The Evanston, Illinois City Council went into closed session last night to discuss the potential appointment of Carol Mitten (currently City Administrator for Urbana, IL) to their vacant City Manager position.
The Council’s conclusion: We don’t want her.
The following news release was posted this afternoon by the City of Evanston Community & Employee Engagement Coordinator Jessie Mayo:
“EVANSTON CITY COUNCIL WILL NOT MOVE FORWARD WITH CAROL MITTEN AS CITY MANAGER CANDIDATE
EVANSTON, IL – After continued conversations, the Evanston City Council and Urbana City Administrator Carol Mitten have decided that Ms. Mitten is not the right fit for the Evanston City Manager position and will not be moving forward as a candidate.
The City thanks Ms. Mitten for her time throughout the recruitment process and wishes her the best of luck as she moves forward in her career.
City Council is currently in discussions with Interim City Manager Luke Stowe to determine next steps for the City. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
For more information, call/text 847-448-4311. For convenience, residents may simply dial 311 in Evanston.
-END-“
The City news release would appear to be an effort to help Carol Mitten and the City save face, as there was no indication prior to last night’s closed deliberations that Mitten was reconsidering. The Council had tentatively planned to vote for Mitten’s appointment on August 8th, but it would seem that there was not sufficient interest to bother with an actual vote on the matter.
The City of Evanston will now have to perform their fourth search effort within the past year to fill their City Manager position.
Mitten was attacked and intensively questioned at a “town hall” meeting on 28 July.
The Community Alliance for Better Government, a local activist group, led an all-out campaign against Mitten’s appointment after officials announced she was the finalist for the job earlier in July.
CABG members staged a protest and used social media to widely circulate articles from a website in Urbana highlighting her role on transparency, policing and issues concerning the Open Meeting Act, saying Mitten was not compatible with Evanston.
At an often-rancorous Town Hall meeting July 28, where activists displayed “No Mitten” signs, Mitten said information circulating from Urbana was “simply not true. The individuals who are spreading this information have a clear agenda, and that agenda means more to them than facts.”
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2022/08/02/lone-city-manager-finalist-withdraws-her-name-from-consideration/
A “website in Urbana”? Hmm…
Oh, and also
Residents continuously raised concerns about Mitten after the city announced her as the sole candidate in the city’s third search. Members of Evanston Fight for Black Lives engaged in a week of activism urging City Council not to approve Mitten because of her record on public safety, police accountability, affordable housing and government transparency.
https://dailynorthwestern.com/2022/08/02/city/carol-mitten-will-not-move-forward-as-evanstons-next-city-manager/
As an Evanston resident, I may need to thank you.
One other point: Evanston will not search further, and has hired interim CM Luke Stowe, the city’s CIO, as permanent CM.