The City of Evanston announced Friday that the City Council intends to appoint Interim City Manager Luke Stowe to the position on a permanent basis at a special meeting on Tuesday, August 16 at 1 p.m.
Stowe has served in the interim role since July 12, after previous interim city manager Kelley Gandurski resigned to join the Chicago law firm of Elrod Friedman. He previously served as the city’s director of administrative services and also served as interim deputy city manager and chief information officer.
Interim City Manager Luke Stowe. Credit: City of Evanston
Interim City Manager Luke Stowe. Credit: City of Evanston“Luke earned this appointment through his distinguished service to the city, demonstrating during an exceptionally contentious time an extraordinary ability to build bridges and work constructively with nearly everyone,” Mayor Daniel Biss said in the news release. from the city. “It is time for our organization to move again and to do so in a way that includes and respects all stakeholders; Luke is exactly the right person to make it happen. Let’s go to work.”
According to the news release, the City Council plans to conduct a public review of Stowe’s performance nine months after his appointment. The city’s statement also revealed that prior to Urbana City Manager Carol Mitten’s announcement as the sole candidate on July 20, two other finalists in the most recent national search had withdrawn their names from the consideration for “personal and professional reasons”.
The panel learned this earlier Stowe was interviewed by council members during executive session at a special meeting on August 9. Stowe’s appointment is the single item on the agenda for the August 16 special meeting.
Alex Harrison joins the panel during the summer between his undergraduate and graduate studies at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. More from Alex Harrison
