Alderman Misled Public on City’s Crown Meetings

The previous version of this story incorrectly dated The Daily Northwestern interview as 2018. We regret the error.

The Daily Northwestern’s February 2019 interview with Ald. Don Wilson reported that “since January 2016, the City has held 31 public meetings, and seven of these meetings were designated for residents comments and concerns.” Ald. Wilson had referenced those 30 meetings at community meeting earlier that month. The Mayor made similar comments at his most recent Town Hall.

However, 14 of those 31 meetings listed by the City weren’t public meetings. At least two were closed to the public. Four weren’t meetings at all, including the groundbreaking ceremony, a vendor fair, and a job fair hosted by the contractor. One wasn’t even an event, just a memo issued by the City Manager’s office.

Of the seven meetings “designated for residents comments and concerns,” five were neighborhood meetings to discuss construction traffic and forecasts. One of the two community meetings was at an on-site construction trailer at 7:30 am, and attending residents reported they were told they could not ask questions regarding project cost.

In fact, the City only held one community meeting in which it invited the public to provide input, held Feb. 13, 2019. At this meeting, Ald. Wilson told residents their concerns were coming too late.

“When I’m sitting there at the dais, voting on the $53 million dollar project, you know, that’s the time,” Wilson said at the meeting. “When its in the papers, and the newspapers are saying the price has jumped to this giant amount–I think the Tribune wrote a story about it, I don’t know who else covered it–that’s the time. When your representatives are voting on it, we had a lot of meetings, that’s the time.”

What Wilson didn’t mention is that residents have voiced concerns since at least as far back as 2013, and those voices have grown alongside the project. Wilson also missed mentioning that most of media’s reporting of the project’s escalating costs and public funding options have only come after Council approvals, largely because none of the City’s media releases have addressed those issues.

In fact, of the City’s 41 media releases, e-newsletters and opt-in emails regarding the project:

• none noticed any Community Meeting other than that on Feb. 13, 2019
• none noticed any Council meetings or actions regarding the project
• none noticed project costs or cost increases
• 3 noticed the Groundbreaking Ceremony
• 3 noticed a Vendor Fair for trade contractors interested in participating in the project
• 2 noticed art installation RFPs (Requests for Proposal)
• 1 noticed a Job Fair hosted by the project’s construction manager, Bulley & Andrews
• 13 noticed for 6 neighborhood meetings
• 1 was a promo to sign up for construction updates
• the remaining were construction updates

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The Public Meetings

The only public meetings listed by the City were those of City Council, the most recent held July 9, 2018. That meeting amended a contract with the Crown architect and executed a construction agreement in the amount of $47,741,803, stating, “Funding for this project will be provided by various sources. Detailed information can be found in the corresponding transmittal memorandum.”

The eight other meetings in which the Council took action were:

June 25, 2018 Public Bond Hearing The meeting immediately preceding that included the hearing within it. As previously reported, the City failed to provide the minimum required public notice under Illinois law for that hearing.

April 9, 2018 Granting Major Zoning Relief for a new 2-story, 134,200 square foot Community Center, Ordinance 39-O-18

Feb. 26, 2018 Award of pre-construction services in the amount of $41,510.00. “Funding for this project will be provided from Capital Improvement Program (CIP) 2018 General Obligation Bonds (Account 415.40.4118.65515 – 616017).”

July 24, 2017 Establishing Crown maintenance fund as independent City fund

Feb. 27, 2017 / June 26, 2017 Fundraising consultant extensions

Jan. 23, 2017 Award of architect services in the amount of in the amount of $497,500. “Funding for this project will be provided from Capital Improvement Program (CIP) 2016 General Obligation Bonds (Account 415.40.4116.62145 – 616017) in the amount of $600,000.”

June 13, 2016 Establishing Crown maintenance fund from operating revenues of the new facility

Aug. 15, 2017 Solicitation of architect RFQs (requests for qualifications) for $2 million as “inclusive of the entire amount anticipated for the total construction costs for the RCCC.”

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Meetings and Informational Events

Date	Type of Meeting	Discussion/Action
3/18/19	City Council Meeting	To discuss progress, update on funding – Presentation
3/1/19	Community Meeting	To discuss progress, forecast of upcoming work, construction traffic
2/13/19	Community Meeting	To discuss progress, upcoming work, construction – Presentation
1/25/19	Neighborhood Meeting	To discuss progress, a forecast of upcoming work, construction traffic – Presentation
1/15/19	Art’s Council	Discussion of RFP for Public Art Installation
7/26/18 at 4:00 p.m.	Job Fair	Hosted by construction manager, Bulley & Andrews
7/24/18	City Manager’s Report	Memo detailing evolution of Robert Crown Project Costs
7/13/18 at 4:00 p.m.	Groundbreaking Ceremony	To solicit participation from union trade Evanston residents interested in working on this project as part of the City’s Local Employment Program.
7/11/18	Neighborhood Meeting	Discuss final design review, construction phasing, project schedule and neighborhood updates – Presentation
7/9/18	City Council	Consulting contract amendment with Woodhouse Tinucci Construction Manager Services to Bulley & Andrews Approval of 2018A Bond Issue for Crown Center Construction Agenda– Packet– Minutes
6/25/18	City Council	Introduction of 2018A Bond Issue for Crown Center Construction – Presentation– Packet
5/21/18	City Council	Project Update – Presentation
5/1/18 at 3:00 p.m.	Vendor Fairhosted by City of Evanston and Bulley & Andrews	Evanston vendors and trade contractors interested in participating in this project.
4/9/18	City Council	Zoning Relief for new Center (For Action)
3/12/18	City Council	Zoning Relief for new Center (For Introduction)
2/26/18	City Council	Award Construction Manager Services – City Council Meeting Packet
2/19/18	City Council	Update on Funding to Council – Presentation
9/25/17	City Council	Project Update – Presentation
8/14/17	City Council	Project Update – Presentation
8/3/17	Neighborhood Meeting	Discuss the refined schematic design and next steps – Presentation
7/24/17	City Council	Creation of Robert Crown Maintenance Fund
6/26/17	City Council	Robert Crown Fundraising Consultant Extension
6/1/17	Neighborhood Meeting	Preliminary design ideas and next steps – Presentation
5/18/17	Stakeholders Meeting	Architects Presentation at 5/18/17 Stakeholder meeting
3/21/17	Neighborhood Meeting	Staff and consultants from Woodhouse Tinucci Architects – gather initial input for the planned replacement of the Center – Presentation – Meeting Notes
3/2/17	Stakeholders Meeting	A schedule of the meeting was: Indoor Athletics from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.; Outdoor Athletics from 10 a.m. – noon; Education from noon – 2 p.m.; Library from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.; and Community Interests from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.-  Architects Presentation; Architect Stakeholder Workshop Notes
2/27/17	City Council	Robert Crown Fundraising Consultant Extension
1/23/17	City Council	Architect Services Award
12/12/16	City Council	Update to Council;   Architect RFQ
8/15/16	City Council	RFQ for Architectural Services
6/13/16	City Council	Infrastructure Funding
1/19/16	City Council	Fundraising Consulting Services Award