The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, February 28, 2017
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Candidates gear up for primary Mayoral hopefuls prepare for unexpected contest By NORA SHELLY
daily senior staffer @noracshelly
Katie Pach/Daily Senior Staffer
ACLU’s legislative director Khadine Bennett speaks at a forum hosted by State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) and State Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston). Panelist told the audience advocacy groups are doubling their efforts to combat policies from the new presidential administration.
Panel talks civil liberties, Trump State lawmakers, activists discuss efforts to combat Trump policies By BILLY KOBIN
daily senior staffer @billy_kobin
Local lawmakers and activists told an audience at a discussion Monday evening that advocacy groups are doubling their efforts to combat policies from the new presidential administration. State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston), Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) and Rep. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) organized the “Protecting Our Civil Liberties” event at the Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Ave. Four panelists
from different advocacy organizations that advocate for shared how the audience of about 400 can protect their civil liberties and help defend others during the uncertain political environment. Panelists represented the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Equality Illinois and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Each panelist, along with the three elected officials, said they believe President Donald Trump’s administration poses a threat to civil liberties, but plenty of people and organizations stand
ready to help those who feel under attack. “These are times when we need to be vigilant, when we need to pay attention,” Gabel said. “We need to be present.” Khadine Bennett, associate legislative director of the ACLU of Illinois, said the various executive actions the Trump administration has already taken — including restricting the entry of refugees and immigrants, and rescinding guidelines from President Barack Obama allowing transgender students to use the school bathroom of their choice — are “appalling.” She added, however, that the
amount of people who are protesting and attending events like Monday’s discussion is encouraging. Additionally, Bennett said several organizations in Illinois are pushing for legislation in the state that would protect citizens that could be affected by Trump’s policies. “ We will leave no one behind in our work,” Bennett said. Brigid Leahy, director of public policy at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said this may be the “most threatening time for women’s health and » See RIGHTS, page 5
A shortened, contentious mayoral primary campaign will culminate in Election Day Tuesday, as Evanston holds its first mayoral in more than two decades and second in city history. The primar y was announced in December, after all five candidates had filed their petitions, and was a surprise to many. Several candidates said the primary drastically altered the way they campaigned. Candidates said the shortened campaign season negatively impacted their ability to connect with voters, but said the possibility of a general election as a way to dig deeper into the issues defining the campaign. Although truncated, the campaign has been nothing short of contentious. State law requires a primary for any municipal race with more than four candidates, but the issue of a primary was brought forward early in the election cycle. Ald. Brian Miller (9th) filed for the election earlier than the preset filing dates, later citing a seemingly forgotten 1992 referendum passed by Evanston voters that requires a primary for mayoral elections with two or more candidates.
The city announced a primary would be held in late December, which shortened the campaign season by nearly six weeks. It will be the first mayoral primary held in Evanston since 1993. If one of the candidates wins over 51 percent of the vote, they will win the election outright. In 1993, none of the candidates won a majority of the vote during the primary, necessitating a general election. The candidate who won the plurality of votes in the primary, Ald. Ann Rainey (8th), went on to narrowly lose the general election to former Mayor Lorraine Morton. The election has generated confusion over the electoral process in Evanston, furthered by two objections to nominating petitions. In November, a supporter of Miller filed objections against businessman Steve Hagerty, Ald. Mark Tendam (6th) and former Evanston Township supervisor Gary Gaspard. Objections to Tendam were later withdrawn, and the Evanston electoral board dropped objections to against Gaspard and Hagerty. Objections later filed by lawyer Jeff Smith (Weinberg ’77) against the other four candidates were also dropped by the board in early January. The primary came as a surprise to many, and some candidates said it limited their ability to connect with voters. “When you compress all the forums and the questionnaires into a shorter time period, there is less time to » See PRIMARY, page 5
Smith critiques Miller’s proposal
GlobeMed hosts Syria discussion
daily senior staffer @noracshelly
In a roundtable discussion organized by Northwestern GlobeMed on Monday, local humanitarian leaders discussed the current state of the Syrian refugee crisis and urged students to take action by spreading awareness and volunteering. Dr. Mufaddal Hamadeh, a board member of the humanitarian non-profit Syrian American Medical Society Foundation, and Sufyan Sohel, deputy director of a Muslim civil rights organization — the Council on American Islamic Relations in Chicago — spoke to about 40 people in Fisk Hall about health and legal services for Syrian refugees. The discussion was organized by Northwestern’s GlobeMed as a way to inform NU students about the issue, said event
By NORA SHELLY
Mayoral candidate Jeff Smith released a statement Sunday evening opposing Ald. Brian Miller’s (9th) proposal to create an independent inspector general for the city. In the statement, Smith (Weinberg ’77) called Miller’s proposal as a “stunt” and said the position would be unnecessary. Miller, who is also running for mayor, announced the proposal Thursday. He called for a creation of the position to investigate all city departments, including the Evanston Police Department. Miller said Thursday that he had first proposed the idea to fellow aldermen when he was appointed to the council in
2015, but received little feedback on it at the time. Miller said the office would have a hiring term or be contracted from outside the city so to be free from outside pressures. “The most important thing we can have is transparency, disclosure and accountability for how the city spends taxpayer money, how the city conducts transactions and how the city is basically conducting city affairs,” Miller said Thursday. Miller cited incidents such as the controversial arrest video of Lawrence Crosby — a Northwestern graduate student who was arrested in October 2015 after being accused of stealing a car that turned out to belong to him — as an example of why an independent investigative » See SMITH, page 5
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
By JANE YUN
the daily northwestern @_janeyun
organizer and GlobeMed’s copresident Nadia Ghazali. “This is obviously such a relevant issue right now,” the Weinberg junior said. “A lot of
people are interested, and there’s a great need for people to actually care about this, so that’s why we decided on this topic.” The roundtable began with
Claire Pak/The Daily Northwestern
Dr. Mufaddal Hamadeh and Sufyan Sohel speak at a roundtable discussion about Syrian refugee health. The event was organized by GlobeMed at Fisk Hall on Monday.
Hamadeh discussing the work that SAMS has done to provide medical services to Syrians. Before the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Syria had an advanced medical system, he said. “Since everything (happened), Syria is in total devastation,” Hamadeh said. “That includes the health care system.” The healthcare crisis was further perpetuated when many doctors fled the country to Europe and the United States, leaving medical students to perform life-saving surgeries, Hamadeh said. He added that trained nurses have also become rare in Syria, and that doctors are unable to provide necessary treatment due to a lack of resources. “These are decisions no doctor wants to make,” he said. SAMS works to build healthcare systems instead » See REFUGEES, page 5
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