Community Relations Commission

1 Minutes of a Meeting of the 2 Community Relations Commission 3 Northbrook, IL 4 Thursday, January 7, 2016 5 6 Present: Chairman Bruce Doughty, Commissioners Safa Hamed, Jason Han, Mary 7 Hansen, Chris Kosla, & Dr. Rochelle Singer 8 9 Representatives: Alice Lonoff, Ron Mantegna, John Martin, & Nancy Stoddard 10 11 Absent: Commissioners Elliot Bruckman & Sharon Latek 12 13 Others: Park District Vice President Penny Randel, Village Staff Liaison Erik 14 Jensen, & Village Recording Secretary, Gale Cerabona 15 16 Welcome 17 Chairman Doughty called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. in the Civic Room at Northbrook 18 Public Library. He welcomed & wished everyone a Happy New Year. 19 20 Hear from the Audience 21 Penny Randel advised the Commission of the following Park District items: 22  The District is still working on its comprehensive plan (refer to www.mysidewalk.com). A 23 survey is being mailed soon, and she asked that CRC members please complete and 24 submit it when it is received. 25  The Winter Carnival will be held on January 16th from 11 a.m-1:30 p.m. at Meadow Hill 26 Park 27  The District would be happy to offer the CRC its facilities (to host meetings/events) if 28 needed. 29 30 Approval of December 3, 2015, Regular Meeting Minutes 31 Revisions were noted as follows: 32  Line 86 add an “n” on America 33  Line 88 replace students with “cultural groups” 34  Line 91 replace onto with “on” 35  Line 96 add “at 7 p.m.” after Room 36  Line 159 remove was a great after it 37  Line 167 replace will with “may” & add “in January” after town; remove (in 38 January) 39  Line 177 replace Stoddard with “Lonoff” 40 41 Commissioner Singer moved, seconded by Commissioner Hamed, to approve the regular 42 meeting minutes of December 3rd, 2015 as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 43 44 Village Update 45 Staff Liaison Jensen advised it is budget time; there are no cuts for the CRC. 46 47 He stated that Nancy Vaccaro, Social Worker with the Northbrook Police Department, will speak 48 to the CRC next month. 49  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission January 7, 2015 50 Staff Liaison Jensen advised he will attempt to connect with Ray Wehr in hopes of a 51 Proclamation event for February. 52 53 Community Presentation 54 Chairman Doughty informed everyone that John Martin will speak about his role with the 55 Northbrook Chamber of Commerce. 56 57 Representative Martin stated he has been on the Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Board for 58 the last seven years and discussed the Chamber’s history, community role and membership 59 60 He noted there are 4 professional full-time staff members (President, Communications Director, 61 Membership Director, etc.), an 18-member board and roughly 740 individual member 62 organizations. He discussed that there are three pillars of the organization: 63  advocacy 64  marketing opportunities 65  networking (first Friday monthly breakfast) 66 67 Representative Martin stated the Chamber has a great relationship with the Village – stating it 68 acts as an informal Ombudsman for the Village. 69 70 He advised there are four seats for at-large members: 71  School District 72  Library 73  Park District 74  Village 75 76 Representative Martin stated the Chamber is very fiscally sound, and that the primary methods 77 of funding are dues (which are fairly inexpensive for member organizations) and a share of the 78 taxes collected by the Village. 79 80 Representative Mantegna asked what the greatest challenge is. Representative Martin 81 responded that the Chamber has outgrown its facility (Civic Foundation). 82 83 Commissioner Kosla asked how many members have memberships in other chambers. 84 Representative Martin stated approximately 20%. 85 86 Chairman Doughty thanked Representative Martin for his interesting presentation. 87 88 Update on Activities 89 1. A Celebration of Cultures April 17 Budget TBD 90 91 Commissioner Singer stated the next meeting is January 20th at 7 p.m. at Village Hall. 92 She noted a budget will be determined shortly. 93 94 Commissioner Singer confirmed these coordinator cultural groups: Korean, African, 95 African American, Philippino, Latino and a world language club including French, 96 German and possibly Hebrew groups. She noted that Representative Stoddard had 97 provided the contact information for a Russian choral group that may be secured. 98 Representative Lozaro is working to enlist Persian & Iranian groups. 99 2  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission January 7, 2015 100 Commissioner Singer noted the committee is working on publicity. 101 102 Commissioner Hamed requested information in writing to solicit groups. Commissioner 103 Singer stated that she will provide a letter of participation. 104 105 She noted the event will be held at the YMCA from 12 noon-2 p.m. (tentatively). 106 107 Chairman Doughty thanked everyone for their work on creating a new event. 108 109 2. Flamingo Fridays/Welcome to Northbrook May 20 $225.00 110 111 Commissioner Hansen noted the above information, and that the subcommittee would 112 be working to finalize a date for the next meeting. 113 114 3. Northbrook Cares 115 116 Chairman Doughty stated he & Staff Liaison Jensen are contemplating a luncheon in 117 March to bring groups back together (due to the hiatus). The intent is to obtain ideas to 118 ultimately assist teenage kids and help families in the Village by being responsive to 119 their needs. 120 121 Staff Liaison Jensen asked the Commission members to please let him know if anyone 122 is interested in becoming a member. Commissioner Hamed & Representative Lonoff 123 stated they are interested. 124 125 Representative Lonoff thanked Chairman Doughty for reviving this topic. 126 127 News from Schools 128 Commissioner Doughty reported the following from District 225 & Glenbrook North: 129  Exams would begin in twelve days. 130  Athletics will gear up after exams. 131  On February 11-13, a Variety Show is scheduled. 132  A food drive took place during the holiday season, and a record number of cans were 133 collected. 134 135 News from Northbrook Clergy Association 136 Commissioner Kosla stated that the Clergy Association continued many discussions from the 137 Clergy Luncheon held in December, including affordable housing. He also discussed that an 138 upcoming speech on Islam would be held and that an e-mail would be forthcoming. 139 140 Commissioner Singer shared an article from December 3d, 2015, from The Tower. She noted 141 the CRC is not mentioned as a co-sponsor of the Clergy Luncheon event. 142 143 Chairman Doughty advised it is necessary that these points are correctly illustrated, and 144 reminded that the CRC ultimately supports the Village. 145 146 Old Business 147 There was nothing to report 148 149 New Business 3  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission January 7, 2015 150 There was nothing to report. 151 152 Eyes & Ears on the Street 153 Representative Lonoff stated that Northbrook Methodist Church will sponsor an “MLK Day” on 154 January 18, 2016. She asked CRC members to spread the word. 155 156 Representative Mantegna stated that Village Presbyterian Church is also hosting a MLK event 157 on January 15, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. 158 159 Commissioner Hamed shared that a potential scammer had visited her home and discussed 160 how she handled the situation. 161 162 Next Meeting 163 Chairman Doughty asked that the next meeting date be changed as three Commissioners are 164 unable to attend. 165 166 A motion was made by Commissioner Hansen, seconded by Commissioner Singer, to change 167 the next CRC meeting date to February 11, 2016. The motion carried unanimously. 168 169 Adjournment 170 A motion was made by Commissioner Kosla, seconded by Commissioner Han, to adjourn the 171 meeting at 7:52 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 172 173 Respectfully submitted, 174 175 176 Gale Cerabona 177 Recording Secretary 4