Greetings all,

Before we dive in, and this one’s a deep dive, let’s start with two bits of housekeeping:

1) We take great care to vet all information that goes into this petition and its updates. While this reform effort necessarily involves matters of personal experience, opinion, and emotion, we strive to let the facts tell the story. To date, we haven’t received a single request for a correction or clarification to any statement we’ve published. That said, if anyone believes we’ve made an error, or should clarify a particular point, please contact us at fitzsimonsneighbors@gmail.com.  

2) Some of you have reported issues accessing our previous update, “The State of Things,” through the email sent by Change.org. The update includes new police and EMS data and the news that Albany Care is reportedly engaged in litigation with the state over its restricted license. If you weren’t able to access the update before, you can find it here:

Now on to today’s topic:

As the latest data show, Albany Care’s operations continue to have a significant impact on a broad swath of Evanston residents — those who live in Albany Care most acutely, as well as neighbors, first responders, city resources, and local businesses.

Which brings us to a question we’ve heard from several supporters: What does Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss have to say about the situation at Albany Care?

Before we continue, we’d like to make it clear that this is not an attempt to politicize this platform, or to wade into the congressional primary to succeed retiring Representative Jan Schakowsky. Rather it’s part of an ongoing effort to assess public engagement by elected officials who represent Evanstonians, as well as state officials in charge of regulatory efforts. Which leaders are making their voices heard? Which ones aren’t? And if not, why not?

Daniel Biss is one of four elected officials named on this petition. As a "decision maker,” Change.org notified him of the petition soon after its posting on June 8th. In the weeks that followed, members of this group and the broader community engaged with representatives of Governor JB Pritzker and State Senator Laura Fine, and directly with State Representative Robyn Gabel, as well as members of her staff. (In our view, such engagement qualified as a response, at least an initial one, from those leaders.) We did not receive any communication from Mayor Biss or his representatives at that time. 

So we offered him another opportunity. On August 12th, we emailed Mayor Biss to ask if he’d like to make a public response to the petition, noting that it had received 1,236 signatures at that point.

Thirteen days later, Mayor Biss has not responded. 

Only Mayor Biss can speak to his reasoning for this. But it’s worth considering the history of his engagement on Albany Care, and on other issues we think are relevant.

In the interests of fair discourse, the following is a series of points and counterpoints. The points are ones we think might reasonably explain Mayor Biss’s silence on Albany Care and SMHRF reform. The counterpoints make the case for Mayor Biss’s active involvement. (While we’d prefer not to engage in speculation, Mayor Biss has declined to speak for himself. So we’ll engage in some conjecture as we present the various sides.)

Point: Albany Care’s operating license is regulated by the state. There isn’t much  Evanston can do.
 
In recent years, when the question of the city’s authority has been raised, officials have determined that they have limited power to regulate Albany Care. The state issues Albany Care’s operating license; the City of Evanston issues their municipal business license. As Alex Harrison reported in the Evanston RoundTable in 2023: “The city’s Health and Human Services Department issues annual licenses to all long-term care facilities, and performs many of the same functions as IDPH. This includes setting maximum bed capacities, completing inspections at least annually and citing violations of minimum standards.” (The RoundTable piece has a more detailed breakdown of Albany Care oversight.)

Even though there’s some regulatory overlap between the city and state, the state’s authority supersedes Evanston’s “home rule" authority. So city officials don’t have significant power to take action against Albany Care or its operating entity.

Counterpoint:

The city’s claim about its lack of authority is reportedly based on internal legal advice; it’s unclear whether officials have sought additional guidance. In any case, the city could issue a statement regarding their legal analysis, which would help address potential regulatory gaps and highlight opportunities for reform.

(Side note: We understand that some municipal governments in Illinois seek and receive reimbursement for a portion of emergency services provided to their local SMHRFs. As far as we know, Evanston has not sought such restitution, despite the consistently high volume of police and EMS responses to Albany Care.)

Even if we accept the premise that the state’s authority supersedes any and all local authority, the city has the ability — and, we’d argue, the obligation — to seek greater authority regarding Albany Care. In the current framework, a private company’s state-regulated facility has a pronounced impact on our city’s public safety, first responders, and resources, yet the city can’t hold the company to account. The state can’t continue to have it both ways, foisting a social, medical, and budgetary burden on local stakeholders while denying those stakeholders a meaningful voice.

