Mayor's Bid To Bypass City Manager Hiring Process Withdrawn

EVANSTON, IL — Aldermen voted against Mayor Steve Hagerty's proposal to end the nationwide search for the city's next city manager and hire Interim City Manager Erika Storlie on a permanent basis. The move followed a demonstration outside the civic center before Monday's meeting, a request from youth organizers invited to address the City Council and a suggestion from Storlie herself.

Storlie has served as interim city manager since Wally Bobkiewicz departed in September 2019 after spending nearly a decade as the city's chief administrator. Storlie has worked for Evanston since 2004 and in the city manager's office since 2011, becoming deputy city manager in 2013 and assistant city manager in 2018.

In February, the City Council hired the Northbrook-based executive recruitment firm GovHR to conduct a nationwide search to identify Bobkiewicz's successor. An initial round of community meetings were scheduled for mid-March to seek input. But the spread of the coronavirus and associated local, state and federal emergency declarations meant the process was put on hold. A survey for residents was prepared but never distributed.

At the City Council's May 26 meeting, Hagerty recommended the search be canceled. The mayor said Storlie had proven herself an effective manager over the past 16 years, and he had no interest in considering anyone else for the job.

"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. "I'm going to have that issue, and it's unfortunate, but that's just my perspective. I want to know you're here when times are tough."

A majority of aldermen indicated at the meeting they were prepared to hire Storlie on the basis of her performance during the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A minority of aldermen called for a continued public process.

"When this process started, we all told the public that they would have input and this would be a public process. It sounds like right now everyone's looking to hand Erika that job, and if that's what people want to do, that's fine. But have you consulted with your constituents, have you looked at any other candidates at all?" 6th Ward Ald. Tom Suffredin asked.

"Although the city manager works with the City Council, the city manager works for the residents, and for them to be cut out of this process is something that the people who want to just hand this to Erika are going to be held accountable for," he said. "I was here for the Kevin Brown stuff, I guess everyone forgot that happened. So let's not pretend that this hasn't had bumps in the road."

Ahead of Monday's meeting, protestors gathered outside the civic center for a "Restore Democracy Now" rally organized by the Organization for Positive Action and Leadership, a local nonprofit focused on racial equity. Attendees remained physically distant, with many remaining in their cars and honking their horns in the parking lot. In an open letter, members of the OPAL board said it they were "appalled" by the move to bypass a public process to hire Storlie.

During Monday's meeting, which was held via videoconference, the mayor invited the organizers of the May 31 Evanston for Black Lives march to address the council for 10 minutes at the start of the meeting.

One of the organizers, Nia Williams, urged aldermen to continue the hiring process with community input.

"It is interesting to watch our elected officials say that they are actively fighting for black lives when I see my black peers beg to be heard by a system that does not see their black life," she said, questioning the city's allocation of 18 percent of its budget to its police force. "We demand 100 percent transparency in the selection of elected officials specifically with the appointment of the city manager."

Following the youth leaders' remarks addressing systemic racism and arguing for a reallocation of some of the police department's $56 million annual budget, Storlie addressed the city manager search process.

"I just wanted to give my opinion that a public process is something that I value. I've been here for 16 years, and I know that public process and public participation is at the core of what Evanston and who Evanston is," Storlie said.

"I just wanted to give my feedback on that, and whatever City Council direction is, I respect and appreciate, and I know that you'll do what you think is best for the community."

Ald. Don Wilson, 4th Ward, one of the members of the council who said at its last meeting they were ready to hire Storlie, moved to withdraw the measure.

"It sounds like she is specifically saying that she would prefer a public process as opposed to what we've got on the table, which is just a resolution appointing her," Wilson said.

"She's just told us that she would prefer to have a public process," he said. "And I think respecting both the process and what she's suggesting, I think we should withdraw the resolution."

"The public also said they want a public process, and I think they want it done expediently," Suffredin said. "So when are we going to start? When is GovHR going to start using—"

"Excuse me, excuse me, I was discussing this," 8th Ward Ald. Ann Rainey said. "I'm recommending that we move this to the Rules Committee, so we can discuss that."

Rainey, who has presided over several city manager searches over nearly four decades as an Evanston alderman, said the committee was the proper place to discuss the search process. The committee, which consists of all nine aldermen and the mayor, is scheduled to meet the first week of July.

"It would not have been such chaos if we had done that in the first place. For those of you that have never done it, take some time and look at the history," Rainey said. "It is a very smooth process. Go to your council history and look at it."

Tiffini Holmes, a board member of OPAL, released a statement after the meeting on behalf of the group.

"We're encouraged by City Council's decision to return to a public process by referring the city manager search to the Rules Committee," it said. "We hope that this means they will have a fair, full, and open hiring process from start to finish, with ample opportunities for public input. Evanston deserves nothing less."