Community members can weigh in on candidates next Wednesday at 5 p.m.
In late September, the Evanston City Council met with GovHR, the City's executive search firm, to review applicants and select candidates to move forward to the first round of interviews. Yesterday, October 2, the Evanston City Council met in Executive Session to conduct interviews with selected candidates.
This coming week, candidates whom City Council selected to move forward in the process (they'll be whittling the reported 80 applicants down to their top four) will participate in a second round of interviews with council members and community panels.
On Wednesday, October 7, a community forum will be held virtually via Zoom from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., to provide the public with an opportunity to meet the candidates and ask questions. Community members must register in advance by 2 p.m. Oct. 7 to participate.
The meeting will be recorded and will be replayed on Channel 16 and the City's YouTube channel beginning on Thursday, October 8.
Candidates will be posted on the City's website.
Questions may be submitted in advance or live during the forum.
Following the candidate forum, the City Council will meet in executive session to identify a finalist, and GovHR will begin negotiations. Following the conclusion of those negotiations, the City Council will announce and approve a contract with the new city manager at its next meeting.
In early July, a group of organizations, including Dear Evanston, signed onto a letter put forward by the Community Alliance for Better Government that provides a comprehensive description of qualifications and traits for the ideal Evanston City Manager. The description reflects our dedication to an Evanston that is committed to ending structural racism and achieving racial equity, in the words of the City Council's Resolution, which was passed unanimously in June 2019, and to implementing fully participatory democratic practices.
Citizens’ Network of Protection (CNP)
Community Alliance for Better Government
Dear Evanston
Evanston Fight for Black Lives
Evanston Minority Business Consortium
Evanston Voter Initiative
ESPCAR - Every Single Person Committed to Anti-Racism
Organization for Positive Action and Leadership (OPAL)
Reclaim Evanston
We encourage you to participate in the Zoom community forum and to submit your questions with an eye toward identifying a new city manager with a focus on racial equity and who most embodies the characteristics outlined in our letter. This is a non-negotiable priority.
