Community Relations Commission

1 DRAFT 2 Minutes of a Meeting of the 3 Community Relations Commission 4 Northbrook, IL 5 Thursday, June 4, 2015 6 7 Present: Chairman Ray Wehr, Commissioners Bruce Doughty, Elliot Bruckmann, 8 Dale Duda, Safa Hamed, Chris Kosla, Sharon Latek, & Dr. Rochelle 9 Singer 10 11 Representatives: Mary Hansen, Alice Lonoff, Ron Mantegna, Nancy Stoddard 12 13 Guest: Bob Lozaro, Penny Randel/Northbrook Park District 14 15 Others: Staff Liaison Mike Strong & Recording Secretary Gale Cerabona 16 17 Call to Order & Welcome 18 Chairman Wehr called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Board Room at Village Hall. 19 20 Chairman Wehr welcomed Sharon Latek to the CRC. Commissioner Latek introduced herself 21 and shared her background as everyone welcomed her. Commissioner Kosla arrived at 7:03 22 p.m. 23 24 Commissioner Doughty introduced GBN student, Sam Klein, who is involved with its Sister 25 Cities’ program and recently joined the CRC Sister Cities’ Subcommittee. Mr. Klein shared he is 26 involved with GBN’s Safe Ride Program and is excited to be here tonight. He advised he spent 27 2 weeks in Israel where he spoke to politicians, residents, and immersed himself into the 28 culture. Mr. Klein stated he is very passionate about Sister Cities and will attend its Northeast 29 Illinois conference. Chairman Wehr welcomed Mr. Klein. Commissioner Bruckmann arrived at 30 7:05 p.m. 31 32 Approval of May 7, 2015, Regular Meeting Minutes & Subcommittee Minutes 33 Revisions for Sister Cities Subcommittee minutes of May 12, 2015 were identified as follows: 34  Line 8 add Ray Mantegna to those present 35  Line 56 replace an outside agency with a separate entity 36  Line 72 replace Member with Members 37  Line 74 replace city with cities’ 38 39 A motion was made by Commissioner Doughty, seconded by Commissioner Singer, to approve 40 the May 12, 2015, Sister Cities’ Subcommittee minutes as amended. On a voice vote, the 41 motion carried unanimously. 42 43 Staff Liaison Strong advised he would add Mr. Lozaro’s comments into the Asian American 44 Heritage minutes. A motion was made by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Commissioner 45 Hansen, to approve the May 13, 2015, Asian American Heritage Subcommittee minutes as 46 presented. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 47 48 Revisions for May 7, 2015’s, Regular Meeting minutes were identified as follows: 49  Line 10 remove Alice Lonoff’s name (as she was absent) 50  Line 120 remove the word -- that  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 4, 2015 51  Line 127 correctly spell emerged 52  Lines 149-149 delete 53  Line 161 correctly spell Nevling 54  Line 162 add – to honor him – at the end of sentence 55  Line 177 replace must with are encouraged to attend 56 57 A motion was made by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Representative Mantegna, to 58 approve the May 7, 2015, Regular Meeting minutes as amended. On a voice vote, the motion 59 carried unanimously. 60 61 Revisions for April 28, 2015’s, InterFaith Sunday Subcommittee minutes were identified as 62 follows: 63  Line 8 add Alice Lonoff’s name (as she was present) 64  Line 10 delete Absent: Alice Lonoff 65  Line 22 replace HOW with Houses of Worship 66  Line 23 replace HOW with Houses of Worship 67  Line 32 replace HOW with Houses of Worship 68  Line 52 replace HOW with Houses of Worship 69  Line 55 replace HOW with Houses of Worship 70  Line 57 replace HOW with Houses of Worship 71  Line 60 replace one with ones 72 73 A motion was made by Representative Lonoff, seconded by Commissioner Kosla, to approve 74 the April 28, 2015, InterFaith Sunday Subcommittee minutes as amended. On a voice vote, the 75 motion carried unanimously. 76 77 Hear From the Audience 78 There was no Hear from the Audience. 79 80 Village Staff Report 81 Staff Liaison Strong welcomed Commissioner Latek. 82 83 Staff Liaison Strong advised on this Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m., the Village Board 84 will host its annual Coffee with the Board event with President Frum. He noted that Police and 85 Fire Department staff may be in attendance. 86 87 Sister Cities Update 88 Commissioner Doughty offered a PowerPoint presentation via a Subcommittee report. An 89 overview was provided i.e. the Subcommittee’s purpose, findings, etc. Research was a part of 90 the process. Sources and topics were shared. 91 92 Main findings were noted. A 501 (c) (3) status is suggested for a governing organization. A 93 group of 15-20, for a Subcommittee, is recommended for a successful program. Budgets and 94 funding issues were identified. 95 96 Chairman Wehr advised he attended some of this Subcommittee’s meetings. He expressed his 97 findings of those meetings. 