Carolyn Collopy, Evanston’s sustainability coordinator, is leaving the city today after three years on the job.
City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz announced in a blog post that Collopy and her family are moving to the Minneapolis area to be closer to her extended family. She will be taking a similar position with Hennepin County, Minn.
Collopy was the first person to hold the sustainability coordinator job in Evanston. Bobkiewicz said that she helped create the city’s Climate Action Plan and has brought hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding to Evanston to further the goals of the plan, working closely with many community partners, most notably Citizens for a Greener Evanston.
Bobkiewicz says the city will start recruiting to fill the position soon.
Sounds like another “P.C.” job
This sounds like another of the many jobs created to make a special interest group happy and get votes for council elections. Like colleges the city creates jobs and titles to make people think they are doing something while just diverting money to positions that have nothing to do with running the school [city].
Surely the officials we already have can take care of what ever duties there are. Sounds like something the Mayor should be doing anyway !
All of these make work jobs need to be eliminated. Likewise the Council/Mayor vrs. City Manager. Only one should be needed—-and so far it sounds like the Manager is making the sound decisions and the Council is giving into every special interest group.
Eliminate Evanston’s Office of Sustainability
Evanston’s Office of Sustainability was created in 2007 with a one-time state grant of $75,000.
It is my understanding that Collopy’s position must be sustained through grants and funding. If that’s the case, then this position should be at no cost to the city.
On the other hand, with the dire financial circumstances of federal, state and local budgets in this severe Recession, it would be hard to believe that the Evanston’s Office of Sustainability can still sustain itself without city funding.
If even a dime of city funds is going to the Office of Sustainability, then this is another great place to cut.
I’ll say it here and now – next year’s city tax revenue will be far worse than this years’. That means the city’s budget will be further strained in 2011. I think I wsaid the same thing lasts year.
Rather than straining taxpayers for more money, the city needs to cut programs now. My suggestions:
1) Eliminate the Township Office (the City Council just doubled the Township’s budget)
2) Eliminate Evanston’s Office of Sustainability (put more green in the people’s pockets).
3) Eliminate new library tax and close the branch libraries (the unelected Library Board just voted itself a taxing body without public hearings, circumventing the Council’s vote to close the branch libraries)
4) Close one of the two Central Street Evanston fire stations and layoff existing firefighters (the city just agreed to rehire three laid off Evanston firefighters in exchange that the Evanston Fire Union drop it’s unfair labor practice lawsuit – how dare the city layoff firefighters – the nerve)
5) Privatize ambulance services
6) Privatize waste managment and decrease water rates (the City Council just increased water rates by 10 percent)
7) Cut the City Council and Mayor’s pay by 20 percent (in 2008, the City Council and Mayor Tisdahl voted for a 20 percent pay increase for council members)
Questions – does anyone really think the City Council, mayor and city manager are taking this city in the right direction during this severe Recession that seems to be worsening?
Can you afford to pay more taxes every year?
What will our elected officials do next year when the budget is even in worse shape than this year?
Uninformed comment
Dear Anonymous,
Your comments are uninformed. With respect to sustainability coordinator, do your homework. This is one position in the City that shows a direct return on investment. You really attempt to make more informed comments that can be useful and productive.