When Evanston’s City Council approved hiring former Chief Information Officer Luke Stowe as its permanent city manager on Aug. 16, it said Stowe’s offer was contingent on a nine-month performance review including public input.
The nine-month period has passed and residents are left wondering how they can participate in the evaluation process despite being promised a participatory role in the news release of his appointment.
“First of all, we would just like to know what’s taking place. That seems kind of basic,” Community Alliance for Better Government President Lesley Williams said. “Honestly, it’s not surprising but it’s still disappointing.”
Williams and others with CABG pushed for greater transparency during the search for a permanent city manager last summer, when the city scrapped its third candidate for the role, and sent the city a letter listing characteristics and recommendations they had for whoever took over the position.
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Despite Evanston not providing residents information on Stowe’s performance evaluation, Councilmember Clare Kelly spoke with Pioneer Press to shed light on the process.
Councilmembers Kelly, Melissa Wynne and Bobby Burns volunteered to participate in the review process during an executive session a couple of months back, Kelly said. From there, the group worked on developing questionnaires for both city staff and City Council members to complete.
Kelly told Pioneer Press the three officials collaborated with the Human Relations Department to create two questionnaires for city staff — one form will go to upper management, such as department heads, while another will go to lower-level managers. These forms are still being finalized, Kelly said.
The group has not discussed how it will add public input into Stowe’s review but there are still plans to incorporate it, Kelly said. She hopes to offer multiple options for residents to provide feedback.
“I think there needs to be an in-person public setting,” Kelly said. “There is a value to the public being able to hear each other as well as for transparency and sharing information. It allows for questions to be followed up on right away.”
Kelly also said a questionnaire should be used to collect quantifiable data in addition to the public forums.
Williams said she’d like to see Stowe undergo a process similar to what happens in Battle Creek, Michigan. The city offers local agencies the opportunity to offer input to provide a lens outside the purview of city hall. Battle Creek also requires agencies filling out the form to have the contact person participate in the process, rather than the agency head, to provide a more accurate reflection, according to Battle Creek’s city manager evaluation process report.
“It would make sense to involve the schools and organizations like the YMCA, YWCA, Chamber of Commerce and area business associations,” Williams said. “I think (resident) groups like Climate Justice Evanston and Community Alliance for Better Government (should also participate).”
Williams said public forums can be an option but acknowledged forums aren’t typically seen in other communities.
Stowe was appointed as city manager after Evanston underwent three failed city manager searches following City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz’s departure in 2019.
“It seems like it’s simply a matter of fatigue and desperation,” Williams said in August. “It’s (like) saying, ‘We just can’t be bothered to do this anymore. We’ve got somebody that we know so we’re putting him in.'”
Although Stowe was serving as interim city manager at the time, Williams said he lacked many of the qualifications Evanston wanted in its next city manager including his lack of an undergraduate degree and residency outside the city.
As the city manager hiring process progressed last summer, some residents claimed it was becoming rushed. Evanston then brought forth Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten as a candidate and some residents pushed back against her candidacy pointing to a history with lackluster transparency and her handling of an April 2020 incident where a then 21-year-old Aleyna Lewis was shoved to the ground by Urbana police. When Mitten came to Evanston for her July 28 town hall she was met by protesters and crowd outbursts.
Stowe was awarded the position roughly two weeks after Mitten’s candidacy was dismissed.
Although Williams and other residents are frustrated with the process, Williams remains positive when describing Stowe.
“He is a truly caring, intelligent and honest individual,” Williams said. “I don’t necessarily think we could say that about some of our previous city managers.”
Corey Schmidt is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.