[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 14, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S7209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO ELIZABETH ``LIZ'' TISDAHL

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I want to take a few moments to 
acknowledge former mayor of Evanston, IL--and my friend--Liz Tisdahl.
  Liz began her service to Evanston in 1989 on the Evanston Township 
School Board. After 2 years as president of the board, Liz was 
appointed to the Evanston City Council in 2003 by Mayor Lorraine 
Morton. Mayor Morton had met Liz years earlier when she was picking up 
her youngest granddaughter from softball practice. She didn't recognize 
the new coach and asked about her. It was Liz Tisdahl. Liz didn't have 
a child on the team, but she wanted to lend a helping hand in the 
community.
  When Lorraine Morton became mayor, she always remembered how Liz 
stepped up just to help other people, so when it came time for Mayor 
Morton to decide whom she wanted to replace her, the first and only 
name that came to mind was Liz Tisdahl. When Liz was first approached 
to run, her answer was ``absolutely not,'' but after giving it more 
thought, Liz answered the call to run to help out Evanston's residents 
who were leaving the community due to the increasingly high cost of 
living. Liz Tisdahl wasn't running for mayor to help herself, but like 
her time coaching that softball team years earlier, she was doing it 
for other people.
  Early in Liz's tenure as mayor, she quickly learned what it meant to 
be the ``face of Evanston'' and the good she could accomplish. At the 
time, too many Evanston residents struggled to afford housing, so Liz 
wrote a Federal grant application and flew to Washington, DC, to lobby 
for money to expand affordable housing in her community--and it worked. 
Evanston received an $18 million grant. I remember calling her with the 
good news. Liz later said that was ``the day that I realized that there 
really was something to this `being a mayor' thing.''
  Liz Tisdahl also has successfully lobbied to secure a designation for 
a Federal qualified health center in Evanston, resulting in the 
establishment of the Erie Evanston/Skokie Health Center. Since 2012, 
the Erie Evanston/Skokie Health Center has treated nearly 12,000 
patients and provided immediate care for the residents of Evanston.
  In 2009, when Liz Tisdahl first ran for mayor of Evanston, she 
campaigned under a simple platform: ``Diversity, Sustainability, and 
Economic Development.'' First, Liz set out to increase employment. She 
expanded the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program, which had 167 
jobs in 2009. Since 2012, the program has grown by 100 jobs each year, 
employing 750 young people in 2016. Liz also created partnerships with 
Northwestern University, NorthShore University HealthSystem, and other 
businesses to establish job training and apprenticeship programs for 
the community's most vulnerable people. In 2009, the unemployment rate 
of Evanston was 8 percent. When Mayor Tisdahl left office earlier this 
year, unemployment was down to 4.1 percent.
  Liz Tisdahl also worked to make Evanston greener and--as promised--
brought changes to the city's sustainability efforts. According to a 
2015 emissions report, Evanston reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 
more than 18 percent between 2005 and 2015. In 2014, Evanston became 
one of America's first two cities to receive a four-star rating from 
the Sustainability Tools for Assessing and Rating Communities 
Initiative. For her environmental work and focus on sustainability 
issues, Liz received the Climate Protection Award from the U.S. 
Conference of Mayors.
  Earlier this year, after two terms in office, Liz Tisdahl decided not 
to run for a third. When asked why, her answer was simple. Although she 
loved being mayor, she had accomplished her goals. Liz Tisdahl went out 
on top.
  Despite her many achievements, Liz's proudest accomplishment is her 
family. Now that she is retired, I know she is enjoying more time with 
her children and grandchildren, but this isn't the last we have heard 
from Liz Tisdahl. She will continue to be a fearless advocate for the 
people of Evanston. Since retiring, Liz has joined the board at Curt's 
Cafe, an Evanston coffee shop that trains at-risk youth, prepares them 
to become job-ready, and helps them to transition into full-time 
employment. One thing is clear, Liz Tisdahl is not done helping the 
community she loves.
  I want to congratulate Liz Tisdahl on her distinguished career and 
thank her for her outstanding service to the people of Evanston. Now as 
she enters the next chapter in her life, I wish her and her family all 
the best.
  (At the request of Mr. Schumer, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)

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