City Council members Monday gave a standing ovation to one of their former members after voting to place honorary street signs on the block where he lives.
Cook County Circuit Judge Lionel Jean-Baptiste, who served a decade as 2nd Ward alderman in Evanston before being appointed to the bench in 2011, was praised by members of the current City Council, by relatives and friends from the community during the meeting.
Jean-Baptiste immigrated to Evanston from Haiti with his parents as a youth, attended St. Mary’s School and Evanston Township High School, graduated from Princeton University in 1974 and received a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1990.
Neighbors praised his commitment to the city and to the Haitian-American community in Evanston.
He also drew praise for his pioneering work on reparations and in establishing the city’s youth and young adult program.
The honorary street signs will be posted on McDaniel Avenue between Crain and Dempster streets, on the block where he has lived for decades.