98 2  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 4, 2015 99 Chairman Wehr thanked the Chair, Commissioner Doughty, for his report. He noted that the 100 task was to investigate and advise the Village Board of the general findings. 101 102 Representative Mantegna complimented Commissioner Doughty on the presentation. He asked 103 about creating a team. 104 105 Commissioner Doughty advised a core group must be involved (via volunteers, etc.). 106 107 Representative Lonoff also asked about committee size structures such as 501 (c) (3). Funding 108 outside the Village was discussed. 109 110 Commissioner Singer reiterated this is informational for the Board. She asked if, conceptually, 111 this could move forward. Chairman Wehr stated we are not yet at that point. 112 113 Representative Hansen inquired about the $40,000 budget. Commissioner Doughty advised this 114 could include travel/housing costs; $40,000 is a preliminary number. 115 116 Mr. Lozaro asked if Sister Cities prefers selection of a domestic or international city. 117 Commissioner Doughty stated a domestic city may be suggested however the focal point has 118 been an international city. 119 120 Representative Mantegna inquired about involving schools, etc. Commissioner Doughty 121 concurred and highlighted Highland Park. Representative Mantegna asked and Commissioner 122 Doughty advised that one city would begin the program and then multiple cities could be added. 123 124 Commissioner Duda stated she is under the impression the program would eventually take off 125 and asked the CRC of its interest in being involved in this matter. 126 127 Commissioner Latek inquired about sister schools. Mr. Klein advised GBN has a robotics team, 128 home building programs, etc., and its students network with international students/schools. 129 130 Commissioner Hamed advised the CRC of the Sister Cities Subcommittee’s interactions. 131 132 Representative Mantegna stated the CRC is a very strong commission due to Chairman Wehr’s 133 leadership. 134 135 Representative Hansen asked about the July 4th Subcommittee meeting. Commissioner Latek 136 advised that 30 people were involved; however, now Village and Park District staff manage this 137 event. 138 139 Representative Lonoff stated she believes everyone has a right to voice his/her opinion. 140 141 Chairman Wehr reminded that tonight’s report will be provided to the Village President and we 142 will await the Board’s direction. Chairman Wehr thanked the Subcommittee for its efforts. 143 144 WTN/Flamingo Friday Planning 145 Commissioner Bruckmann mentioned the entities that helped with the event. 146 147 Representative Hansen advised 38 flamingos were distributed. 148 3  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 4, 2015 149 Representative Hansen and Commissioner Duda advised that all Dilly Bars were consumed. 150 151 It was stated there were 200 attendees. Commissioner Duda advised she would like to see 152 more groups attend if the space was larger. 153 154 Commissioner Bruckmann stated it was nice to see our community come together. 155 156 Commissioner Duda asked that an intern manage postcards in the future. 157 158 Chairman Wehr concluded this was a great event and an excellent job. Commissioner 159 Bruckmann thanked Staff Liaison Strong for his assistance. 160 161 Commissioner Duda stated if anyone is having this event in his/her area, please contact 162 Community Services Officer, Dan Petka, to enlist his attendance. She advised the fire chief 163 would also be interested in attending if he is available. 164 165 Northbrook Cares Update 166 Chairman Wehr advised a meeting is slated for August. He noted a web site is forthcoming and 167 provided an overview on Northbrook Cares (highlighting counseling services to youth, etc.). 168 169 Commissioner Doughty stated that GBN students are encouraged to participate. 170 171 Chairman Wehr asked Commissioners, Representatives to spread the word and report any 172 feedback. 173 174 Asian Heritage Final Wrap-Up 175 Chairman Wehr advised a survey is being distributed to 150 individuals. 176 177 Chairman Wehr stated the YMCA purchased food and intended to resell it. There was a budget 178 shortfall as the YMCA didn’t sell enough food. YMCA staff has asked for funds to help absorb 179 their cost. Chairman Wehr asked the CRC if $200 is an acceptable figure. Setting precedence 180 was discussed. Mr. Lozaro advised that Howard, of the YMCA, believed serving more Asian 181 food would make the event more successful. Commissioner Singer suggested the CRC should 182 decide to absorb the cost this one time then have it spelled out in the future. Chairman Wehr 183 and Representative Mantegna stated they are not in favor of providing funds after-the-fact. 184 185 Mr. Lozaro concluded that Jasmine Lee and Staff Liaison Strong provided outstanding 186 dedication. He believes the Asian Heritage event may’ve run its course and suggested an 187 international (multiple cultures) event. 