Equity & Social Justice

Ann has been involved in fighting for civil rights for women, persons of color the LGBTQ+ community for more than 50 years.

Making reparations to communities of color

Serving with Ald. Robin Rue Simmons (5th) and Peter Braithwaite (2nd), Ann has brought innovative solutions to the Council's Reparations Subcommittee. She proposed that the Evanston Reparations Project be funded through the 3% recreational cannabis tax. Because communities of color have borne the brunt of the “war on drugs” it is fitting that income generated through the legal sale of cannabis help pay the debt owed to those communities. She supports the call for social equity by getting cannabis licenses into the hands of minorities. Under the leadership of Ald. Rue Simmons, the Reparations Subcommittee received the 2020 Route Fifty Navigator Award. This award honors excellence for implementing creative solutions to improve local communities.

Policing the police

Residents of the 8th Ward regularly depend on officers to assist with quality of life issues and emergency situations. Ann is committed to scrutinizing the police department budget and exploring how our police interact with the residents they are sworn to protect and serve. Where there are areas to cut spending, she will vote to make those cuts, but she is opposed to just slashing the budget by a random percentage.

Ann is interested in the reforms being explored by the Alternative Emergency Response Subcommittee which would provide a non-police response to certain calls for service. There are numerous details to work out, but she views this as a potential alternative to dispatching police officers.

Issues: Economic Development | Constituent Services | Affordable Housing | City Finances