Just in case you’ve heard whispered conversations about Evanston changing his current form of government — council director — rest assured the idea doesn’t have much support from council members, according to discussion at Monday night’s Rules Committee meeting.

Council members discussed the issue and wanted to send a clear message to Evanston residents that they support the current form of city government.

Additionally, the committee voted to present preferential-choice ballots to the city council for a vote, which, if passed, would make Evanston the first city in Illinois to pass the measure.

The rules committee is made up of nine members of the council and the mayor.

Change form of government

Council Member Peter Braithwaite, 2nd Ward, told the committee he wanted to discuss a possible change to Evanston’s form of government in response to a comment made at an NAACP candidates’ forum.

The last city manager, Braithwaite said, wrote into his contract that the city would discuss alternative styles of governance, so the member of the second ward council felt compelled to discuss the issue in public.

City attorney Nicholas Cummings gave a presentation on how the Illinois Constitution allows cities to determine their form of government by referendum, but must choose between one of four provided by law of Illinois: council mayor, commission, strong mayor and council manager, whom Evanston uses.

It was immediately clear, however, that the other members of the council had no interest in changing their style of government.

“I’ve been a strong supporter of the form of government we have now,” said Third Ward council member Melissa Wynne. “It’s the one that was created more than 70 years ago, at the request of the League of Women Voters, if my memory serves me right.” Evanston, having a trained professional manager, provides the city with the “highest quality government”, she added.

Fourth Ward Council member Jonathan Nieuwsma said he “does not support changing our system of government. I am in favor of working better with the system we have now. … But first, if we were to change, it would only create an indefinite cloud of uncertainty, confusion and chaos.

Braithwaite ended the conversation by saying he wanted to state publicly that he does not support a strong mayor. He said: “We are all firm in favor of our present form of government…I want to point out [that] to our residents, as well as to let everyone else know that we are currently looking for a City Manager. »

Voting by ranking

At the meeting, Juan Geracaris, a newly appointed member of the Ninth Ward council, recommended that the rules committee adopt voting by rank.

“People tend to vote strategically or hold their noses and vote for the lesser of three evils,” Geracartis said. “And with pick-and-choose voting, people can vote for their favorite whether or not they think we’re going to win,” giving people a stronger voice in democracy and streamlining elections by eliminating the need for ballots.

Council members Nieuwsma, Eleanor Revelle, 7th District, and Melissa Wynne, 3rd District, all enthusiastically supported the idea and urged its adoption before the meeting ended.

“As someone who has a lot of family in the New York metro area, New York did that,” Wynne said. “And did it very successfully. Like you said, Evanston can do it, it’s not that hard to figure out.

Council member Bobby Burns, 5th Ward, initially pushed back on the idea, saying a decision of this magnitude should be discussed before a vote is taken and that there should be a basic level of d community engagement. “We don’t have any information in our package on how this is done. And other areas, especially for disenfranchised voters,” Burns said.

In the end, the committee unanimously decided to forward the measure to city council, hoping that it would include intense community education on the issue.

“Wherever that happens next, whether it’s at the next board meeting or if it’s deferred to our next rules meeting, I would love for us to have a full presentation on the impact of this form of election. “, Burns said.