Evanston City Council recently discussed a ban on cashless businesses to improve equitability efforts. But why are these steps being taken? Erica Schmitt reports.
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LESLIE WILLIAMS MADE A PUBLIC STATEMENT AT THE JANUARY 9TH EVANSTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING ABOUT THE BAN ON CASHLESS BUSINESSES IN EVANSTON.
WILLIAMS IS THE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT, A GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN IN EVANSTON THAT STRIVES FOR TRANSPARENCY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
ACCORDING TO WILLIAMS, THE ACLU AND THE NAACP ARE AGAINST CASHLESS BUSINESSES.
[Leslie] I think when the primary organization for civil liberties and the primary organization for African American rights both oppose something that’s definitely a cause for concern and you know, it really just boils down to simple equity, particularly for low income people who of course, are disproportionately people of color.
BUT WHAT EXACTLY MAKES CASHLESS BUSINESSES INEQUITABLE?
[LW] People who are low income often do not have bank accounts, or they’re underbanked. So there may be one person in the family that has a bank account, but individual people don’t. And some of the companies that want to go cashless have said, ‘Well, people can buy mobile cards or they can buy access cards,’ but that is an extra financial burden. And the fees that are charged for having bank cards are something that are often overwhelming for people that really live paycheck to paycheck.
8TH WARD ALDERMAN DEVON REID WAS THE COUNCIL MEMBER WHO MADE THE REFERRAL, OR ACTED AS THE LEAD SPONSOR OF THE BAN.
[Devon] Many cities across the US have chosen to ban cashless establishments. So Evanston would be following up in that direction to make our city more equitable.
SOME OF THOSE CITIES INCLUDE NEW YORK CITY, SAN FRANCISCO, PHILADELPHIA – AND THE ENTIRE STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
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WILLIAMS SAYS THIS SIGNALS HOW EVANSTON HAS MISPLACED PRIORITIES.
[LW] There was a sudden push for development, there was a push to make Evanston a cool city that young people with a lot of disposable income would want to flock to, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you start to tailor all of your resources and all of your development priorities to that population of high income people, then you may in fact be doing a lot of harm to people who have lived here for generations and people who are a strong part of the fabric of the community. Do we really value low income and black and brown people in Evanston? Or do we see them as an obstruction?
REID AND WILLIAMS PRESENTATION WAS A SUCCESS AND WAS MOVED TO COMMITTEE. AT THE JANUARY 23RD COUNCIL MEETING, A MOTION PASSED TO MOVE THE ORDINANCE TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND THE EQUITY AND EMPOWERMENT COMMISSION
WILLIAMS SAYS THAT THERE A FEW ARGUMENTS COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND SOME COUNCIL MEMBERS MADE AGAINST THE BAN. ONE OF THEM IS THAT THE POPULATION WHO WOULD BENEFIT IS ALREADY SO SMALL.
[LW] When people talk about the cashless businesses, it’s all about convenience. You know, it’s just so much faster, it’s just so much easier. I really don’t think we can dismiss those people and just say, Well, it’s, you know, just such a small percentage, we shouldn’t worry about it. I think it’s also really disturbing that a lot of the places that want to do this are fast food places, because you know, people who are low income, that’s often where they’re going for food.
WILLIAMS SAYS THAT OTHER PEOPLE LIKE ALDERMAN TOM SUFFREDIN BELIEVE SMALL BUSINESSES MAY TAKE AN ECONOMIC HIT FROM THE LEGISLATION.
[LW] I don’t think that’s true. And I don’t think that is really taking the correct long term view. I mean, I don’t think the purpose of the City Council in the purpose of our legislation should simply be to make life easier for people who can afford a debit card or you don’t need to work for minimum wage.
REID SAYS THE PUSH LOOKS HOPEFUL AND IS THE FIRST CONSUMER-PROTECTION ORDINANCE IN THE CITY OF EVANSTON. BUT IT ISN’T THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORKS.
[DR] Very soon we’re going to be having a Fair Work Week ordinance in front of us which I believe if passed, as is presented, it will be the strongest Fair Work Week ordinance in America. And so there are many other considerations that are coming forward that I think are really conservative models in other municipalities in relation to equity, consumer protection and worker protection.
AS WILLIAMS AND REID FIGHT FOR MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES ONE ORDINANCE AT A TIME, REID SAYS EQUITY IS A NEVER ENDING FIGHT, BUT ONE THAT IS WORTH IT.
[DR] I would certainly say that we are leaders in the equity movement here in the US but you can’t just blanket say that we are equitable. It’s a long term mission that I think it’s going to take a long time for us to really get to a place where we can be proud of the progress that we’ve made.
FROM WNUR NEWS, I’M ERICA SCHMITT.
