About two weeks after Evanston officials posted online a report on the outcome of an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations among lakefront staff, the mayor said he finally had a chance to read it then issued a public statement March 9 declaring, “this can’t happen again.”
The city released the report last month on the city of Evanston website, which detailed the investigation done by a local law firm the city hired. The investigation included a look into how the city handled the situation when survivors told about it.
Mayor Daniel Biss said in his March 9 message that “the report is just profoundly troubling.” He said he found the lack of action on the city’s part, as documented in the report, was the most problematic for him.
“It describes an institution that, over the course of years, had no idea how to handle serious accusations of pervasive sexual misconduct,” he stated. “Sometimes that system performed half-hearted ‘investigations’ that led to slaps on the wrist. … Sometimes it placed enormous burdens on survivors. Sometimes it hid behind survivors and blamed them for the city’s failures to keep its own employees safe.”
The mayor encouraged people to read the report for themselves and not necessarily rely on what he called word of mouth recounts.
“I don’t think that a game of telephone does a service either to the seriousness of the topic or to the survivors themselves,” Biss wrote.
Allegations of sexual misconduct were first reported by WBEZ-FM Chicago radio station in summer 2020. The national public radio affiliate reported that over 50 women had signed a petition raising concerns about the conduct of male lifeguards who worked at the Evanston beach on Lake Michigan.
Following the release of the petition, the city hired local law firm Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter PLLC to conduct an independent investigation into the alleged misconduct. The 379-page report from the law office was posted on the city’s website Feb 20.
The law firm interviewed approximately 60 witnesses, including current and former members of Evanston’s beach staff, according to the report. Witnesses were unnamed in the report.
“SPP committed to protecting the privacy of these witnesses and we therefore do not use their names or other identifying information in this report,” the report states.
Interviews included 19 of the women who signed the petition in July 2020 and seven male lakefront staff members. Many members of Evanston’s city leadership also participated, including Biss, Recreation Program Coordinator Adam Abajian, former Mayor Steve Hagerty and former City Manager Erika Storlie.
The report states that the lifeguard staff at the beach “had a culture susceptible to abuses of power.” The report details instances of sexual commentary made about female employees, supervisor-subordinate relationships and nonconsensual sex among the staff.
“We heard many stories of predatory abuses of power in which men in supervisory roles used their positions to pursue romantic relationships with junior women,” the report states. “Relationships between supervisors and subordinates were common, and we were told of the uncomfortable pressure some women in these relationships felt.”
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In addition to sexual misconduct, the report also found that there was a hierarchy within the lifeguard staff that was enforced using physical punishment, like a “run-swim-run,” which required the lifeguards to run, swim and then run again.
One such punishment, called “the crucible,” is described in the report as a run-swim-run followed by 50 jumping jacks, another run-swim-run followed by a swimming exercise and then a final run-swim-run followed by 50 push-ups.
According to the report, the lifeguards received limited oversight from the city and limited human resources training. Coupled with the documented alleged abuses of power, the report states, “The cultural conditions we just described made the lakefront a tinderbox for sexual misconduct.”
The petition signed in 2020 was submitted to city staff, and the petition organizers set up a meeting with lakefront leadership, according to the report. The report goes on to state that several members of the city staff received hard copies of the petition and even engaged in meetings with the petition organizers.
According to the report, the city of Evanston instituted mandatory sexual harassment training later in 2020 and eliminated the use of physical punishment. However, WBEZ reported in 2021 that little action had been taken to curb misconduct.
The report states that the city officials should have launched an investigation as soon as the allegations were received.
“The city officials who were aware of the petition’s allegations offered justifications for the lack of investigation, including the petition organizers’ request that they not, the lack of specific allegations with names and dates, a false assertion that the allegations were largely about actions that took place ‘off campus,’ and the perception that the misconduct was part of ‘beach culture’ not limited to Evanston,” the report outlines. “We find none of these justifications persuasive.”
The mayor lambasted the city’s handling of the allegations.
“Taken together, these examples paint a picture of a system that was set up to side with perpetrators of heinous misconduct. … The practical reality of the system was that it enabled perpetrators and dismissed survivors,” Biss wrote.
The report concludes with nine recommendations for the city to address the problems experienced at the lakefront. These recommendations include increased supervision, standardization of beach assignments, clear human resources policies and consistent training, prohibition of physical punishment and the adoption of stronger systems for documenting employee complaints.
Biss said in his message that the City Council is already working to implement the recommendations, and he thanked the survivors who came forward to report the misconduct. He also said that he will remain committed to ensuring the safety of the community.
“These steps will set the stage for the system change we need, but they will not by themselves guarantee that transformation,” the mayor said. “I am committed to doing all I can to ensure that we give this topic the attention and focus it will take to build a culture where everyone is welcome and safe.”
Emily Little is a freelancer.