Community Relations Commission

COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES April 9, 2015 Persons in attendance: Joe Kuffel Mary Marusek Dan Ryan Trustee Rosemary Palicki Tony Hollenback – Director of Family Services Dennis McEnerney – Interim Chief of Police Cathy Spadoni – Secretary Persons absent: Billy Haido Call to Order Commissioner Marusek called the regular meeting of the Community Relations Commission to order at 5:34 p.m. in the Council Chambers Conference Room, Village of Niles Municipal Building as a quorum was present. I. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Kuffel made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Ryan, to approve the minutes of the January 8, 2015 regular meeting. On voice vote, all concurred. II. Reported Citizen Comments / Complaints a) Police Department Police Chief McEnerney reported that no complaints were received by the Police Department. b) Other Village of Niles Departments Secretary Spadoni reported that no complaints were received by other departments. c) Telephone Hotline Secretary Spadoni reported that no complaints were received via the telephone hotline. d) Email Hotline Secretary Spadoni reported that no complaints were received via the email hotline. e) Commissioners The commissioners reported that no complaints were received.  Community Relations Commission April 9, 2015 III. Old Business a) CRC Fair Housing Guide Distribution to Schools Secretary Spadoni reported that in January the guides were sent to the six Niles elementary and middle public schools. (elementary schools - Culver, Jefferson, Mark Twain and Nelson; middle schools - Emerson and Gemini) Commissioner Marusek reported that there is a supply of guides prominently displayed at the Niles Public Library. b) Translation of Fair Housing Guides Secretary Spadoni reported that Commissioner Haido submitted translations of the Fair Housing Guide into Polish and Spanish. The Polish translation has been reviewed and is ready for publication. Secretary Spadoni will email Director Hollenback a Word version of the Spanish version for review by a Family Services staff member. Director Hollenback stated that he has a staff member who could translate into Arabic if necessary. A Korean translation was not submitted. Commissioner Marusek will take the guide to the Niles Community Church to see if someone in their Korean congregation would be willing to translate it. Secretary Spadoni will put the finalized translations on the Village website, post a sign where the guides are displayed that translations are available, and add a note on the guide itself that translations are available. c) CRC Annual Report to the Niles Village Board of Trustees Commissioner Marusek submitted the annual report for review. Commissioner Ryan made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Kuffel, to approve sending the report to the Village Board of Trustees. On voice vote, all concurred. Trustee Palicki will give the report at the April 28 Board meeting. d) Recruitment of New Commissioner Secretary Spadoni reported that there was someone who was interested in serving on the Commission but withdrew his application because of work commitments. She will remind the mayor that a position is open. IV. New Business a) Jasmine Brewer, Director of Housing Counseling, Open Communities Ms. Brewer is tentatively scheduled to speak at the July 9, 2015 meeting, at her request, in order to stay connected, keep us updated on new projects and be a better source of referrals. The particulars will be confirmed in June. *** This is Trustee Rosemary Palicki’s last meeting as Board representative to the CRC. She stated that while distributing the Fair Housing Guide and responding to complaints are important, there is more the CRC can do to move out of this limited arena. 2  Community Relations Commission April 9, 2015 She feels the CRC can and should be instrumental in seeing that we maintain a good housing stock and that we make sure it is open and available for all people. The Village is working on a new zoning code and has plans for mixed-use development. She suggested that a commissioner attend the zoning rewrite meetings to make sure that the plans allow for affordable housing and good rental housing. She further suggested that we contact the new NWMC representative to see what can be done to make sure that happens. She stated there are needs in the community that have not been addressed and asked that the CRC guide the Board and the Mayor to meet those needs. Trustee Palicki submitted a document that she received at a meeting of the Northwest Municipal Conference called the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Housing and Community Development Committee Policy Agenda, which may be helpful. Secretary Spadoni will email this document to the Commissioners. The Commissioners thanked Trustee Palicki for her service to the CRC. *** V. Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers Conference Room, Village of Niles Municipal Building. VI. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Community Relations Commission, Commissioner Kuffel made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Ryan, to adjourn the meeting. On voice vote, all concurred. The meeting adjourned at 5:53 p.m. __________________________ Catherine Spadoni, Secretary Community Relations Commission 2014-2015 Community Relations Commission Commissioners Ex-Officio Members Open – Chair Trustee Rosemary Palicki Billy Haido Village Manager Steven C. Vinezeano Joe Kuffel Human Services Director Tony Hollenback Mary Marusek Interim Police Chief Dennis McEnerney Daniel P. Ryan Sr. Secretary Cathy Spadoni 3