1. Elect and Support a Responsive and Transparent City Government

• Residents shall be informed and involved in all new city issues with notifications by email, website and/or the U.S. mail.

• City officials and aldermen shall hold regularly scheduled meetings with full resident participation.

• Residency in the City of Evanston shall be required of city officials, staff members and City Council Members.

• City Council Members shall be responsive to all ward constituents via email, phone call, mail, and at monthly ward meetings.

• Freedom of Information Act requests shall be fully responded to with limited redactions.

• The City Council shall establish an ombudsman position whose sole job it is to resolve citizen issues.

• The City Council shall establish a recall process for elected officials.

• The City Council shall establish a legal procedure for voters to recommend legislation.

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2. Create Actions to Increase Input among Evanston Officials, Staff and Residents

• Town meetings shall be convened by City Council Members, the Mayor and staff on a regular schedule.

• The Mayor, City Council Members, and City Manager should actively engage and participate in neighborhood meetings of the residents.

• The City Council shall establish a comment portal for all residents to be used for reactions to city issues.

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3. Improve Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• The City Council shall establish a system that evaluates and measures the level of racial equity in policies and practices throughout the government and the entire city of Evanston.

• The creation of the budget shall be based upon racial equity and inclusion.

• All personnel matters shall be evaluated upon the degree of racial equity and inclusion.

• Real estate industry and developers shall be required to increase the units available to middle- and low-income residents with the goal to provide access for BIPOC families in all neighborhoods.

• The City Council shall hold the city manager and staff fully accountable for executing and maintaining the policy of racial and religious equity and inclusion.

• The City Council shall collaborate with the school districts to achieve the goals of optimum racial equity and inclusion.

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4. Encourage Citizen Involvement in Civic Affairs

• The City Council shall invite residents to become involved in actions of city government with particular emphasis upon boards and commissions.

• The City Manager, staff and city officials will prompt individuals to reach out to other neighbors to inform them of actions taken by the city staff and government.

• The City Manager will create a “City Notice Board” to facilitate communication for residents to make their religious, civic, fraternal and social organizations aware of the various government actions which affect them.

• Residents should be encouraged to organize, articulate goals and move to make the requisite changes to create a fair, responsive and transparent government.