Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
What does political sabotage look like? It looks like this.
Councilmember Clare Kelly and I worked for months on the Evanston Property Tax & Rent Circuit Breaker Program to help seniors, long-term residents, and low-income neighbors stay in their homes.
We met with Cook County in numerous meetings. We collected Census and income data. We did the work and continue to do the work, collecting more data.
City staffer Liza Roberson Young acted like she was on board—she even said she couldn’t afford to buy a home in Evanston. But then her energy shifted.
No data or research or anything from her.She ghosted our follow-ups.She ignored resident emails offering private testimony for the program.She, as the Chief Legislation Policy Advisor with the six figure salary hired by Mayor Daniel Biss reportedly without notifying city council nor getting approval, advised us to submit the proposal with NO DATA. I challenged her on that (see emails in video clip). Why would she advise we submit an incomplete proposal? She never responded.
And then? City staff entered the proposal on two committee agendas EMPTY—no notice to Clare, no data included that we have collected. They never requested any of our data collected. We found out about both committee meetings the day of the meetings!
And who ran with that false narrative?Bill Smith from Evanston Now.The same person who told me directly:“The more people hate me, the more money I make.”Let that sink in.
After city staff set us up, they looked us in the face and moved the proposal forward—with absolutely nothing in it.
At the Referral Committee meeting, Alison Leipsiger, Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs Manager, walked up to me and said:“You didn’t have to be here.”I responded, “I intend to follow this all the way through.”She didn’t even stop walking to hear my response to her comment.
This is how programs meant to help the people get sabotaged behind the scenes.
📌 And let’s be very clear about Councilmember Bobby Burns:He wants this program referred to the HCDC Committee. Why?Because he does not want it coming before his Strategic Housing Committee, which is focused on new development tied to Northwestern University funds. This isn’t about improving the program—it’s about protecting a financial agenda.This isn’t a competition. It’s obstruction. Strategic Housing stalled for 6 months under Burns, and now he wants to bury a program for existing residents so his development agenda isn't disrupted.
Watch Councilmember Bobby Burns deny the proposal ever came before his committee—then watch the clip of him saying exactly that in a previous meeting.Read the email where Liza advised us to submit without data. Then read my response challenging her.
This isn’t just politics. This is deliberate deception.And it’s time to wake up, Evanston.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
📣 Support the Evanston Property Tax & Rent Circuit Breaker Program.📞 Contact Mayor Daniel Biss and your Councilmember TODAY.📧 Demand they prioritize this program and stop the obstruction.
🕵🏽♀️ FOIA the truth.You have the right to request all communications from Liza Roberson Young, Luke Stowe, Alison Leipsiger, and any other staff regarding this program—from November 2024 to present day.👉🏽 You might need to ask the City Clerk’s office multiple times, as key emails may be omitted. Be persistent.
🎥 Watch the clip📩 Read the emails
Let the people see. Let the truth breathe. Let’s move this forward—together.
#EvanstonTruth #CircuitBreakerNow #HousingJustice#HoldThemAccountable #FOIAForFacts #ExposeTheSabotage#WTPMTV #ProtectOurElders #WakeUpEvanston #Evanston #CityofEvanston
What does political sabotage look like? It looks like this.
Councilmember Clare Kelly and I worked for months on the Evanston Property Tax & Rent Circuit Breaker Program to help seniors, long-term residents, and low-income neighbors stay in their homes.
We met with Cook County in numerous meetings. We collected Census and income data. We did the work and continue to do the work, collecting more data.
City staffer Liza Roberson Young acted like she was on board—she even said she couldn’t afford to buy a home in Evanston. But then her energy shifted.
No data or research or anything from her.She ghosted our follow-ups.She ignored resident emails offering private testimony for the program.She, as the Chief Legislation Policy Advisor with the six figure salary hired by Mayor Daniel Biss reportedly without notifying city council nor getting approval, advised us to submit the proposal with NO DATA. I challenged her on that (see emails in video clip). Why would she advise we submit an incomplete proposal? She never responded.
And then? City staff entered the proposal on two committee agendas EMPTY—no notice to Clare, no data included that we have collected. They never requested any of our data collected. We found out about both committee meetings the day of the meetings!
And who ran with that false narrative?Bill Smith from Evanston Now.The same person who told me directly:“The more people hate me, the more money I make.”Let that sink in.
After city staff set us up, they looked us in the face and moved the proposal forward—with absolutely nothing in it.
At the Referral Committee meeting, Alison Leipsiger, Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs Manager, walked up to me and said:“You didn’t have to be here.”I responded, “I intend to follow this all the way through.”She didn’t even stop walking to hear my response to her comment.
This is how programs meant to help the people get sabotaged behind the scenes.
📌 And let’s be very clear about Councilmember Bobby Burns:He wants this program referred to the HCDC Committee. Why?Because he does not want it coming before his Strategic Housing Committee, which is focused on new development tied to Northwestern University funds. This isn’t about improving the program—it’s about protecting a financial agenda.This isn’t a competition. It’s obstruction. Strategic Housing stalled for 6 months under Burns, and now he wants to bury a program for existing residents so his development agenda isn't disrupted.
Watch Councilmember Bobby Burns deny the proposal ever came before his committee—then watch the clip of him saying exactly that in a previous meeting.Read the email where Liza advised us to submit without data. Then read my response challenging her.
This isn’t just politics. This is deliberate deception.And it’s time to wake up, Evanston.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
📣 Support the Evanston Property Tax & Rent Circuit Breaker Program.📞 Contact Mayor Daniel Biss and your Councilmember TODAY.📧 Demand they prioritize this program and stop the obstruction.
🕵🏽♀️ FOIA the truth.You have the right to request all communications from Liza Roberson Young, Luke Stowe, Alison Leipsiger, and any other staff regarding this program—from November 2024 to present day.👉🏽 You might need to ask the City Clerk’s office multiple times, as key emails may be omitted. Be persistent.
🎥 Watch the clip📩 Read the emails
Let the people see. Let the truth breathe. Let’s move this forward—together.
#EvanstonTruth #CircuitBreakerNow #HousingJustice#HoldThemAccountable #FOIAForFacts #ExposeTheSabotage#WTPMTV #ProtectOurElders #WakeUpEvanston #Evanston #CityofEvanston
