At a joint meeting of the City of Evanston’s Social Services Committee and the Housing and Community Development Committee, members approved updated allocations for the 2025 portion of the 2025–2029 Consolidated Plan and an amended citizen participation plan to allow faster handling of substantial amendments.

The changes stem from final federal awards the city received for fiscal year 2025. A Staff member explained that the city “actually received more funding than expected, and which is wonderful news,” and that the city also met the threshold to receive a direct allocation of the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) after missing it the prior year by a narrow margin.

The committee vote was prompted by staff’s recalculation of allocations after the final awards. Staff said the city received “close to $1,700,000” in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, that program income was higher than earlier estimates (staff had expected about $275,000 and reported receiving $309,000), and that the city has existing program income and prior-year funds it is still using. Staff also noted an annual allocation of $175,000 tied to tenant-based rental assistance under the homelessness goal and described a rebalancing of percentages across goals: the affordable housing goal’s share of planned CDBG allocations decreased from 43.94% to 38.1% in the revised plan, even though total dollars for that goal rose based on the larger grant award.

Staff described how the unexpected funding allowed the city to increase the livable community/public facilities pot to about $427,000 — up from the smaller amount originally planned — so the city would have enough for a full project should future cuts occur. Staff cautioned that the city is projecting only one year of ESG in the plan despite receiving an award this year because federal funding remains uncertain.

The committees also voted to revise the citizen participation plan’s language that had required holding a joint Social Services/HCDC meeting to approve a substantial amendment. Staff told the committees the change would let Social Services review and provide recommendations without forcing a joint meeting — an accommodation intended to avoid missing HUD deadlines when final grant awards arrive on short notice. A member of the Social Services Committee said that change “makes perfect sense” and endorsed the added flexibility.

Public comment at the meeting included two residents who told the committees the plan and the city’s housing policies do not serve low-income renters and long-time residents. Tina Paden, identified as a resident and public commenter, criticized downtown development that she said does not accept HUD vouchers and described repeated appeals for basic neighborhood services: “All new downtown development in Evanston is 60% AMI. That means that they're not required to take any HUD programming… So the city continues to say, yes, fair and equitable for everyone, but the developers get the breaks.” Paden also said neighborhood needs such as garbage cans and grocery stores are being overlooked while larger projects are funded.

Carlos B. Sutton, a resident and public commenter, told the committees the plan “is fatally false. It's fatally false, and it's fatally flawed,” and said displacement of Black families in the Fifth Ward and lack of plans to keep seniors in homes remain unresolved.

Social Services voted to accept the updated consolidated plan and place it on file for the public record; the roll call recorded Ayers for all listed members (see actions). The Housing and Community Development Committee voted to recommend the revised consolidated plan and the amended citizen participation plan to the City Council for approval at the council’s July 14 meeting.

The committees’ actions do not themselves change existing programs; they update the planned allocations and the citizen participation process and forward the documents to City Council as the next step.