Write In Welch For 4

Graduate do students rent apartments downtown. It is difficult to see how Vermillion could deny renting these units to qualified graduate students who have incomes from NU without possibly facing discrimination charges. The size of most of the units are well suited to graduate students, for Evanston families with kids, not so much. They need storage space, and 2-3 bedrooms. The shortage of housing for the nearby graduate students was touted in the sales literature from the previous owner of this land parcel. That sales literature also pitched what a good investment this parcel would be because Evanston rents keep increasing. It will provide some affordable units for singles and couples at the cost of continuing to raise average rental prices, while adding a skyscraper to Evanston and further congestion on Davis street. The best protection against rising housing costs is a fixed rate mortgage. City leaders need to get creative on incentives to bring condo developments to Evanston for first time buyers.

'Tough crowd' at first 605 Davis tower meeting - Evanston Now Developers hold first public meeting for what would be the city's tallest tower.

During the April 3rd meeting on the proposed 605 Davis Street development, a representative from the development team referenced one of their other projects, The Lodge—an adaptive reuse project—as an example, noting that its larger units have been the hardest to rent. A quick look at their own listings shows why: the two-bedroom units are currently priced at $4,500 and $4,600 per month.

If your high-end apartments aren’t leasing, maybe the issue isn’t unit size—it’s affordability. Evanston residents deserve more than luxury pricing disguised as “housing options.”

https://thelodge.managebuilding.com/Resident/public/rentals?location=60201&bedrooms=0&bathrooms=0

The Campaign is Over, But We're Not Going Anywhere

As you've all seen by now, the door knocking in the rain, letters ,texts, and candidate forums did not put us over the top for a win. HOWEVER, the campaign achieved approximately 20 percent of the total votes which for a WRITE-IN campaign is outstanding and does voice your position on the issues I represented for you. By comparison to national general elections, write in candidates generally get about 1% of the vote.

PLEASE do not go away, and do email Jonathan and the City Council on issues that concern you. If you are negatively impacted by the Healthy Buildings Ordinance, tell them how. If the Margarita Inn has a noticeable code violation, point it out.

Finally, consider running yourself in 4 years!

I have met people in this campaign I would enjoy as friends, so please don't become strangers again and keep in touch!
Thank you for the donations and support.
Meg

My response to the Evanston Roundtable on how my leadership would be different from the 4th Ward Incumbent, Jonathan Nieuwsma :

I decided to undertake the arduous task of a write-in campaign when I realized that there would be no alternative for the status quo. When I considered that prospect of 4 more years of business as usual, I decided that I had to take a stand.

I stand for honest and transparent decision making based on real facts, with a pragmatic consideration of the impact of proposed policies on Evanstonians' long term well-being. Performative proclamations, headline making, and grand plans with dubious implementation details will not fit in to my leadership style.



My stance on climate action reflects this leadership style. I expect our community to make actual progress on reducing our carbon footprint and the waste we generate. I am not ok with simply buying the right to “say” we are making reductions. We can educate our residents on how to reduce energy consumption and help property owners transition to solar. Wherever possible, I favor incentives, not unfunded mandates, to avoid resentment and noncompliance. I support closely monitoring the responsible spending of funds for projects like Green Homes. How many more 5 and 8th ward homes could have been energy retro fitted if we knew where are the missing $330,000 Federal funds given to Evanston Development Cooperative for this project? We must track the work, and the money, to ensure that it is being spent wisely. I believe that we have to recognize and understand the actual and real lives and circumstances of the everyday people living in Evanston. A cost/benefit analysis for each climate action policy is necessary and not every proposal will not stand up to scrutiny when all factors are considered. My opponent is in the energy consulting business that profits from the very type of ordinance he pushed. A substantial component of our residents are renters. In passing the Healthy Building Ordinance with undefined metrics, my opponent has put the financial health of over 40% of the health of our City at risk, not to mention the small businesses and property owners, places of worship, as well as managers who have to budget in massive costs to retrofit buildings and deal with undefined future financial liabilities. There has been an arrogant disregard of the concerns of our residents and business owners and I think that people are weary of being treated as ignorant or disengaged. The lack of transparency in the City is disheartening. People are busy trying to live their lives and are unable to even find out what is going on, much less be expected to follow every little committee meeting that happens behind the scenes.



We all want to preserve our beautiful, diverse Evanston into the future. Some of us disagree on the facts of how to achieve this. We need to be able to have good faith, open minded dialogue in which we consider new information and perspectives. The divisive, dogmatic rhetoric is not productive. The group on ‘the other side’ of the table is not made up of bad people. I offer for serious consideration the fact that the federal funding for the usual displacement strategies will not be available due to current cuts. We are going to need to figure out how to take care of ourselves in the absence of some of the support that used to be available.



The revised draft of Envision Evanston 2045 continues to center on increased density and changing single family home zoning as the solution to affordable housing. Realistically, the key to affordable housing will be intentional plans for investment of local, public funds and tax savings programs, all of which can be done without blanket upzoning of entire neighborhoods. Any zoning changes need to follow from a robust affordable housing strategy, not precede it. The initial draft and certain aspects of the current draft will almost guarantee that unintended gentrification will occur on a wide scale.



A comprehensive plan is to be the guide for our community initiatives, and should reflect how we see ourselves and plan for growth and change in the most responsible manner. When municipalities create their comprehensive plans, the process is lengthy, thoroughly vetted. A document this impactful requires thoughtful, evidence-based consideration. While the existing comprehensive plan is dated the process to update the vision has thus far been far too hasty and puts an undue burden on the citizens to accept massive change in a very short time. There is no real consideration of data that does not suit the political agenda of the current City Council. In order to create a fair document that will serve its long term goal of safeguarding the community, all perspectives must be taken into account, not just the fashionable ones.



In addition to those big picture ideals, I'm a mother. I want to both protect our residents from harm while they are walking in the 4th Ward, and want to ensure that Evanstonians who are facing life challenging circumstances get the absolute best assistance possible to promote their long term thriving.



As a single mother who has had a full time job while parenting, I am acutely aware of the necessity to budget.. I also recognize the awesome responsibility that, as a Councilmember, your actions will directly affect people’s pocketbooks. At this time in our country, I would not assume that people are in any position to have their taxes increased, or to assume the costs that come with supporting my own personal causes. At the same time, we should not be increasing other charges across the board to pretend that the taxes are not going up. In order to finance the goals we decide upon as a community, we need to be deliberate and disciplined in making decisions with our budget revenue and expenditures.,



Finally, I am committed to taking all points of view under consideration. Your City Council should not react with defensiveness and aggression toward community members who bring attention to questionable discrepancies or inefficiencies.The community members should be valued by the Council, not treated as the adversaries.

Check out the new website

WRITE IN WELCH FOR 4TH A Voice for Evanston 4th Ward. About Write in Candidates MY PRIORITIES Ensure open, above board decision making shaped by the people.Respect the recommendations of diverse City Boards & Commissions. Advance housing affordability that preserves our beautiful, inclusive neighborhoods.Advocate equit.....

https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/01/09/candidates-wage-write-in-campaigns-for-city-clerk-4th-ward/

https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/01/12/envision-evanston-2045-affordable-housing/

Letter to the editor: Plenty of ways to boost affordability without zoning change - Evanston RoundTable Unfortunately, many Evanston residents, including people of faith communities and their leaders, have been led to believe that if you value equity and