This Catch-22 is one of many reasons we’re pushing for greater transparency from the state. Albany Care and SMHRF operations must not continue to be a hot potato, readily passed between elected officials and state agencies and departments. This impedes the gathering of crucial information regarding Albany Care’s performance and the safety of its residents. It makes it all too easy for facts — and people — to fall through the system’s cracks. And it allows individual officials to celebrate their own actions upon any perceived success, and to punt responsibility to other officials and departments when presented with evidence of failure. 

Point: The role of mayor is a part-time job in Evanston, which utilities a Council-Manager form of government. There’s only so much we can expect Mayor Biss to address.

The mayor’s job is undeniably difficult, with myriad issues calling for his attention. He has to navigate an array of diverse opinions, interests, and priorities, as well as social, budgetary and political realities.

As a part-time employee, the mayor’s annual salary in 2024 was $25,317. (That June, the city’s Compensation Committee recommended a 26.4% increase to the Mayor’s salary, along with raises for council members, which the Council later approved. These raises were set to take effect in May 2025, following this year’s elections, though the city still lists the previous compensation info on its website.
 
Government structure and salary aside, Mayor Biss, like any public servant, must make careful choices about how he allocates his time and uses his voice. And ultimate authority rests with council members and with City Manager Luke Stowe. 

Counterpoint:

Naturally, we believe Albany Care deserves Mayor Biss’s attention and his voice. The impacts on city residents are clear, and backed up by data. They’re detailed in the petition and in reporting listed in the Additional Resources section. Albany Care residents have died and been assaulted within the facility. The area surrounding Albany Care has become a hotspot for drug trafficking, with neighbors often tasked to inform police about illegal activity. There’s a city park — Grey Park — which has been the setting for a slew of documented safety incidents, and exhibits many indicators of blight: alcohol and drug use, drug dealing, arrests, fighting, weapon possession, as well as so-called nuisance issues like littering and public urination. The city’s first responders are frequently called to address emergencies related to Albany Care. And the owners of businesses on the Main-Dempster Mile have been vocal about Albany Care’s impacts on their operations. The list goes on and on.

Mayor Biss is the public face of Evanston’s government, a platform he’s encouraged through his vocal stances on such issues as the construction of the new Ryan Field;
the Envision Evanston 2045 campaign; and in forums beyond Evanston, including a 2024 Op-Ed in the Chicago Tribune discussing re-zoning, development, and the impacts of climate change, and a 2025 Tribune Op-Ed on efforts to protect community members from the escalating threat of deportation.

Even before he declared his candidacy for the 9th district congressional seat, Mayor Biss chose to weigh in on matters of national concern. In an interview with Evanston Now’s Jeff Hirsh published on July 20, 2024, Biss opined that the Democratic Party should replace Joe Biden as its candidate for president.

Based on past comments and positions, the Albany Care issue should be firmly  in Mayor Biss’s wheelhouse. In 2023, when the city approved the Margarita Inn’s conversion to a shelter operated by Connections for the Homeless, an effort Biss championed, the mayor issued a public statement titled Living Our Community’s Values. In it, he wrote of the importance of “understanding that every unhoused or mentally ill person or panhandler on the street is first and foremost a human being in need, and establishing services that address that need in a humane and constructive way.”

(Biss’s messaging about unhoused members of our community is particularly relevant to Albany Care. When Albany Care proceeds with an involuntary discharge of one of its residents, for whatever the stated reason may be, those community members don’t necessarily leave our community. They still require housing, medical care, and mental health care services. And they often lack the resources to advocate for themselves.)

In other forums such as the Tribune Op-Eds cited above, Biss has touted Evanston’s commitment to compassion and social justice, and expressed pride in his role as an exemplar of those values. It’s a central part of Biss’s congressional campaign pitch.

There’s a precedent for Mayor Biss to engage on Albany Care: He’s done it before. In 2017, when Mayor Biss was a state senator, he walked the picket line with striking Albany Care workers. And in 2021, Mayor Biss engaged in neighborhood efforts calling for improved care and safety.

