By Bob Seidenberg
Shawn Iles brought experience from a number of past roles to his campaign to succeed Melissa Wynne as the alderperson for the city’s Third Ward.
Overnight Shelter Director for Interfaith Action of Evanston, former president of the Evanston Public Library Board, former president of the Evanston Rotary Club, coach in the AYSO youth soccer program, president of the Lincoln School Parent-Teacher Association — a pretty impressive list all in all.
The last two items — coaching in the youth soccer program and his two-year stint as PTA president at Lincoln — may have been the most valuable, though, when it came to winning voters in the tight three-way race, he suggested.
Iles ended up receiving 825 votes to 698 votes for newcomer Gennifer Geer, and 678 votes for candidate John Kennedy, in winning election to a four-year term, unofficial returns from Tuesday’s municipal election show.
“I think the soccer moms of the Third Ward elected me essentially,” he said in a phone interview Thursday, “because I taught their kids soccer, I found them (their children) books in the Bookery (the book stall maintained by the Lincoln School PTA). And I served two years as PTA president and I got to know them because I had four kids who went to the school. So when I knocked on doors the moms were like on your side.”
Wynne’s advice helpful too
Iles said he also gained from advice he had received from Wynne, the longtime alderperson of the ward who threw her endorsement behind him.
“You can win a debate with a constituent but that isn’t effective representation. People want to feel heard,” he said she told him.
“They want to know that you understand their concerns.”
“I’m wonky. I can get lost in the policy,” Iles acknowledged. “I remembered Melissa’s advice when I was knocking on doors. I listened and learned a lot from the people that I will now serve.”
He’s not in agreement with those who suggest that the collaborative atmosphere which generally applies to the Library Board wouldn’t work at the council level too.
“It should be collaborative,” he said, “and when we disagree we can disagree productively. I think that’s what people liked about me. It’s (council service) not a steppingstone to something else. I’m not interested in grandstanding. I just want to get the job done as well as I can.”
