Open Letter from President Bienen to the Evanston Community
Dear Evanston Community Members:
The Evanston City Council last week voted 5-4 to reject a settlement in the lawsuit Northwestern University filed challenging the creation of the Northeast Evanston Historic District by the City of Evanston. The settlement, negotiated on behalf of the City by three aldermen, was reached after several sessions mediated by former U.S. Appellate Court Judge Abner Mikva. Negotiators for both sides agreed to the terms. Yet the agreement was voted down by a majority of the aldermen, including two of those - Ald. Arthur Newman and Ald. Eugene Feldman - who were members of the City's negotiating team. Northwestern representatives negotiated in good faith; did the aldermen?
According to its proponents, the Northeast Evanston Historic District was created to recognize the development of single-family homes in northeast Evanston in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From the time the historic district was first proposed, Northwestern offered reasonable compromise proposals that would have included most of the University's property in the proposed district. All those suggestions have been summarily rejected. And while hundreds of other property owners who objected to having their property in the district were excluded, Northwestern's similar requests went unheeded.
Under the negotiated settlement, 42 of 56 University properties would have remained in the historic district, while such structures as a residence hall built in the 1970s, a gymnasium built in the 1980s and faculty office buildings built in the 1990s would have been removed from the district. Even when the City insisted that such "historic" structures as an asphalt basketball court and a parking lot remain in the district, Northwestern agreed, in hopes of reaching a settlement.
So why did the majority of the City Council reject the settlement its own members had crafted? Ald. Newman said he voted against it because he didn't like the comments made to the Northwestern student newspaper by a University official about electoral redistricting, a totally unrelated subject. At a time when the City struggles to balance its budget - and faces huge payments resulting from other lawsuits it has recently lost - does this explanation justify a "no" vote on the settlement and spending hundreds of thousands more of taxpayers' dollars on this lawsuit?
I firmly believe Northwestern cannot thrive without a healthy Evanston and Evanston cannot prosper without a successful Northwestern. We have established strong partnerships with Evanston's schools, the business community and many other organizations. Those partnerships benefit Evanston in many ways. Northwestern is criticized for not cooperating more with the City. This latest action by the Council illustrates clearly why we find it so difficult to work with the majority of the aldermen - even after negotiating an agreement mediated by a federal judge, the City did not keep its word. Nevertheless, the University remains hopeful that a settlement is possible, and we continue to be committed to trying to develop a partnership with the City for the betterment of Evanston.
Henry S. Bienen
President