoods or concerns.

One of the major concerns along the southern border of the city is the need for additional parking. Many of these neighborhoods are comprised of multi-family buildings and no, or little, on-site parking. In her tenure, Ann has arranged for streets to be widened and increase parking on both sides of Clyde and more recently the 100 block of Callan. In the same neighborhood, the city operates a surface parking lot that is in high demand, but not used to capacity. By reworking the Lot 18 parking plan, Ann got the city to place off-street metered parking available to any resident of Evanston for a nominal fee.

She created a new parking lot on Howard to provide more parking for the Howard Street businesses. During snow emergencies, she coordinates free garage parking with AMITA St Francis Hospital to help get cars off the streets to allow plows to do their job.

Because the 8th Ward sits on Evanston’s southern border, neighbors are often impacted by the conditions on the Chicago side. Ann has fought alongside Chicago’s 49th Ward alderman to hold landlords accountable for property standards and has organized bus trips to the Loop to court hearings. The court agreed with the neighbors, and the property was redeveloped to the new Wingman restaurant.

Ann facilitates discussion between residents and other governmental bodies as well. Recently, homeowners along the Skokie Swift raised concerns about increased noise coming from the trains, and Ann was able to coordinate a meeting between the neighbors and CTA. She has set up forums with Cook County to help with property tax appeals, promoted affordable housing options and partnered with Ridgeville Park District to host Bike the Ridge and the very popular Brummel Park Food Truck Fest and Starlight Concert.

Ann knows that city staff references can present challenges for residents, especially during COVID shutdowns when many are working from home. The city staff is extremely professional and competent but sometimes things get caught up in the bureaucracy. She regularly assists on getting permits moving again. Whether it’s approval for the construction of a new garage on Harvard, getting inspections for pergola on Brummel or lifting restrictions on additional block parties during COVID, Ann spends many hours each week on the phone and email to help constituents.

Another regular concern is fighting pests. Evanston has a large and diverse wildlife presence—and that includes some problematic critters—squirrels, skunks, raccoons, possums and rats. But by far, the largest number of complaints are about rats. She has coordinated with neighbors and health department to reduce the rat population, particularly in the Clyde-Callan neighborhood. Ann has assisted staff on the city’s Rat Patrol to help identify issues that attract vermin, install secured bait stations and prevent further spread.

When a major development is proposed for the ward, Ann brings neighbors and developers together to create a forum where the project can be presented and residents able to ask questions and raise concerns. Most recently, there were several meetings about the redevelopment of the old Dairy Queen lot, and Ann has facilitated on-going dialogue between neighbors and the developer.

Ann is very supportive of the award-winning Levy Senior Center and the generous work of the Levy Senior Center Foundation in rehabbing the facility. The Center, which offers a wide variety of programs and classes, is currently remodeling the building room-by-room to better serve Evanston seniors.

COVID challenges have forced everyone to change their lives. Ann keeps residents informed about the mitigation plans by the state and city, and shares info about programs to support residents and businesses. Although many meetings have moved online, Ann has continued to host meetings about the important issues in the city. Keeping residents up-to-date about the city’s testing and vaccination plans has been key to helping fight COVID in the city.

She recognized the challenges faced by many businesses in the ward, but sought to find opportunities to lessen the impact. Restaurants could operate with outdoor dining, takeout and curbside pick-up, but sometimes needed assistance to adapt. Ann worked to get outside space for Good to Go Jamaican Cuisine and North Shore Cider Company on Howard by removing parking spaces for a parklet. And Ward Eight posed a unique challenge because takeout cocktails are not legal. Ann wanted to help them and through her efforts, cocktails-to-go are now available on weekends.

Issues: Economic Development | Affordable Housing | Equity & Social Justice | City Finances