Thirty or so students dotted the McCormick Auditorium in Norris on Tuesday to see their potential public officials debate ahead of Evanston’s April 7 aldermanic election.
The event, organized by Northwestern University Public Interest Committee, also known as NU Pic[K]s, assembled candidates for alderman in Evanston’s First, Fifth and Seventh Wards, which surround and contain the Northwestern campus.
Candidates present at the event were current First Ward alderman Cheryl Wollin and challenger Judy Fiske; incumbent Fifth Ward alderman Delores Holmes and challenger Adrian Dortch; and Seventh Ward candidates Jane Grover, Kevin O’Connor and John Zbesko. The current Seventh Ward alderman, Elizabeth Tisdahl, is running for Evanston mayor.
Candidates from each ward had a chance to answer selected questions from NU Pic[K]s and the audience, as well as ask each other questions. Students questioned how to improve the relationship between Evanston and Northwestern, while the candidates’ questions for each other sparked the most heated debates of the evening.
Candidates for the First Ward took stabs at each other’s records on questionable campaign tactics. Fifth Ward candidates discussed their positions on developmental plans for their wards, and Seventh Ward candidates debated the pros and cons of Tisdahl as a potential mayor.
Wollin deplored the low turnout at the event, adding that staying in Evanston for only four years shouldn’t stop college students from getting involved.
“There’s so much pressure on students, things to do, but it does affect their daily life,” she said. “When you think about it, especially in today’s society, which is very mobile, some Evanstonians have only been here four years.”
First Ward candidate Fiske praised the “unique energy” provided by Northwestern students in Evanston, a thought echoed by other candidates throughout the forum.
“Northwestern already does a lot for Evanston[…]. Something more valuable than money is collaborating with people,” Fifth Ward candidate Dortch said when expressing his wish to organize a mentoring program for local children with Northwestern students. “If time is truly money, then you are valuable to us.”
NU Pic[K]s member Lillian Cheng said she was satisfied by the number of students who attended the event.
“I thought there was a pretty decent number, given the short notice,” she said. “The timing of the election just happened to fit right into that Spring Break chunk, which is unfortunate, because you don’t get that time to really publicize heavily.”
ASG External Relations Chair Samir Pendse said that he was content with the buzz around campus surrounding the event.
“I think a lot of people were talking about it,” the Weinberg junior said. “The awareness and publicity that we did get I was very pleased and very surprised with.”
NU Pic[K]s representative Michael DeComo said the forum brought Evanston residents and students together.
“The big focus of the forum was bridging the town-gown relations, so you have a forum here where you have both people from town and people wearing the gown getting together and talking about the same thing,” the Weinberg freshman said.
DeComo added that it was hard for some students to give up voting in their hometowns.
“Most people who go to Northwestern come from all around the country, and they find it very difficult to give up their voting rights in their home states,” he said. “Getting them to realize that you’re a resident of Evanston, you live here more than you live at home is really a big step.”
Cheng said she hoped the ASG ad-hoc committee would become a recurrent feature in local elections.
“We’d like it to be sustainable, in four years this would come up again, and people could be even more informed and excited,” the Weinberg sophomore said.