3 Evanston City Manager Finalists Appear At Online Forum

EVANSTON, IL — The three finalists for the job of Evanston city manager appeared remotely at a candidate forum Wednesday, giving community members a chance to compare the candidates hours before aldermen were due to meet behind closed doors to deliberate on a preferred pick.

The 90-minute discussion was held over video teleconferencing software and moderated by Heidi Vorhees, president of the Northbrook-based recruitment firm GovHR, which received a $35,000 contract to assist the city with finding a permanent replacement for Wally Bobkiewicz, who resigned in September 2019 after nearly a decade in the role.

The three candidates are Aretha Ferrell-Benavides, city manager of Petersburg, Virginia; Marie Peoples, deputy county manager of Coconino County, Arizona, and Erika Storlie, a longtime deputy of Bobkiewicz who has served as interim city manager since his departure.

Vorhees asked each candidate the same questions on subjects ranging from affordable housing, budget balancing, climate policy and defunding police. Members of the community had been invited to send in questions ahead of time, but it was not clear if any submitted questions were included among the nine asked.

Less than 24 hours after the community forum had concluded, aldermen were scheduled to meet in executive session to get feedback from interviews with a panel of city staff and two panels of residents to deliberate on the hiring.

According to the announcement of the forum, the City Council will direct the recruiting firm to negotiate a contract with its top pick following Wednesday afternoon's closed-door meeting. Approval of a final contract would require a vote in open session, which could come as soon as Monday.

Ald. Cicely Fleming, 9th Ward, issued a statement calling for other members of the City Council to publicly disclose their pick for the job. She also said there was a fourth candidate interviewed by aldermen, but it was determined that person was not a good fit.

"I think that the public has the right to know who each elected official chose for this role. Hopefully my peers will make this same commitment to transparency," Fleming told supporters in an email. "I will be releasing a public statement explaining who I have chosen and why; no matter if that person is selected or not."

Evanston Patch has asked the other eight aldermen if they were committed to releasing similar statements. by Thursday evening, only 5th Ward Alderman Robin Rue Simmons had confirmed she would. Any other responses received will be added here.

Evanston's city manager is the municipal government's chief administrator and the only employee hired directly by aldermen. The job is responsible for all other city staff, formulating city policies and drafting budget proposals for the City Council to consider.

Mayor Steve Hagerty has already signaled his support for hiring Storlie on a permanent basis, although he would only vote on the contract in case of a tie vote. Earlier this year, the mayor said he would not be interested in hiring anyone who would leave their job in local government during the coronavirus pandemic.

"My personal opinion is: if you're a deputy or you're a city manager and you're willing to leave your city in the middle of a global pandemic, I've got issues," Hagerty said.

Related:
Evanston Discloses Finalists For City Manager Job
Aldermen Reject Mayor's Request For Closed-Door Hiring Discussion With GovHR
Hagerty Withdraws Bid To Bypass City Manager Hiring Process

UPDATE: A day after the forum, aldermen met behind closed doors with all three candidates before deliberating and determining which had the support of a majority of the City Council. According to Fleming, only she and 6th Ward Ald. Tom Suffredin favored holding a public vote for each member of the council to disclose who they supported.