Winds of change blowing through Skokie

Affordable housing first challenge of a new era?

Something cool is happening in Skokie.

I reread that sentence and laughed. The words “cool” and “Skokie” are rarely heard in the same breath.

Bear with me.

Skokie, asleep for a long time, seems to be waking up. It’s a fun moment even for interested outsiders like me. If you actually live there, make sure to pay attention, because things are happening quickly.

It’s hard to know when to pay attention because there is scant local media coverage, even though the town once billed as The World’s Largest Village is the size of Lake Forest, East St. Louis and Wilmette put together. What may amount to a sea change in local government is happening in relative privacy.

It’s interesting to watch. It isn’t like Northbrook’s change, which came in 2019 when its village board was flipped from arch-conservative to just to the right of socialism.

Skokie seems to be evolving because last November’s election put the fear of God and the electorate into its village board without changing the makeup of a single seat.

Skokie voters decided, via binding referendums, to modernize their electoral system to open up the village’s political process, which may loosen the 58-year death grip on municipal government enjoyed by the Skokie Caucus Party. The three changes: staggered elections, a hybrid district/at large trustee setup, and removal of party ID from ballots.

One-party rule tends to lead to my-way-or-the-highway governing philosophy, according to leaders of the Skokie Alliance for Electoral Reform, the grassroots group that ran the referendum campaign. They said that was indicated by village board insistence on approving a highly-unpopular Carvana outlet (later rescinded), and sluggish movement on sustainability and affordable housing.

One in five residences in Skokie is affordable, by state standards as of 2016, which is about four times as much as a typical Chicago north suburb. But that seems mainly because there are a lot of old buildings in town, not because of any significant political interest in keeping housing affordable for local employees, old folks, or young folks who grew up in the village and want to buy in.

In fact, in 2017, Mayor George Van Dusen came right out and said that as properties turned over, they should be replaced with luxury housing. And that’s what’s been happening. For example, the Skokie Village Board Dec.19 approved 294 expensive residential units at 5400 Old Orchard Road and 56 more at 8029 Skokie Blvd.

So it was a big surprise when in between the two votes, Skokie Trustee Keith Robinson said he wanted an affordable housing ordinance. It was apparently no surprise to most of his peers, who agreed on the apparently huge departure from business-as-usual after a one-minute discussion.

I asked Trustee James Johnson – the independent trustee who, almost accidentally, broke through the Skokie Caucus’ one-party rule in 2021 – if maybe board members had talked earlier about Robinson’s initiative behind the scenes.

“Well, they didn’t talk to me,” he said.

But he couldn’t suppress a smile. He’s previously talked in public meetings, apparently fruitlessly, to his trustee peers about an inclusionary housing ordinance. And it was his idea to try to change Skokie’s hoary old election system. Things are going his way, even if the big kids in the Caucus refuse to point to him when it’s time to choose up sides.

Last I saw, he was still being ignored for committee leadership. And the village administration still hadn’t visibly moved to start writing ordinances to codify the results of the referendums he authored.

But the Skokie Plan Commission is already starting hearings on the affordable housing ordinance. They were kicked off Jan. 19 with informational presentations by five affordable housing experts and developers. Click here for video.

Some residents spoke after the presentations.

Gail Schechter, an 11-year member of the Illinois Housing Appeals Board, testifying in Skokie Jan. 19: “Skokie has TIF (tax increment financing) districts. TIF funds can be used to fund affordable housing, which is really good to know. I actually helped change the state law (in 2003) to make that happen.”

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Most of the experts were suggested by Skokie resident Gail Schechter, who helped Johnson lead the election reform campaign. She’s been one of the state’s leaders in open and affordable housing for decades, and lobbied for affordable housing at a Skokie Village Board meeting before Robinson’s motion.

Part of the reason affordable housing seems to be taking off in Skokie is that several people who work in Skokie Village Hall are proponents, and the power shift may give them clout. 

This may be enhanced because the electoral reform campaign seemed to be well and honestly run, and didn’t seem to have created many enemies. I was stunned by the straight-shooting of grass-roots leaders and workers including Kim Polka, Maggie Vandermeer, Judy Mendel, Emi Yamauchi and Carrie Bradean. Like Schechter and Johnson, they tried not to make the campaign an attack on the Caucus but merely an attempt to open up the process. 

They seemed polite. Kind, even.

They took a break from all that sweetness when Van Dusen tried a dirty trick to kill the referendums, planning to supplant them with dummy referendums sponsored by the village.

But when he backed off, so did the campaigners.

It was a refreshing change from most other referendum drives I reported on over the last three decades, which usually seemed outwardly adorable but were often spiced by exaggeration, fearmongering, character assassination and outright lies.

They often won anyway.

Most of the Skokie Village Board’s minute of discussion about Robinson’s motion was involved with making sure a Skokie Plan Commission recommendation went to the Village Board by March 20. That leaves time for two public hearings for residents to listen and make their opinions known, on Thursday, February 2, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, March 2, 2023, 7:30 p.m., both at Skokie Village Hall, 5127 Oakton St.

There are at least two possible reasons to try to get it done so fast. One is to try to get something on the books before a vote on Old Orchard’s upcoming massive residential-oriented redevelopment. But the principal developer said he doesn’t expect to be ready with a plan until the end of the year.

And if the Village Board is substantially agreed on an ordinance’s provisions, a prospective developer can be told how things are shaping up, and that he will be required to abide by the will of the village. I’ve seen it done before.

Another reason could be that Skokie leaders don’t really want a strong ordinance, and they don’t need much time to approve a weak one.

I’ve seen that done, too.

Some people are terrified that affordable housing will reduce their property values. That actually doesn’t happen. But stirred-up people who think so could easily turn a pair of public hearings into circuses, making it difficult to get the work done.

It’s actually possible to get a pretty good ordinance done in this amount of time, especially since some other area towns already have them, and village staffers can draw from them. 

I’ve seen that done, as well. Village Manager John Lockerby said he could make it happen in the demanded time span. 

But it’s a little concerning when a public body assigns a relatively short time limit for formulating a solution to a complex issue, especially without saying why. Skokie Village Board members brought up nothing but the timing when Robinson made his motion.

Maybe the Village Board wants to put pressure on the Plan Commission so it doesn’t waste time better spent on hearings for big, fancy projects, and might agree to an extension later. 

I’ve seen that done, too.

Whatever the time limit is about, it behooves those who are interested in Skokie affordable housing to show up for the hearings this week and next month or email their opinions. If they don’t, decisions will probably be made without them.

That would not be cool.