Since then, Mayor Biss has engaged in city-level meetings about Albany Care, including meetings last year attended by members of the facility’s ownership group. At times, when community members have emailed Mayor Biss about specific incidents and concerns related to Albany Care, he’s replied promptly and with concern. At other times, he's declined to respond. After a June 2024 incident in Grey Park, Mayor Biss offered to join a proposed meeting between a neighbor of Albany Care and the facility’s administrator. The administrator never responded to that invitation, despite the Mayor’s direct offer to participate, and the meeting never happened. But in recent years, Mayor Biss has seemingly refrained from making public comments about Albany Care, leaving officials like Fourth Ward Council Member Jonathan Nieuwsma to speak on his behalf.

In late summer and early fall of 2023, after a former Albany Care resident stabbed and nearly killed a current Albany Care resident in front of a neighbor’s home on Maple Avenue, Council Member Nieuwsma convened a series of online meetings with neighbors, city and police officials, and Albany Care representatives. Mayor Biss did not attend any of those meetings. Nor has he joined any community meetings about Albany Care since that time.

Point: Mayor Biss must pick his battles, and this isn't the right one.

In a June 17th forum for candidates running for the 9th district congressional seat, the Evanston RoundTable reported the following quote from Daniel Biss: “We need people in Washington now who know when to fight, who know why they’re fighting, who know how to win — I’m proud to have done that.”

Which raises the question: Does Mayor Biss consider Albany Care and SMHRF reform a fight worth fighting? 

(Here it’s worth noting that Evanston is home to a second SMHRF, the smaller-capacity Greenwood Care; the same private management company provides “consultation services” for both Albany Care and Greenwood Care, and certain executives at this company have ownership stakes in both facilities.)

Again, we’re left to speculate about Mayor Biss’s answer, though the previous points offer a few ideas. Here are some others: The Albany Care issue is too small. It’s too local. It’s yet another community petition. It’s other people’s problem to fix.

Counterpoint(s):

Worth Taking Risks?

Mayor Biss can make the opening argument here. In the kick-off to his mayoral re-election campaign last fall, he declared the following, as reported in the Evanston RoundTable: “The easiest thing for a politician to ever do is say ‘No, it’s too controversial, it’s too risky, I don’t know, there’s an election coming up, maybe we shouldn’t,’” Biss said. “But we’re prepared to take a risk, because this community is worth taking risks for.”

As Mayor Biss has often suggested, our community should, and frequently does, extend a compassionate hand to neighbors who struggle to find housing, and/or mental health care. They’re among our most vulnerable Evanstonians. Aren’t they worth taking risks for?

Small Potatoes? 

Is this campaign robust enough to earn a spot on Biss’s public radar? Let’s break down some numbers:

Since its launch two-and-a-half months ago, this petition has gained 1,258 supporters. In this year’s mayoral election, Daniel Biss received 11,716 votes. So the number of current petition supporters, predominantly but not entirely from Evanston, constitutes 10.74% of the vote Mayor Biss earned in his re-election.

Thus far, support for this petition may seem modest by comparison. But its resources —  in terms of volunteers, donations, and media coverage — are also comparatively modest. (Change.org solicits donations for petitions posted on its site, but those funds are only used internally, to promote the petition among potential supporters on the site. We’re extremely grateful for those who’ve donated money and time to this effort. To date, Change.org has collected $1,480 in donations for this petition.)

While a petition isn’t directly comparable to an election campaign, the difference in funds is worth noting. In its June 30, 2025 quarterly report, Friends of Daniel Biss declared $178,187.12 in cash on hand, as reported on the website Illinois Sunshine. On July 16th, the Evanston RoundTable reported that Biss received “just shy of $703,000 in contributions over the 47 days after he announced his bid on May 15th.”

Too Many Petitions?

Maybe Mayor Biss has a case of petition fatigue. In a recent text thread with a constituent about an unrelated city issue, the mayor remarked that “everything has a petition.” This would include the mayor himself, as petitions are required to get on mayoral and congressional ballots. In any case, we acknowledge that each petition must be considered on its own merits, and that public officials can’t respond to every one.

Too Small? Too Local?

Presumably, the issues outlined in our petition aren’t too small or too local for Albany Care residents who rely on the facility and the SMHRF program for mental health care and housing. They weren’t too small for the residents who died while under the facility’s care. They aren’t too small for Albany Care residents who have been assaulted within the facility, or who have spoken out about conditions they feel are unsafe or inadequate.

They’re not too small for the neighbors who see the direct and indirect effects of Albany Care’s operations. They’re not too small for first responders and city employees who constantly respond to emergencies or recurring safety concerns.
And while other parts of Evanston may not see or feel these effects as acutely, the entire city is paying a price.

