Community Relations Commission

COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION Minutes from the Meeting held on Thursday, January 10, 2019 Chair Brian Sweeney called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, 2019 in the 3rd Floor Family Services Group Room at the Human Services Building, 999 Civic Center Drive. Persons in Attendance: Brian Sweeney - Commission Chair Joseph Penze – Niles Police Dept. Keith Sokolowski - Commissioner Katie Schneider – Secretary CRC Carolyn Drblik - Commissioner Joe Kuffel - Commissioner Tony Hollenback – Director of Family Services Persons Absent: John Jekot - Trustee Vicky Duka - Commissioner Approval of Meeting Minutes Carolyn Drblik motioned to approve the October 11, 2018 meeting minutes as presented, Keith Sokolowski second the motion, all were in favor, none opposed. Minutes approved. Reported Citizen Comments/Complaints a. Police and Other Village Departments Joseph Penze, Deputy Chief of Police, distributed the Residential Burglary Awareness handout. He reported that the Police Department had been in attendance at the community events (since November) including seminars at the senior center on safety, Veterans Celebration, Notre Dame Veterans Celebration, Coffee with a Cop, and Thanksgiving Feast at the Family Services Center. They hosted a Cocoa with a Cop with over 150 people in attendance at the police station and a visit from Santa. Again this year, they participated in Walmart’s Shop with a Cop where police officers are paired with needy families to shop with Walmart gift certificates for Christmas. The Police Citizen Academy graduated a new class this past month. Joe also mentioned that the Police Department is asking people to register their private surveillance cameras so when there is a crime, the police department would know of cameras in that area that may help with the investigation. There are three beats for the town and the PD recently broke them down into 7 areas with 4 assigned officers to each beat. These officers will monitor the beat and handle minor community complaints instead of calling an emergency phone number. Brian Sweeney commented that having police department handouts would be useful at community events. Deputy Chief Penze will make sure to send those flyers to Katie and she can distribute. b. Telephone/Email Hotlines No reports, complaints or inquiries were submitted or reported to the Commission. c. Commissioners No reports, complaints or inquiries were submitted or reported to any Commissioners. Old Business Katie referred to the CRC excel file of inquiries and reminded the CRC members that documents used as part of the commission are subject to FOIA, including personal emails that the Commissioners may use. Since a shared document is preferred, she asked the Commissioners send her the email they prefer to use moving forward. In the meantime Katie will follow up with the residents that had questions. New Business Commissioners reviewed old marketing materials and what we can put together moving forward; there is a small budget for giveaways. We will work on for April, but we need materials that state what the CRC does and why it is relevant for residents, plus phone numbers or websites to learn more about Village resources pertaining to housing. They agreed it should be something simple and easy to carry around and hand out (particularly for block parties). For social media, the CRC committee agreed to include information on the Village’s Facebook page and not to create their own page. Katie Schneider confirmed with the Village Manager’s office and reported that social media is not a platform to receive complaints and inquiries. We can however promote the commission and its mission on social media. Keith and Brian agreed to create CRC related content and send to Katie to post on social media when relevant. Open Discussion and Public Comment Katie Schneider reported that her office with assistance from our contracted marketing firm is developing a Volunteer Council that will connect groups and organizations that need volunteers with those that have groups wanting to volunteer. There will be a meeting in February and more information to follow. Next Meeting The next meeting is on Thursday, April 10, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the 3rd Floor Family Services Group Room at the Human Services Building, 999 Civic Center Drive. Adjournment Keith Sokolowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Joe Kuffel second the motion. All were in favor, none opposed. Meeting adjourned at 6:32 p.m. Minutes Submitted by: Katie Schneider, Secretary of the Community Relations Commission