Here in Evanston: The aftermath of Election Day
Let’s think of a moment, say 7:01 p.m. on April 1, just after the polls close and before the celebrations begin and the recriminations set in: The roar of the campaign machines has been stilled. Cautiously, Evanston can exhale.
In this campaign season, there was too much: small groups demanding their own forums rather than combining their ideas and concerns with other groups; social media posts and reposts, some with endorsements, many with innuendoes; negative mailers that spent more time in the recycling bin than on the kitchen table.
Ironically, the election with the largest field of candidates, for the District 65 school board, seems to have been conducted with candor and modesty, with candidates framing issues around how they would respond to them. The difficulty there was to winnow the best four of many, many good candidates.
Those candidates seemed to know they would face what could be the toughest decisions for the community, such as setting achievement goals and adopting programs to achieve them, balancing budgets, closing schools and adjusting personnel. As District 65 board members, they will be responsible for levying the funds that take the greatest portion of the property bill, 41%, yet they take no salary. While we would not expect agreement on everything that will come before this new board, we do hope for transparency, open debate on issues, collegiality and eventual consensus.
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/03/28/here-in-evanston-the-aftermath-of-election-day/