Albany Care may not reflect the level of care offered by every SMHRF, but its ongoing issues are part of a bigger picture. At the state level, those issues highlight the urgent need for regulatory reform. At the national level, they raise tough questions about how our federal government provides care and protection for those struggling with mental health and substance use disorder. The reverberations are many and wide-ranging.

For a local politician who’s seeking to build a national profile, who’s asking 9th District voters to trust him with their voices in the halls of Congress, Albany Care would not appear to be small at all.

Not His Fight?

Whether or not Mayor Biss is eager to join this fight, Albany Care has a history of bringing the fight to him. As we reported in our last update, Albany Care, Inc. filed a summons for discovery in 2022 after the state issued its Level 5 restriction, naming the City of Evanston, Mayor Daniel Biss, and the Illinois Department of Public Health, among others. The city contested that filing, and the Circuit Court of Cook County eventually dismissed the motion. 

Now Albany Care is back on a Level 5 restriction, and they’ve reportedly embarked on another round of litigation against the state. (As far as we know, Mayor Biss hasn’t been named in any current action.) It’s understandable that city officials such as Mayor Biss would prefer not to be named party to any such legal actions, regardless of the perceived or decided merits of those actions. We won’t draw conclusions as to whether such actions have deterrent effects on those who might otherwise speak out; Mayor Biss would have to answer that for himself. But as the 2022 filing illustrates, this isn’t just a question of fighting — it’s also a question of fighting back.

On Brand For a “Relentless Fighter”

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, in her recent endorsement of Mayor Biss for congress, praised him as “a relentless fighter.” As we've noted, this is consistent with the way Candidate Biss has pitched himself to 9th district voters.

If Mayor Biss truly walks the walk of the “fighter,” making choices based on what he believes is right rather than what’s convenient or politically expedient, we’re left to wonder: Why hasn’t he joined the fight for change at Albany Care?  We would welcome his public support. Mayor Biss could bring a lot to this effort. He’s got a statewide profile. He has an understanding of the operations, nuances, and roadblocks of state government. He's got relationships with local, state and national figures he could recruit as effective, vocal allies for this cause. One of those figures, himself a “decision maker” named in this petition, is Governor JB Pritzker, who gave Biss an endorsement for his mayoral re-election campaign.

Mayor Biss is uniquely positioned to make a positive impact on the lives of Albany Care residents and on our extended community. If he chooses to act.

Point: The Albany Care issue is just too tough.

Community members know all too well the barriers to achieving real reform at Albany Care. City officials have attempted to address the conditions in and around Albany Care in many different ways, for a long time—holding city and neighborhood meetings, gathering data, convening with other elected officials, and so on. 

Albany Care doesn’t represent one issue, but a complex network of issues rippling across our city, state, and country. The challenges are daunting: How do we provide effective care for those with substance use disorder and other mental health diagnoses? How do we give support to recipients of that care, particularly if they lack private resources and support? How do we regulate companies who reap private profits from public funding? How do we fix gaps and loopholes in state regulations, and identify specific agencies that should be accountable for SMHRF oversight? In the age of Citizens United, how do we navigate the money, power, and influence wielded by industry groups whose PACs donate millions to politicians, and whose lobbyists make their voices heard in Springfield? 

With the Trump Administration’s cuts to Medicaid poised to take effect in 2026, we expect these challenges to grow. There are so many reasons why this is hard. 

Counterpoint: We can and must do hard things.

We believe this campaign is a matter of justice as well as public health and safety. We believe it has clear relevance to the office Mayor Biss now holds, and the one he hopes to hold. We believe it dovetails with Mayor Biss’s stated ambitions, and with his pitch as a fighter for the most vulnerable among us.

Candidate Biss is asking 9th district voters to believe that he’ll be an effective opponent of the Trump Administration. That he won’t be deterred or intimidated by the White House’s battle plans or scorched Earth tactics. That he’ll speak truth to power in the face of fierce scrutiny and pressure. That he’ll fight for what he believes is right.

For each of us, the push for Albany Care and SMHRF reform comes down to one question: Do we believe it’s the right thing to do?

What does Mayor Biss believe? And what is he prepared to do about it?

You’ll have to ask him: dbiss@cityofevanston.org.