SEA TO HOLD 1st and 3rd Ward Candidate Forums on Tuesday, January 7th.

Please plan to join us and submit your questions.

December 7, 2024
 
Dear SEA Members,
 
The Board of the Southeast Evanston Association (SEA) would like to thank you for your interest in our community.   On Tuesday, January 7th, Josh Bowes Carlson, SEA President, will be moderating a town hall style forum for the 1st and 3rd ward candidates for the April 1st City Municipal Election.  
The SEA Board will provide each candidate with questions in advance, as well as soliciting questions from community members.  We welcome your questions at info@southeastevanston.org. We will accept community questions up through January 2, 2025.  You will find our mission statements below and we suggest you attempt to frame your questions around them.  

The webinar link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81195211653.  The 3rd ward candidates will be speaking from 7 - 8 PM and the 1st ward candidates will be speaking from 8 - 9 PM. 

SEA and its Board aims to fulfill these essential tenets of our bylaws with the help of our members:
*Preserve the essentially residential character of Southeast Evanston through developing citizen participation in the processes of city zoning and planning.
 
*Maintain and improve practices and regulations affecting Evanston land use.
 
*Aid in the solution of community problems and encourage informed citizen participation in community affairs.
 
*Foster research, education and study of various aspects of legislation directly affecting our community.
 
*Provide a clearinghouse for information on community affairs.
 
*Actively monitoring development along the lakefront, as well as events and uses that are scheduled and requested. We believe in an active, healthy and vibrant lakefront, that allows people to freely enjoy nature without overcrowding or misuse.
 
We welcome thoughts, concerns and efforts to collaborate with our organization.  Our email address is info@southeastevanston.org.
 
 
Sincerely,
Josh Bowes-Carlson, SEA President
Martha Ash, SEA Vice President
Zafiro Papastratakos, SEA Treasurer
Mimi Roeder, SEA Secretary
Jean Prindiville, SEA Board Member
Marcus Thimm, SEA Board Member
John Walsh, SEA Board Member
Laurie Zoloth, SEA Board Member

December 9, 2024 - Chicago Avenue Corridor Project

Dear SEA Members,
 
First, Third and Fourth Ward residents have been invited to attend a meeting about the Chicago Avenue Corridor Project. It will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow, Dec. 10, in Room B/C of the Robert Crown Community Center.
 
As part of the project, there is a proposal to extend the protect bike lane at the north end of Chicago Avenue all the way to Howard Street. Some local shops are concerned that removing parking spaces to enable this route would negatively impact their business. They are instead proposing a route that would traverse the length of Hinman or Judson Avenues, then turn west on Clark Street to reconnect with the existing bike lane.
 
This alternative proposal does not take into account the potential impact that implementing a bike lane on Hinman or Judson might have. We are concerned that it would disrupt traffic, remove parking and otherwise negatively impact the residential character of these First and Third Ward neighborhoods.
 
We believe this alternative proposal is both hasty and unnecessary. When the existing protect bike lane on Chicago Avenue was installed, city staff successfully identified additional parking spaces nearby to reduce its impact on shops and tenants. A similarly approach here would seem to be reasonable and has yet to be considered. It is also worth noting that the bike lane's primary purpose is to serve Northwestern University students cycling to and from campus. To divert them away from the most direct route would appear to decrease their access to local businesses. At the same time, they are more likely to remain on Chicago Avenue, where they would not be protected and thus face increased safety hazards.
 
We suggest you contact Council Members Wynne, Kelly and Nieuwsma to voice your thoughts on this important issue.

City Council Email list:

dbiss@cityofevanston.org, ckelly@cityofevanston.org, dreid@cityofevanston.org, mwynne@cityofevanston.org, kharris@cityofevanston.org, erevelle@cityofevanston.org, jnieuwsma@cityofevanston.org, bburns@cityofevanston.org, tsuffredin@cityofevanston.org, jgeracaris@cityofevanston.org

We welcome thoughts, concerns and efforts to collaborate with our organization.  Our email address is info@southeastevanston.org.
 
