Evanston’s Margarita Inn one vote closer to permanent status as homeless shelter
Evanston City Council approved a first-round vote on the special use permits for use of the Margarita Inn by local nonprofit Connections for the Homeless as a permanent shelter near downtown Evanston. Supporters clad in T-shirts with the slogan “We Are All Inn” burst into loud applause after the 6-2 vote moved the item for action to be voted on at the May 22 City Council meeting.
The prospect of making the Inn a permanent homeless shelter has been opposed by neighbors, however, and an Evanston Councilmember has said more stringent guidelines need to be in place.
60 speakers, a majority of which supported the shelter, spoke online and in person at the meeting highlighting the good that Connections has done for the homeless community since Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s shelter in place order in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the group to think outside the box to house those in need.
“The Margarita Inn reduces homelessness in Evanston ... There is not a person here tonight nor a person out on the streets of Evanston that wants to see the problem of homelessness in Evanston get worse,” Connections Board Member Steve Hackney said. “The Margarita Inn is free to the City of Evanston. It costs the budget not one cent ... there are a lot of tough decisions that come across your desk. This isn’t one of them.”
Councilmembers Clare Kelly and Thomas Suffredin voted against the special use permits with Kelly expressing concern over the lack of safety protections awarded to residents of the Margarita Inn that were suggested by zoning and housing attorney Daniel Lauber. These include an accessible phone in the lobby for resident use, training for residents in the use of Narcan, protections for whistleblowers and more.
Those concerns that are not already addressed by city code will be in the Inn’s operating agreement, according to Councilmember Jonathan Nieuwsma, who represents the 4th Ward, in which the Margarita Inn is located. The operating agreement is in its draft form but will provide guardrails for how the shelter should be managed and what regulatory oversight the city has. Nieuwsma said he expects the operating agreement to be discussed at the May 22 council meeting, giving the council two weeks to refine it.
The Good Neighbor Agreement signed by Connections CEO Betty Boggs and Mayor Daniel Biss also serves as a check by setting expectations and providing avenues for neighborhood residents, shelter residents and others to discuss and handle issues as they arise.
“Evanston is the city on the North Shore. We are a city and we have everything that comes with being a city on the North Shore, for better or for worse,” Nieuwsma said. “We have a problem here because of who we are and where we are. We need to do more to address these problems ... part of the solution is putting people in a building. Giving people a roof over their heads and a bed to stay in, three meals a day. This is exactly what Connections for the Homeless is doing at the Margarita Inn.”
He argued against comments from those who said that a shelter shouldn’t be at this location by responding that it wouldn’t be right to put it in a more marginalized neighborhood.
Nieuwsma said that while the Connections organization isn’t perfect, they are local experts who have served the homeless in Evanston for decades.
Kelly still wants to organize a meeting between Lauber and Connections to better strengthen the operating agreement, saying now is the time to shore up protections for the residents.
“It’s not enough to just have faith (in an organization),” she said. “We have to have the backs of those residents. We’re not in the middle of a pandemic anymore ... we lowered the standards. We shouldn’t be doing that now.”
Some city residents expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest by Councilmembers Eleanor Revelle and Devon Reid. Revelle has donated to Connections for the Homeless in the past but Deputy City Attorney Alexandra Ruggie said that the donations do not constitute a conflict of interest.
Reid openly admitted to receiving rental assistance from Connections when he was at risk of becoming homeless himself. He argued this shouldn’t disqualify him from voting on the Margarita Inn because he did not receive funds above and beyond what would be given to any other resident.
“When I was younger, I was homeless and my family received assistance from Catholic Charities. Am I permanently banned from voting on anything relating to Catholic Charities?” Reid said. “Rental assistance that I received that is open to the general public, that was not some special arrangement between myself and Connections, I do not believe disqualifies me from being able to vote here.”
Reid also said he was openly supportive of the project well before he was given any assistance, even proposing the shelter be housed in his ward. He said he hoped by voting on this issue he can stand up for any future low income council members in similar situations who are told they may not vote due to conflict of interest.
Pushback to the proposed shelter has been fierce, with a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the landlord at the neighboring Oak Ridge Apartment Building, claiming that if the Margarita Inn were to become a permanent shelter, it would discourage potential renters from leasing at the property and diminish the value of the neighborhood.
Cameel Halim, owner of the nearby King Home and the Halim Time & Glass Museum, said at the April 26 Land Use Commission meeting that he believes Connections for the Homeless won’t be able to hold the building to the standards outlined in the Good Neighbor Agreement.
Pastor Laura Harris-Ferree of Grace Lutheran Church used their public comment to read poor reviews of neighboring rental companies in comparison to the positive comments of those who have spent time in the Margarita Inn.
“Jesus said a lot about giving food to the hungry, housing the homeless and feeding the poor,” they said. “I hope we will take those same words that Jesus urged us to do and do the same for the Margarita Inn folks.”
