President and Board of Trustees

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes President and Board of Trustees Monday, June 26, 2017 7:00 PM Public Works Center, 2nd Floor Conference Room (201 South Blvd.) I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. Roll Call Present: 7- Village Trustee Button, Village Trustee Taglia, Village President Abu-Taleb, Village Trustee Tucker, Village Trustee Moroney, Village Trustee Boutet, and Village Trustee Andrews Absent: 0 III. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Tucker, seconded by Village Trustee Button to approve the agenda as presented. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IV. Public Comment Marty Bernstein: Mr. Berstein expressed the need for Board agenda's to be published before Friday to allow for all parties to have a more reasonable amount of time to review before a Monday meeting. Marty asked that if this action is not approved he would appreciate an explanation via email. Christine Gould: Ms. Gould spoke to inform Village Trustees of the need for the current permit parking spots that were relocated to Mills Tower because other options did not exist for her. She is aware of the controversy surrounding those spots but did want the Board to understand that they fulfilled a definite need. VI. Regular Agenda A. ID 17-533 Review, Discussion and Update of Board Protocols dated September 21, 2015 Village Manager Pavlicek introduced the Protocols (ID 17-533) document adopted by previous Boards to be reviewed and amended as needed. President Abu-Taleb stated that these protocols have been consistent and Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 8/8/2017 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes June 26, 2017 are intended to keep the process moving forward. Trustee Boutet suggested that the document be consolidated to reduce redundancy between protocols for regular session and executive session. Trustee Moroney stated that punctuation corrections are needed thoughout the document. It was agreed by the majority of the Board that the words "social media" be added to the 6th line of the introduction paragraph of the protocols document. "The guidelines will serve as a framework for conducting efficient and effective Board meetings, proper use of communication tools such as e-mail and social media, for respectful interactions with staff and each other, and for strengthening the Village Manager form of government in the Village as a whole." Trustee Button requested that a seperate meeting be held to review the Villages social media policy both for the Village Board and for Commissions. 1. Executive Session A. Agenda preparation Trustee Boutet shared that she heard a great deal about the need to improve "transparency" from constituents while campaigning and that releasing the Board meeting agenda sooner would help improve trust with the public. President Abu-Taleb reviewed with the Board the current timeline for releasing Board agendas and the demands on staff to get it done. President Abu-Taleb stated that the State requirement is 48 hours and our current practice is 72 hours, which he acknowledged as "sufficient and working". Trustee Boutet moved to release Board agenda's on Thursday. Trustee Andrews seconded the motion. The Board discussed the motion and approved releasing the agenda on Thursdays with the expectation that Trustees provide questions and proposed changes to the preliminary agenda to the Village Manager's Office within 24 hours of receiving, instead of 48. Trustee Tucker requested that the word "confidential" be added before "preliminary agenda" throughout this section. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 8/8/2017 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes June 26, 2017 The Board reflected on protocols for discussing items on the preliminary agenda for regular session with the public. It was clarified that the preliminary agenda of regular session is not confidential. Trustee Tucker stated that the practice has been to keep the preliminary agenda confidential so that the Board can act as a team. Trustee Andrews stated that his experience has been that engaging the public on agenda items has helped him better prepare for voting. The Board read through B., C., and D. of Executive Session. Discussion was had on the proper use of Executive Session, including being prepared, utilizing of staff to ask questions before the meeting and staying on topic. Trustee Taglia would like to be informed of questions brought forth by other Trustees during preliminary discussions with staff on agenda items. Discussion was had on how to do that without violating the Open Meetings Act (OMA). Trustee Andrews suggested, and the Board agreed, that a "Question and Answer" document shared on Granicus would allow for all Board members to learn from each others questions to staff without violating the OMA. E. Meetings The Board read through and discussed protocol during meetings. The following specific comments were made: Trustee Tucker reminded the Board that protocol during a Board meeting is to allow President Abu-Taleb to address additional staff for questioning and Trustees should allow him to call on Trustees one at a time. Discussion