 
Sincerely,
Josh Bowes-Carlson, SEA President
Martha Ash, SEA Vice President
Zafiro Papastratakos, SEA Treasurer
Mimi Roeder, SEA Secretary
Jean Prindiville, SEA Board Member
Marcus Thimm, SEA Board Member
John Walsh, SEA Board Member
Laurie Zoloth, SEA Board Member
 

October 2024

We were excited to hear again this year from Evanston’s Director of Parks and Recreation, Audrey Thompson.

If you weren’t able to join us for the Live Webcast, please take a few moments to watch our interview, available in the link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/BEY_nB_dEaCQrn2LWcdkP--oaZkPacJFo9wH9StCMD0LWVcyX8sjNeWiG-l3-Pza.ynK6HSTI9IdDETSk

Passcode: aCy?J!F6.

A few takeaways from our conversation with Ms. Thompson include that she wants the Parks & Recreation Department to be a good neighbor to all community members. She said that if there is a noise disruption coming from a park, school yard or even from a neighbor, Evanstonians should call the non-emergency police line to report the matter. The police should come out to ask for a lower noise level. At about the 15 minute mark, there is a lengthy discussion of alcohol service in parks and community centers and the desire by the city to gain an Illinois State License to purchase, sell and pour alcohol. At about the 26 minute mark, Ms. Thompson goes into great detail about the number of lakefront events, the evolution of the size and tenor of the events and details about future events. Finally, Ms. Thompson asks that anyone who has further questions or concerns to please reach out to her directly. We hope to post those questions and answers on our website in the coming weeks. Ms. Thompson can be reached at athompson@cityofevanston.org or by calling the city’s 311 line.
 

2024 - 2025 - New Board Officers Elected at our October Meeting

The SEA Board is looking always looking for new members. If you are interested in taking time to advocate for the important issues that define Southeast Evanston, please consider reaching out to us at info@southeastevanston.org, for more information.

Josh Bowes-Carlson, SEA President

Martha Ash, SEA Vice President

Zafiro Papastratakos, SEA Treasurer

Mimi Roeder, SEA Secretary

Jean Prindiville, SEA Board Member

Marcus Thimm, SEA Board Member

John Walsh, SEA Board Member

Laurie Zoloth, SEA Board Member

September 2024

The SEA has worked on several matters in the past 6 months, with some success. In the spring, we contacted the City Council to urge them to vote down a proposal to legalize gaming machines in local bars and restaurants; the City Council voted against the measure 5 - 2. Additionally, we have be in touch with city officials regarding the high number of lakefront events that took place this summer. While we are not sure of the impact we made, we are continuing to engage officials in conversations about the future of the lakefront, lakefront concessions and activities. Additionally, we have called for greater transparency within various city offices and even been in touch with the new city Website Manager to urge swift updates to very old or missing data.

The SEA hopes the community and its members will look to this website as a resources for current city matters of concern and policy statements that align with our mission:

*Preserve the essentially residential character of Southeast Evanston through developing citizen participation in the processes of city zoning and planning.

 *Maintain and improve practices and regulations affecting Evanston land use.

 *Aid in the solution of community problems and encourage informed citizen participation in community affairs.

 *Foster research, education and study of various aspects of legislation directly affecting our community.

 *Provide a clearinghouse for information on community affairs.

 *Actively monitoring development along the lakefront, as well as events and uses that are scheduled and requested. We believe in an active, healthy and vibrant lakefront, that allows people to freely enjoy nature without overcrowding or misuse

We welcome thoughts, concerns and efforts to collaborate with our organization.  Our email address is info@southeastevanston.org.

 Sincerely,

Josh Bowes-Carlson, SEA President

Martha Ash, SEA Board Member

Zafiro Papastratakos, SEA Board Member

Jean Prindiville, SEA Board Member

Mimi Roeder, SEA Board Member

Marcus Thimm, SEA Board Member

John Walsh, SEA Board Member

Laurie Zoloth, SEA Board Member

City of Evanston Helpful Tools and Information -

City Council Email list:

dbiss@cityofevanston.org, ckelly@cityofevanston.org, dreid@cityofevanston.org, mwynne@cityofevanston.org, kharris@cityofevanston.org, erevelle@cityofevanston.org, jnieuwsma@cityofevanston.org, bburns@cityofevanston.org, tsuffredin@cityofevanston.org, jgeracaris@cityofevanston.org

City Portal with up to date information

https://cityofevanston.civicweb.net/Portal/Default.aspx

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