This coming Monday, June 8 at 4 p.m., OPAL (Organization for Positive Action and Leadership) will rally citizens at Evanston's Civic Center, 2100 Ridge, in opposition to the Mayor and City Council’s May 26 decision to move forward with hiring Interim City Manager Erika Storlie as permanent City Manager without a full and open public process as promised in previous meetings.
This will be a socially distant car rally, and those participating in the press conference are expected to wear face coverings or masks.
In a news release, OPAL says it "insists that the City continue with an open, full, and fair search that includes ample opportunities for public input."
In a March 2 article, Evanston Review reporter Genevieve Bookwalter reported on the schedule that was set by city council to hire a new city manager. You can read that article here. The schedule reflected that aldermen would pick the five to seven candidates they want to interview, and the top three finalists would meet with the public before a final decision was made.
Last week, Dear Evanston signed onto a petition calling on Evanston's City Council to stick to its plan to conduct a search for City Manager and include public input in the process.
You can read that statement here.
Read the Evanston RoundTable's editorial here.
Read the Community Alliance for Better Government's statement (led by Bennett Johnson, Rick Marsh, Oliver Ruff and Gail Schechter) here.
Read OPAL's full statement to City Council here.
Go to OPAL's FB event page here.