188 189 Chairman Wehr recommended bringing groups together. He thanked Mr. Lozaro and 190 Representative Mantegna for their comments. 191 192 Commission Planning 193 Chairman Wehr advised that the CRC will outline its annual events. He reminded that Staff 194 Liaison Strong should not perform the majority of the work. Chairman Wehr asked event Chairs 195 to begin thinking about reviewing their respective events and eventually report their committee’s 196 recommendations to the CRC. Budgets and priorities were discussed. 197 4  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 4, 2015 198 Staff Liaison Strong noted that documents (events, checklists for brainstorming) have been 199 prepared and will be distributed via email. Mr. Lozaro asked that Staff Liaison Strong also 200 advise same to pertinent individuals outside of the CRC. 201 202 News from Clergy Association & Houses of Worship 203 Commissioner Kosla advised there wasn’t a meeting in May. 204 205 Commissioner Kosla stated that Father Bob from St. Norbert’s is ill. Mr. Lozaro shared that 206 Father Bob thanks everyone for their thoughts and prayers. It was noted Father Dan is in charge 207 at this time. 208 209 Representative Mantegna reminded everyone of Mike Nevling’s retirement from Village 210 Presbyterian Church. 211 212 Representative Mantegna advised that Village Presbyterian Church/North Shore Chamber 213 Music Festival takes place through June 6, 2015. 214 215 News from Schools 216 Commissioner Doughty reported the following from District 225: 217  GBN had its assembly/Academy Awards event 218  GBN students are graduating on June 7, 2015 219  Concerts are plentiful (i.e. Concert in the Park) 220  A recognition event for Dr. Pryma will be held on June 10, 2015 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. 221 222 Mr. Lozaro reported from District 30: 223  Principal, Dr. Trividor’s, retirement began last week 224 225 Old Business 226 a. Community Resource Guide 227 Chairman Wehr advised if anyone would like to perform a final edit. Representative 228 Hansen volunteered, and Chairman Wehr thanked her. He stated this information will 229 be illustrated on the web site, and hard copies will be distributed also. Chairman 230 Wehr provided an overview on the Community Resource Guide. Representative 231 Stoddard stated she prefers this guide over the Chamber’s (as that guide mainly has 232 advertisements). 233 234 b. CRC Brochure 235 There is nothing to report. 236 237 c. Miscellaneous 238 Mr. Lozaro raised the issue of Certificates of Appreciation and if they have been 239 given out. Chairman Wehr advised they are in process. 240 241 New Business 242 a. Open CRC Commissioner Position 243 Commissioner Singer asked about this status. Chairman Wehr advised two people 244 are interested, and the Village Board is reviewing same. 245 246 b. Future CRC Meetings 5  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 4, 2015 247 Representatives Hansen and Lonoff raised the issue of having meetings at the 248 Northbrook Public Library. Staff Liaison Strong advised he will reserve space for 249 CRC meetings there beginning in September, 2015. Reserving the Civic Room was 250 recommended. 251 252 Chairman Wehr advised that effective June 22, 2015, Staff Liaison Strong will no 253 longer be involved with the CRC. He noted he has accepted a position in Lake 254 Forest. Chairman Wehr commended Staff Liaison Strong on his exemplary 255 dedication and hard work. 256 257 Eyes & Ears on the Street 258 a. Monarch Project 259 Commissioner Duda updated everyone on the project. She reported that she visited 260 1st grade classrooms at Wescott School. 261 262 b. Events 263 Commissioner Duda advised the Farmer’s Market begins Wednesday, June 17, 264 2015. 265 266 It was noted there are no more bookmarks. 267 268 Representative Lonoff advised: 269  Northbrook Public Library’s Grand Opening is June 13-14, 2015 270  Wayne Hanson’s son was in an accident 271 272 Mr. Lozaro advised that Highland Park is having its Sister City Gala on October 15, 273 2015. 274 275 Next Meeting 276 Chairman Wehr advised the next meeting is August 6, 2015, and wished everyone a happy July 277 4th holiday. 278 279 Adjournment 280 A motion was made by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Representative Hansen, to adjourn 281 the meeting at 8:40 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 282 283 Respectfully submitted, 284 285 Gale Cerabona 286 Recording Secretary 6