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, July 15, 2019 7:00 PM Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd. I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the Meeting to order at 7:03 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 7- Village President Abu-Taleb, Village Trustee Andrews, Village Trustee Boutet, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Moroney, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla Absent: 0 III. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Boutet, seconded by Village Trustee Andrews, to approve the agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IV. Public Comment Jim Peters. Mr. Peters thanked the Board for staying at a 3% tax levy increase and would like that to be continued as part of the Board Goals. He also suggested priority budgeting. Joshua Klayman. Mr. Klayman discussed his priorities regarding protocols. These include transparency and establishing trust and participation in government. He suggested agendas and supporting documents be released to the public two weeks prior to each meeting, as well as notifying the public of topics to be discussed at Special Meetings. V. Regular Agenda A. ID 19-217 Review, Discuss and Update of 2018-2019 Board Goals Village Trustee Taglia stated that he would like to see Board decisions made through a racial equity lens as well as following up with the GARE training at length. There was consensus. Village Trustee Andrews discussed SMART goals, which can be specifically measured, and proposed that a more formal type of framework be adopted. This will give the Board the ability to know if goals have been achieved and allow for quarterly reporting against their goals. Village Trustee Boutet supports measurable goals but does not want to be restricted to only what can be measured. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 7/23/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 15, 2019 Deputy Village Manager Shelley gave an overview of the most recent goals and values. There was consensus to add Racial Equity as a key goal. Village Trustee Boutet suggested a goal of "High Performing Government", which would include several of their core values and items such as a more engaged and responsive government, trust-building, communication and collaboration. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla proposed that energy and environment, open data to ensure transparency and data privacy be considered in terms of goals. Village Trustee Boutet suggested a logic framework, which is more of a strategic plan than this current list. She also would like program based budgeting and agreed with Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla regarding an open data portal. In addition, Village Trustee Boutet would like additional development on Madison Street, continued work on North Avenue and possibly look into a TIF, revamping of the Village website to make it more intuitive, regular updates on the I-Plan, review of the parking pilot, review of the parking needs around Rush, focus on the 2020 Census and investigate the needs of the aging population. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla added transparency to her list of goals, specifically the structuring of the role of the Village Clerk. Village Trustee Boutet proposed an Organizational Development category, with a goal to attract, retain, engage, develop and reward a diverse and competitive workforce to meet the needs of the community. That would include filling vacancies and reducing resignations. She would like to ensure that these goals remain flexible. Village Trustee Buchanan strongly supports Village Trustee Andrew's suggested framework that allows for quarterly updates. She would like one of the goals to be a roadmap for reaching 50% renewable energy by 2030. She would like to see better intergovernmental communication with the commissions and citizen and business committees, zoning and permitting changes to require new construction and rehab construction to incorporate renewable energy and other sustainability measures, as well as allow large single family homes to be divided into multi-unit dwellings. In addition, Village Trustee Buchanan would like better communication with business districts during construction and specific measurables regarding intergovernmental collaboration on cost saving methods. Village Trustee Andrews would like to adopt the SMART goal matrix within the logic framework and incorporate all existing goals as well as any new goals into it, target the tax levy at 3% increases and increase transparency by publishing all FOIA information on the website. He discussed Evanston's website as an example. He believes making more information available will decrease FOIA requests. Village Manager Pavlicek commented that staff has recommendations that will be brought to the Finance Committee during budget season. Village Trustee Moroney supports measurable goals with timelines, but to communicate priorities to staff so they can allocate their time effectively. He suggested that as they adopt new goals, past goals should be modified or deleted if completed. In addition, he is supportive of racial equity as a new goal. Village Trustee Moroney would like goals to be listed without numbers, as that gives the impression or prioritizing, and wanted to clarify that if an item is not listed as a goal that does not mean the Board doesn't care about it. He is also in favor of keeping the tax levy at a 3% increase. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 7/23/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 15, 2019 Village Trustee Taglia is in favor of Village Trustee Andrews' goal setting tool. He also supports the 3% tax levy and would like to see increased financial transparency. In addition, Village Trustee Taglia is interested in having the budget presentation include two or three year projections. He also would like more information on zoning in regards to changing single family homes into multi-unit homes. He cautioned that dividing up homes translates to a failing community. Trustee Moroney commented that $1 million homes are less appealing to the next generation of homebuyers. However, he would not like this to become an opportunity to attract developers, but to help find solutions for residents. Village Trustee Buchanan clarified that this item should not be put on a timeline, as she was just interested in getting more information. Village President Abu-Taleb views items as long term or short term. All trustees should ask themselves where they see Oak Park in ten years. His vision includes a new police station and being a Smart City. He would like Oak Park to be relevant, welcoming, responsive and forward-moving. He discussed how rapidly technology changes. Village President Abu-Taleb stated that the Board should be thinking about how they will become a Smart City now and how their goals will get them to that point. He discussed what other cities on the forefront are doing and that Oak Park needs to prepare for future technology. He spoke about converting appropriate buildings in the Village to a performing arts center, which would become a draw for tourism, revenue and provide activities for residents. He encouraged the Board to look at the big picture and not get too involved in the details of staff's work. