The heated contest to succeed Delores Holmes as 5th Ward alderman has spawned another complaint that the Evanston Board of Ethics, newly at full strength, will get to tackle next Tuesday.
Misty Witenberg, who finished fourth in the ward’s five-candidate primary on Feb. 28, has filed a complaint against Holmes claiming she violated the city’s code of ethics by forwarding emails Witenberg sent her about alleged actions of supporters of winning candidate Robin Rue to one of Rue’s supporters, Janet Alexander Davis.
The ethics code bars officials from disclosing “confidential information concerning the property, government or affairs of the city.” But the code does not provide guidance on whether and under what circumstances an email from a constituent would be considered to fall within that definition.
In addition, messages to and from the email accounts of aldermen may be subject to disclosure to anyone under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
The other complaints before the board were filed by Betty Ester and Madelyn Ducre. They allege, among other things, that Holmes, Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, and aldermen Peter Braithwaite and Eleanor Revelle violated the code of ethics by endorsing Rue.
The City Council, on a split vote, approved the mayor’s selection of two new members for the ethics panel, and the reappointment of a third, on Monday night.
Ethics..,,,
” nice to see my name in print.”
Sad Situation
Once again one of the someone that didn’t fare well in the last election has a complaint, how can you expect to get elected in a Ward where you’ve lived a little over two years and the only knowledge you had of the community was what you have read. It seems the status quo is ” I lost so now I have to whine that I was treated unfair. As stated in article any publicly written e -mail is subject to FOIA (freedom of information act). They should be ashamed to call themselves choices for the community.
Dear “Noah,”
While I’m not criticizing your decision to use an alias in your comment, it suggests you place some value in the security of your personal information. If the city did exploit Wittenberg’s privacy or personal information for political or other unethical purposes, then I don’t think it’s her who should be ashamed.
Where’s the Exploit
Where was there any explotation she came in fourth place in a primary of five candidates, if there were an exploits it was her inaccuracies of information she revealed to the public, Quit wasting tax payers money and time on frivolous charges.