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The university would pay the City of Evanston $3 million a year for 15 years as a "Good Neighbor Fund" to further projects of interest to the city and Northwestern. Also included are an investment by Northwestern in the Evanston local workforce development amounting to $500,000 a year; a $500,000 yearly investment in racial equity programming for the City of Evanston; a contribution of at least $1 million a year to help Evanston nonprofits, community groups, faith-based institutions, and schools; at least $2 million a year in financial aid to students from Evanston who attend Northwestern; and at least $250,000 a year to improve downtown Evanston.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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First of all, both Evanston and NW are despicable entities, I have no feelings about this either way. They’re all race-hustling scumbags. However, a deal like this stadium with live concerts signals that the suburbs are well on their way to becoming the center of gravity in Chicago’s entertainment scene. Chicago’s loss is the suburbs gain. One concert at a time, one restaurant at a time, one bar at a time, one club at a time, the city is being drained of its lifeblood. Many suburban downtowns are thriving, like Elmhurst, Naperville, Arl. Hts, Park Ridge, Barrington. Restraurants are packed,… Read more »