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla asked for details regarding the police station. Village President Abu-Taleb gave her an overview and explained that the Board had previously allocated funds to review conditions at the police station to help determine whether it should be remodeled or if a new facility would be a better option. He described the current environment and believes it will only get worse. Village Manager Pavlicek commented that a draft report will be coming to the Board in August. Those who would like a tour can schedule one. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla stated that she has a different way of thinking about safety and policing and that it is more of a public health issue. More police officers does not necessarily equal more safety. She would rather those funds go to a community center for youths, which would increase safety because they have a place to go. Village President Abu-Taleb clarified that he would like the police to have a safe and functional place to work. Policing is a different issue. There was a discussion regarding the conditions of the police station. Village President Abu-Taleb asked what the trustees thought about a two-year budget. This could be beneficial in terms of Board and staff time. Deputy Village Manager Shelley discussed next steps. She categorized Smart City under Infrastructure and added Racial Equity as a new category. Under Racial Equity will be training, formally committing to GARE by resolution, creating an internal Racial Equity Task Force and conducting a racial equity impact assessment. Village Trustee Boutet commented that there are already some initiatives in place and that should be noted. Deputy Manager Shelley changed Environmental Sustainability to Environmental Health and Sustainability. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla wanted Transparency with open data, FOIA and the role of the Village Clerk as subcategories to be added. Village Trustee Boutet would rather call the goal High Performing Government with transparency and the other items as subcategories. There was discussion. Village Trustee Andrews Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 7/23/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 15, 2019 suggested that all Board members give their ideas and revisit this to discuss the proper goal each item should be under. Village President Abu-Taleb stated that Public Safety still needs to be their number one goal. Village Trustee Boutet agreed. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla expressed concern regarding the subcategory of "allocate funds accordingly". Village Trustee Buchanan commented that addressing some of the underlying problems is a way to improve public safety. Village President Abu-Taleb agreed that it could still be a goal but the language can be written to address these issues. However, the Board should all agree that public safety is important. Village Manager Pavlicek commented that staff will attempt to interpret what is being said and fit that into the format suggested by Village Trustee Andrews. Village Trustee Moroney acknowledged that goal setting is a challenge. Village Trustee Boutet asked Village Manager Pavlicek to provide staff's goals, which Village Manager Pavlicek commented are mostly part of the strategic plan. Village Trustee Boutet asked her to provide some suggestions that staff feels they need to address. Village President Abu-Taleb clarified that Economic Development, Financial and Fiscal Responsibility and Infrastructure are remaining as goals. Environmental Sustainability will now be called Environmental Health and Sustainability. He asked for final input from each trustee. Village Trustee Moroney stated that they need to stay cognizant of staff's limitations, as they have a heavy workload and cognizant of what municipal government can and cannot do. Village Trustee Boutet would like a goal called High Performing Government, which would include technology and organizational development. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla would like to investigate and come up with a plan for a full scale solar array. She also would like numbers on reduced water loss, such as current percentage and what is feasible to reduce in a year's time. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that there is a study currently underway, and results are still forthcoming. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla wanted to add ensure water safety, expand the filter program and do a lead pipe study. There was discussion. Village Trustee Andrews requested data to understand the success of previous goals. B. MOT 19-87 Discussion of the Draft Revised Protocols from the May 13, 2019 Special Meeting and Motion to Place on the July 22, 2019 Special Meeting (acting as a Regular Meeting) for Village Board Adoption Village Manager Pavlicek stated that the Protocols that the Board discussed previously are in the Board packets and staff would put these on an agenda unless there was anything the Board would like to add. Village Trustee Boutet would like to limit time off to less than a month. She suggested two weeks in August, the latter part of December, a week around President's Day or some other time. Village President Abu-Taleb commented that some Board members have young children and like to go away during spring break, etc. Village Trustee Boutet agreed to spring break but not the entire month of April. Village Trustee Andrews agreed that the April break seemed too long. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla suggested the Board calendar follow the school calendar with the exception of the summer. Village President Abu-Taleb commented that if there is work to be done, it gets done in the meetings scheduled by staff. Village Trustee Boutet commented that some communities Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 7/23/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 15, 2019 do not take any time off at all. Village Trustee Buchanan stated that a month seems like a long time. There was discussion. Village Manager Pavlicek commented that there was consensus that the Board doesn't want too many meetings scheduled in April when there is a new Board coming in. Typically, the Board takes off December once the budget is adopted. Most of the staff is desperate to get caught up with year-end work and need those three weeks off. Village Trustee Andrews asked what Trustee Boutet sees as the value of more meetings. She stated that she likes the idea of spreading things out and having the time for discussion. Village Trustee Andrews commented that he doesn't think they need a policy on that. Village Trustee Taglia doesn't want to have meetings for the sake of having meetings. He is comfortable with three week breaks. There was consensus. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla stated that she has many more topics to review. Village Trustee Boutet agreed. Village Trustee Buchanan noted that some of the changes discussed when they last reviewed Protocols are not reflected here. There was consensus to continue Protocols at another meeting. VI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Andrews, seconded by Village Trustee Boutet, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:02 P.M., Monday, July 15, 2019. Respectfully Submitted, MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 7/23/2019