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Welcome!
Friends and Neighbors,
My name is John Zbesko and my family has lived at 1120 Noyes St. for over 20 years. Today, I am a candidate for 7th Ward Alderman.
Ever since 1986, I have involved myself in the Evanston community. Back in the early 90's, I worked to bring the first stop sign to our section of Noyes St. I worked to redistrict our neighborhood into the 7th Ward after the 1990 census and keep it here after the 2000 census. More recently, I worked to save the elm trees and to save the Civic Center as the seat of Evanston government. I have served as coach and member of the AYSO soccer Board of Directors and am a former President of the Democratic Party of Evanston. Currently, I am a Trustee of the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District and am making sure the small portion of your property tax bill that goes to mosquito and West Nile virus control is well spent.
At this point in my family's life, I have decided to escalate my commitment to you and to Evanston by running for Alderman. Our City is poised for substantial change. The City's staff has been hollowed out by an early retirement plan and a number of new faces will appear on the City Council next spring. We face substantial fiscal problems that were a long time in the making and the current economic environment presents further challenges. I intend to bring my career experience in finance and economics, as well as a keen interest in technology, to bear on the many challenges and issues that face our community.
My concept of effective aldermanic representation is three-fold. First, maintain and enhance City services. Make sure the snow is plowed, the streets repaired and safe, and the parks, libraries and other facilities are cared for. Second, to represent you, the residents of the 7th Ward and the City as a whole. Evanston is unique in its level of civic involvement- the wonderful ability of its citizens to organize and push for some cause. I want to channel this civic energy. The people of the 7th Ward have many talents and skills that I wish to better utilize before spending tax dollars on consultants.
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"I have noticed differences in the condition of our roads and of our recreation assets between Evanston and other towns."
Maybe what you should have noticed is that while towns such as Wilmette, Winnetka and Kenilworth are able to put their resources towards repairing the streets and building new park equipment a city such as Evanston has to put its resources towards surveillance cameras on Howard St and assistance for our economically diverse (not everyone can afford great healthcare John) population.
"As Alderman, I will be an advocate for the interests or opinions of the 7th Ward, but what is in the best interests of Evanston is also in the best interests of the 7th Ward."
What about the North Branch Library? It's a great asset of the 7th Ward (those who you think will elect you) but not a great asset to those in another ward necessarily.
Please allow me to elaborate upon those points I apparently did not express well in my first post. Some of the issues I raised will be addressed in future blogs, but I wish to explain what I meant by my quotes.
1)"maintain and enhance City services." By no means does this phrase imply growing spending- I feel strongly that City services can be more efficiently provided. For example, the early retirement plan that led to the hollowing out of City staff was approved by the Council. How was it that this plan was so generous that so many employees took advantage of it? I have noticed differences in the condition of our roads and of our recreation assets between Evanston and other towns. Is Evanston following best practices? As Alderman Hanson once asked, how many City workers does it take to pave an alley? These are the types of questions that my experience in finance, business management and economics lead me to ask. Given the high turnover in City staff, the turnover in the Council, and the hiring of a new City Manager, now is the most important time to ask lots of questions.
2)"represent Evanston as a whole." Elected officials, such as Larry Suffredin, Jeff Schoenberg, and Jan Schakowsky, represent a district but must act in the interests of the whole they are part of. As Alderman, I will be an advocate for the interests or opinions of the 7th Ward, but what is in the best interests of Evanston is also in the best interests of the 7th Ward. Conflicts between the two have to be resolved based on the specifics of the particular issue.
3)"become a better place to live, work and play. Too much emphasis has been put on Evanston as a place to live." By live, I mean a narrow definition, as in an address. Evanston used to have many more establishments in the industrial/commercial parts of town. The national headquarters of a major insurance company used to be located here. As Alderman, economic development will be a keen priority of mine. To quote from the Blue Ribbon Committee report on the fire and police pension fund shortfall, “As a result of recent very successful economic development efforts, the City has experienced a large influx of high rise apartment buildings. These buildings expand the taxpayer base, but also put greater demands on fire and police services. Economic development should now be directed towards acquiring more business, office, industrial, and retail services, which may provide increases in revenue to the City that is proportionately higher than the increase in cost of services.”
The “play” aspect of Evanston is personal issue of mine. I have participated in youth soccer; I rent a plot in a community garden; I play in a hockey league at Robert Crown. I have manned a booth at the Custer Street Fair and I have purchased art in Centenial Park. Our family buys beach tokens and we have attended shows at Noyes Cultural Center. All these activities make life in Evanston special. As Alderman, I will always be looking for and supporting new and existing activities. Evanston has plenty of restaurants- we need more opportunites to exercise our bodies and stretch our minds.
Hope this helps.
Here's what I got from your post:
To solve Evanston's fiscal problems you will
1) "maintain and enhance City services."
Enhance city services sounds like more government and more taxes. Growing government spending in this economic environment does not sound fiscally responsible.
2)"represent Evanston as a whole."
Does that mean you will make decisions based on the interest of those residing in other wards? Aren't your constituents, those who vote for YOU, only in the 7th ward?
3)help Evanston "become a better place to live, work and play. Too much emphasis has been put on Evanston as a place to live."
What alderman would tell voters they don't want the city to become a better place to live? And you say too much emphasis has been put on Evanston as a place to live? Are you suggesting that we should think of Evanston as not a place to live?
You write that a good alderman should have vision, values and goals. Agreed. But your post above include only vague and obtuse suggestions and provide NO details as to what your goals and vision are as a 7th ward candidate.
Not impressed.
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