Evanston ward meeting tackles ballot questions, vacancies

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Rosemary Jean-Paul, the township's executive director, spoke in support of continued township government at a Second Ward meeting on Thursday night. | Bob Seidenberg ~ Staff Writer

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Updated: March 17, 2012 8:15AM

Residents pumped one of the new owners of the Evanston Plaza Shopping Center Thursday night for details about his group’s plans to get the vacancy-ridden retail center moving again.

They also had plenty of energy left over to question city and school officials about their referendums on the March 20 ballot, at a lively Second Ward meeting.

“Look at this turnout,” said District 65 School Board member Jerome Summers, one of the invited speakers, scanning the full house of residents who packed into the district’s board room at the J.E.H. Education Center. “This is fantastic. I mean the Second Ward has shown up.”

More than show up, residents asked a wide range, and at times, pointed questions of developer Scott Inbinder, principal with the Bonnie Investment Group. The firm bought the Evanston Plaza Shopping Center, at Dempster and Dodge, out of foreclosure last December.

Inbinder’s response didn’t minimize the challenge ahead: to repopulate the struggling shopping center, which has about 213,000 square feet of leasable space.

“While I’d like to say immediately, it’s not the case,” he said. “It’s probably going to take a while.”

Tenants are much more careful in the current economy where they choose to locate, Inbinder explained. They scrutinize area demographics, existing uses in a center, and proximity to other locations, he added.

Evanston Plaza also faces competition from “regional shopping centers,” such as Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, and downtown Evanston. Retailers, he said, may already have stores and are concerned about “cannibalizing sales,” if they place another nearby.

Inbinder was asked about the Dominick’s grocery store, the current anchor at the site, and the authority it wields related to tenant attraction.

The issue was highlighted by Bea Rashid, who operates Dance Center Evanston. She said Dominick’s initially opposed her move to the center. She added many of the parents who use the Dance Center, do their shopping at Dominick’s.

Inbinder reported that Dominick’s can exert authority over certain new uses. He said the store, however, which has another 10 years on its lease in the plaza, recognizes that a balance of good tenants “is good for them.”

Then, Inbinder was asked to outline his vision for the development.

“As I walk through that center, it’s empty and there are no cars in the parking lot,” he told residents. “My vision is Evanston Plaza will return to where it was one day, which was well used.”

Referendum debate

Before residents provided mixed views on the referendums that will appear on the March 20 ballot, Second Ward Alderman Peter Braithwaite said the purpose of the meeting was informational.

“This is designed not so much to convince you but to inform you of the three referendums that are going to be on the March 20 ballot,” he said.

The city’s two ballot questions include an advisory vote on whether Township government should be dissolved, and a binding referendum on the aggregation of electric power. The mass bidding route would allow the city to select other supplies besides ComEd.

Meanwhile, District 65 will ask voters whether the district should go forward with a $48.2 million bond issue to build a new west side school, and add classrooms and make upgrades to other schools in the district.

Summers maintained that people consider the location of schools when moving to a community. They “attract homeowners and new businesses to an area,” he said.

Former Second Ward Alderman Betty Burns Paden asked Summers whether the district had considered taking back the Family Focus building, formerly the district’s Foster School, rather than going out for referendum.

“Wouldn’t that be cheaper?” she asked.

Summers indicated the option had been considered.

Acknowledging the drive for a west side school, Paden added: “because I’m older now I don’t have as much money,” she said about the bond issue’s impact. “I always believed that old people have the right to live off the little money they have left.”

Another resident, Cindy Levitt, spoke in support of the new school, saying “this is a justice issue.” She noted that her children had been fortunate enough to attend neighborhood schools, and others should have the same opportunity.

A District 65 teacher at the meeting agreed with that premise, but with pay cuts and other reductions on the table, she wondered “whether we can sustain what we already have.”

Township question

A number of speakers spoke out against the move to dissolve Township services. The township administers general assistance programming for needy residents, and also provides taxpayer counseling and services through its assessor.

Township executive director Rosemary Jean-Paul highlighted additional services provided by her agency, which were not brought up by city officials in their informational presentations on the issue. They include job preparation, employment training, and arranging medical services for those who qualify.

The need for township services will only go away “if you get rid of all the poor people,” Evanston resident Priscilla Giles told officials.

Judy Jager, a longtime resident, questioned the $400,000 in savings city officials say would be achieved by the move. She wondered how the city would achieve such savings and yet continue to provide those services that the public “desperately needs.”