was had on when is an appropriate time to end Board meetings and still respect the process. Trustee Moroney stated that he is uncomfortable commenting on time during a meeting. President Abu-Taleb shared he feels respecting each other is respecting time. Consensus was reached to end Board meetings at 10:00pm, aiming for 9:30pm when possible. Trustee Andrews would rather table a discussion than rush a vote. He would like to see more study sessions with more dialogue and briefer presentations when necessary. II. Regular Meetings The Village Board read through and discussed for clarification: Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 8/8/2017 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes June 26, 2017 A. Agenda Preparation B. Consent Agenda Staff was directed to make appropriate changes throughout the document reflective of the new requirement to release agendas on Thursday instead of Friday. C. Public Comment Trustee Andrews requested that public comment be limited to 30 minutes. He suggested whatever number of commentors are present be divided to fit in a 30 minute window of time. It was decided that public comment for nonagenda be limited to 30 minutes at the beginning of the meeting and the remainder can speak at the end of the meeting. It was decided that public comment for an agenda item for which a Public Hearing has taken place (or will take place) may be limited to 5 individuals commenting on each side of the issue. It was decided that a timer is needed to fairly regulate public comment to 3 minutes per speaker. Trustee Andrews stated that education on public comment is needed. Village Clerk Scaman shared an educational postcard "About Public Comment", developed by the Oak Park Public Library, that may be helpful to amend for Village Board meetings. It was agreed to implement proposed public comment changes. D. Staff/ Outside Experts Speaking Limits It was agreed to allow for presentations to be as long as needed when appropriate. The Village Board read through and agreed to current protocols for: E. Board deliberations F. First/Second Reading IV. Individual Roles President Abu-Taleb requested that the Protocol document refer to him by his Board approved title throughout. A. Role of Village President The first point under this section should read ". . . keep Trustees informed of meetings and significant interactions on a regular basis". Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 8/8/2017 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes June 26, 2017 B. Role of Trustees Secretary should be changed to Administrative Assistant throughout. Discussion was had on item 2 under Role of Trustees: Interaction with staff should go through the Village Manager. Trustee Boutet does not agree. Other Trustees acknowledge this practice under the Village Manager form of Government. Trustee Andrews suggests Trustees copy Manager Pavlicek on emails directed to staff for simple answers to specific questions. Responses to Board E-mail Trustee Boutet would like to receive electronic versions of answers to Board emails on day of board meeting responses so that it is possible to click on a link when provided. The Board read through and discussed; response to Board voicemail, individual Board e-mails and voicemails, standards for public emergencies. No changes were made. Standards for Responding to the Media It was clarified that all Board members have the right to respond to questions from the media. President Abu-Taleb reminded Trustees to be respectful of staff and colleagues on the Village Board when making public comment. C. Role of Village Clerk It was decided to discuss the role of the Village Clerk at a designated meeting for this purpose. D. Role of Village Attorney was accepted as is. IV. Board Committees Trustee Boutet expressed a desire for a more democratic process for assigning Trustees to Board Committees. President Abu-Taleb reminded everyone that Committees are open to all but are designed to divide work. Trustee Tucker suggested and the Board approved to remove Contractual Committee. Trustee Taglia requested all new deadlines for Trustees, as part of new protocols on preparing agendas, be prepared for the Village Board by staff. Trustee Andrews suggests the Village Board discuss the need for an Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 8/8/2017 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes June 26, 2017 adhoc committee to discuss Facebook protocol. Trustee Button reiterated the need to review Social Media policy for all levels of Village Government, including commissions. Trustee Andrews volunteered to create a bullet point list of items to address with social media policy. Trustee Boutet added that she would like staff to add the specific dollar amount change each agenda item could potentially have on the budget. B. ID 17-532 Review, Discussion and Update of 2017-2019 Board Goals This discussion will be rescheduled. VII. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Tucker, seconded by Village Trustee Button to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:36pm on Monday June 26, 2017. Respectfully submitted, Clerk Scaman Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 8/8/2017