Advocacy Spotlight: The League of Women Voters of Evanston

The League of Women Voters of Evanston (LWVE)’s mission is to empower voters and defend democracy. Not only has the League helped with starting Joining Forces, they also partner with us because they share our values and outlook about housing affordability and advocacy. The League also believes that taking collaborative action is more effective than individual advocacy efforts.

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The LWVE is a political grassroots network and membership organization that has been around for the past century with the belief that the freedom to vote is not a partisan issue. The Evanston League has historically provided voter and citizen education for Evanston and recently has also served Skokie. The League’s members include women and men of every age, race, background, and political perspective who share the core belief that well-informed citizens are a necessity for effective government.

What the League Does
The LWVE helps the community with voter registration and hosts candidate forums for local elections. It has taken the lead on helping the unhoused community in Evanston register to vote and making voting as easy as possible for them. For candidate forums, the LWVE moderates, asking questions submitted by the audience. They often include questions about candidates' stances on what affordable housing is, what they plan to do about affordable housing and housing instability, etc.  

The Observer Corps functions as the eyes and ears of the League, observing public meetings and reporting back to the League. Evanston's Observer Corps consists of members who observe the City Council, the standing city government committees and other boards, committees and commissions. LWVE members have reported that the most influential things the League does are the Observer Corps’ sharing of information about key issues and voter services.

The League also studies policy issues in depth and defines positions to advocate for.

The League's Advocacy for Affordable Housing
Even though affordable housing issues aren’t the sole focus for the League, the LWVE has recently updated its positions on housing and zoning and focused on fair housing enforcement. In 2021, the LWVE reviewed Evanston’s zoning code to assess what updates would make it more equitable. The information from this review will be used for the League's advocacy for revisions to the code as part of Envision Evanston 2045. 

When housing issues arise in City Council meetings, league members may advocate in support of or opposition to an action if it is consistent with League Local positions. Actions that the League takes include:   

• Providing public/written comment to City Council,   

• Supporting local issues, like the RLTO,   

• Submitting witness slips, and  

• Advocating at the county and state levels. 

Members of the League suggest that Evanston make it easier for more and diverse types of housing to be developed by providing a variety of funding sources that would allow more developers to build, as well as revise the zoning code to include types of housing that aren’t just single-family homes to improve housing affordability. There should also be more support for small landlords, solutions for middle-income elderly people, among many other things that would make housing more accessible in Evanston. The need for affordable housing has become much more urgent among Evanstonians over the past few years, and this awareness of the need for a variety of options demonstrates the potential for more and creative solutions to addressing fair and affordable housing issues in the city.

People Interviewed: Jennifer O’Neil (former President of the LWVE), and Betty Hayford (Vice President of the LWVE) ​