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, January 29, 2018 7:00 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the Meeting to order at 7:01 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. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IV. Public Comment Bonita Robinson. Ms. Robinson discussed responses given by the Village Board and staff regarding her ongoing complaint about her neighbor's lights. Vernon Robinson. Mr. Robinson, the son of Ms. Bonita Robinson, stated that he and his mother have gone to great lengths to provide the Board and staff with detailed information regarding their complaint. Their process to address this has been less than adequate. V. Regular Agenda A. ID 18-760 Presentation by Community Relations Commission on Advancing Racial Equity Village Manager Pavlicek commented that this meeting was scheduled specifically to hear from members of the Community Relations Commission. There will be a presentation then time for comments. Director of Community Relations and staff liaison to the Community Relations Commission Cedric Melton thanked the Board for their willingness to hear this presentation. He introduced members of the commission and gave background information on Terry Keleher, Director of Strategic Innovation at Race Forward, who would be giving the presentation with commission members. Bonita Robinson. Ms. Robinson supports the recommendations of the Community Relations Commission. She believes that the Village is biased against her regarding the issue of her neighbor's lights. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 2/6/2018 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 29, 2018 Vernon Robinson. Mr. Robinson discussed how he has seen diversity in Oak Park in action. However, he does not believe that Oak Park's Diversity Statement is currently being respected. Community Relations Commission member Cheree Moore began the presentation, which included the history of the project, assets and experiences in Oak Park related to diversity and racial inequity by population, employment, income and education. Terry Keleher discussed concepts regarding race and race equity and noted that equity is not the same as diversity. Diversity is variety, equity is fairness. He described explicit versus implicit bias and different types of racism. While racism can be produced unintentionally, racial equity requires proactive, conscious action. He discussed wealth building mechanisms and their relation to racial disparity. Mr. Keleher discussed the importance of the role of local government in racial equity, as the Federal government is changing their role regarding civil rights protection, etc. He explained what governing for racial equity entails and how the Village can strive for that by creating an equity ordinance, foster community engagement and other actions. Mr. Keleher spoke about the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), how they work internally and their mission. Community Relations Commission member Kelly Benkert stated that Seattle is one of the pioneers in governing for racial equity and spoke about their Race and Social Justice Initiative, which includes training departments across the municipality to use racial equity as their lens for decision and policy making. She discussed an example of this on how Seattle changed their policy regarding streetlight replacement and described the racial equity tool process. Ms. Moore gave recommendations and next steps. They are: Update Oak Park's Diversity Statement or adopt a new ordinance reflecting commitment to equity; engage Village leadership in review of current practices; train all Village leadership in racial justice and equity frameworks; build capacity to support all departments in using racial equity tools to set racial equity goals by 2019; use racial equity impact assessments and tools; unite Oak Park stakeholders in a commitment to achieve racial equity; and join the Government Alliance on Race and Equity. John Duffy. Mr. Duffy works with a group called Committee for Equity and Excellence in Education. He is working with District 200 with equity and District 97 is getting involved as well. In order for this to work, it must be done Village-wide. Mr. Terry discussed his background and answered questions from the Board regarding training, creating the ordinance and implementing the tools. He and Ms. Moore also discussed opportunities for outreach by the Village. Village President Abu-Taleb thanked the group for their presentation and spoke about Oak Park's values. He urged the community to realize that words matter and to be more thoughtful about what they say and how they say it. The Village of Oak Park has made a lot of progress in this matter but there is always room for more. Village Trustee Button asked staff to schedule a follow-up conversation. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that this would typically be brought back as a discussion and resolution and that would be in thirty to sixty days. She has and is currently participating in these conversations with other entities in the Village. Each entity offers a unique set of services and she would like to discuss this with her peers in the community to see what overlaps in regards to training, etc. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 2/6/2018 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 29, 2018 VI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Andrews, seconded by Village Trustee Tucker, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:53 P.M., Monday, January 29, 2018. Respectfully Submitted, MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 2/6/2018