'I Don't Love My Role': Cicely Fleming Resigns From City Council

EVANSTON, IL — Ald. Cicely Fleming, 9th Ward, the second-term City Council member who was the only alderman not to face a challenge in municipal elections, announced her resignation Monday.

Citing the recent death of her mother, Marsha Lynn Cole, and the need to put herself first unapologetically, Fleming said her role on the council was not having the effect she wanted.

Cole, a former Black Panther, member of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus and longtime social justice advocate, died Dec. 8 at the age of 67.

"Watching her die of COVID was quite hard," Fleming said. "For anyone who has not been vaccinated, I would just implore you to do so or to think more about it."

Fleming said her unvaccinated mother succumbed to the virus after spending three weeks alone at the hospital with a coronavirus infection.

"I will say, in her honor, that she was very regretful that she did not choose to get the vaccine," Fleming said Monday during a special City Council meeting, which was held remotely amid a surge in new COVID-19 infections.

"Hopefully, her life will not be in vain in that way and other people can take our family experience and think more seriously about getting the vaccine," she added. "It's very serious, so I would hate for someone else to go through that."

Fleming is the fourth generation of her family to be involved in Evanston politics. Her great-grandfather, Samuel White Jr., led the local Democratic Party. Her great-aunt Edna Summers served both Evanston 5th Ward alderman and Evanston Township supervisor. Two other relatives also served as 5th Ward aldermen.

"I am privileged to know that I am a manifestation of my mother's dreams. I have financial privileges that she did not have. I am able to work in spaces she was not able to. I don't take that lightly at all," Fleming said.

"But what I do know is that what my mother wanted for me that she did not have for herself was really a chance to rest and do things that she enjoyed. So she really fought until her last breath for things that she saw as social justice issues, which I think we would all agree, and I want to spend my time doing the same," Fleming said, speaking Monday at the special City Council meeting.

"What I realized from my mother's death, and what I realized from myself, is that while I love [the] city of Evanston, I don't love my role at City Council. I joined City Council to really improve the city in a way in which I thought that I could do, and I've had some successes, but ultimately this position is become more harmful to my health than joyful to me," she said. "And while I know that no advocacy is necessarily always full of joy, I have decided that this one is just too difficult."

After Fleming announced her resignation plans Monday evening, Mayor Daniel Biss and several other fellow elected officials praised her service to the city.

The mayor said that he would have done everything in his power to convince her not to resign — had she been stepping down for any other reason.

"I don't think anybody who's ever seen you for two seconds would be surprised about your brilliance or your toughness," Biss said. "But what I didn't necessarily expect to find when I joined this body is your friendship, and I just want to say it's meant a lot to me personally as I've tried to learn how to do this job."

Alds. Clare Kelly, 1st Ward, and Jonathan Nieuwsma, 4th Ward, both first-term City Council members, said Fleming provided a model for transparency and communication with residents.

Ald. Bobby Burns, 5th Ward, said he knew from the first time he met Fleming that she would be a force for improving the Evanston community.

"You've done a great job serving your ward. I think that's evident in this last election, not having anybody running against you, that's hard to do in politics," Burns said. "People love you, you engage with them and one thing I've always liked about you is you explain every one of your votes."

Ald. Devon Reid, 8th Ward, expressed his condolences for Fleming's family, described her mother as a "lightning rod for advocacy" and said he hoped to continue to rely on her wisdom in the future.

"I'm going to miss sitting next to you and having you nudge me every so often to say, you know, 'cut it,'" Reid said.

City Clerk Stephanie Mendoza, a 9th Ward resident, said Fleming had done a great job representing the area and was one of the only councilmembers who sends out a really good newsletter.

"I don't think anyone on council has been as effective at reaching out to that community like you have," Mendoza said.

"You attend the monthly immigration and first-generation undocumented family monthly meetings that were put together during the pandemic," she told Fleming. "You're the only council member who actively engages with the Latino community and actively attends those meeting. I truly, truly appreciate you for trying to work with every corner of our community."

Alds. Melissa Wynne, 3nd Ward, and Tom Suffredin, 6th Ward, were not in attendance at Monday's special meeting.

In a letter to constituents following the meeting, Fleming said she had been negatively affected by the "expectations of residents, requirement of my time, unhealthy work culture of city hall, and unproductive tension on the Dias."

Fleming said she intended to remain in office to see out the process for hiring a new permanent city manager.

Last week, the City Council held a closed-door meeting to discuss finalists for the job. Fleming said in a ward newsletter that the list of candidates had been whittled from 10 to four people ahead of the meeting.

"I was absent at Tuesday's meeting due to the death of my mother, so I sent my thoughts and choices to Council," Fleming said. "They decided that because I was not present, they would make the decision without considering my input. During this meeting they narrowed it down to 2 final candidates. I want to thank Councilmember Tom Suffredin, Councilmember Eleanor Revelle and Mayor Biss for their empathy as they advocated for my opinion to be heard."

It was not clear whether Fleming's presence would have had an effect on the finalists selected.

City spokesperson Patrick Deignan said there was no information yet available regarding when the finalists will be revealed to the public.

Biss is tasked with appointing someone to serve the rest of Fleming's term, which was due to run through the April 2025 elections. Biss's pick will serve through next year's consolidated elections. Fleming said she planned to work with the mayor to maximize community input to the decision.

"My mother was a fighter, but she also wanted her daughter to have the opportunity she never had — to balance the never ending fight, with the needed rest. To put myself before others. To buck the stereotype that my worth in this world is only as 'a strong black women' able to carry and repair burdens I didn’t create only to be rewarded 300% more likely to die from a heart attack than a white women," Fleming said in her message to constituents. "It’s time to put myself first, Unapologetically. Thank you 9th Ward residents for entrusting me with being your advocate."

UPDATE: Ex-Evanston Mayoral Candidate Seeks Appointment To Ald. Cicely Fleming's 9th Ward Seat