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, September 23, 2019 7:00 PM Public Works Center I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the Meeting to order at 7:00 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 Andrews, seconded by Village Trustee Moroney, to approve the Agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. V. Non-Agenda Public Comment There was no Non-Agenda Public Comment. VI. Regular Agenda A. ID 19-288 Review, Discuss and Update 2018-2019 Board Goals Bruce Lehman, representing VOICE. Mr. Lehman believes the Village is approaching a financial crisis. He discussed solutions to reach long-term sustainablity. Village President Abu-Taleb stated that staff has added the Board's comments from their previous meeting to the Board Goals. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested an explanation of why the Board Goals have not been prepared in the framework previously requested by Village Trustee Andrews and agreed to by the Board. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that once the Board is in agreement on their Goals, staff will begin working to put it into the framework. Village Trustee Andrews suggested that the list be gone through in order to separate goals from tasks that support goals. Public Safety Village Trustee Boutet would like an update regarding community policing and what areas need to be enhanced. Village Manager Pavlicek commented that the current method being used is called 21st Century Policing. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 10/8/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes September 23, 2019 Village Trustee Andrews suggested identifying SMART goals under this category, such as reducing response time by 10 percent, reducing crime by a certain percentage, etc. Village Trustee Moroney suggested a report regarding the value of cameras. He also questioned whether Police and Fire actually need additional staff. There was discussion regarding tasks and measurables. Village Manager Pavlicek provided language that should be included in Board Goals and tasks. Village President Abu-Taleb suggested identifying an overall goal, such as continue to ensure community safety, identify sub-categories and allow staff to identify measurable tasks to support each category. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla doesn't agree that this should be a Board Goal, as she doesn't believe the Village has a public safety problem. However, she does believe there is a racial profiling problem and believes in abolishing systems that support racism. She would like a radical transformation of policing that reduces fear amongst all people in the Village. She noted that continuing to prioritize public safety implies that there is a problem and expands the fear that people have of each other. She also discussed comments from members of the Citizen Police Oversight Committee, and suggested that an overhaul of their mission is needed. Village Trustee Boutet discussed the police's system of accountability. She has always supported the Police Department and they have been responsive in terms of what the community expects. However, a review may be a good option. Village Trustee Moroney asked for data in terms of racial profiling, as he does not see those things happening within the Oak Park Police Department. He is against radical transformation of the Police Department. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla referred to qualitative data that was shared at a forum that included incidents of racial profiling experienced by young Black and Brown students. It is important to understand that this does happen. Village Trustee Moroney agreed, but noted that there have also been events that warrant great fear and that public safety is a great concern. Village Trustee Boutet spoke about how important it is for the Board and the Village to support the police and the importance of not making disparaging public statements about them, such as racial profiling accusations. Village President Abu-Taleb stated that you cannot deny someone who feels profiled or someone who feels threatened. There is something that can be done for everyone to make them feel like they belong in Oak Park. It would be more favorable for the Village to set their goals in such a way that they can create a safe community and help everyone together. Communication Village Trustee Boutet was in favor of enhanced government transparency. Village Trustee Andrews commented that the goals listed are essentially all tasks. He suggested the overall goal be frequent and accurate communication using multiple modes of communication. Village President Abu-Taleb suggested improving accessibility to Village information and news. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested a more intuitive calendar that is web-friendly. In addition, the Village Manager Reports should be included in E-News. Village President Abu-Taleb summarized that they are all in agreement that the Village website needs to be more intuitive and easier to understand. Village Trustee Boutet would like financial information and FOIA's on the website. Village Trustee Andrews agreed, stating that all FOIA requests and responses are public information and he believes that would reduce requests. Village Trustee Moroney doesn't believe a radical overhaul of the website is necessary, but perhaps add a Transparency Page like the Evanston website has. Village President Abu-Taleb summarized the overall goal is to make the website more intuitive and easier to navigate. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 10/8/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes September 23, 2019 Customer Service Village Trustee Boutet discussed complaints about the Passport Parking software and suggested a review. Village President Abu-Taleb prefers taking advantage of technology. There will always be a small percentage of the population that will have problems with it. Village Trustee Andrews commented that there are always glitches but generally they are disproportionate to the expectation of the software. He asked for a report detailing the number of Passport users versus the number of problems before making any decisions. Village President Abu-Taleb suggested being lenient on first time offenders. Village Manager Pavlicek discussed direction that can be given to Adjudication. Village Trustee Buchanan asked for an explanation on encouraging innovation. Village Trustee Andrews stated that it is regarding looking at new technology. Organizational Development Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla would like to prioritize the hire of a new Public Works Assistant Director in order to have a succession plan in place. Village Manager Pavlicek replied that this will be included as a budget request. Village Trustee Boutet requested an update on the IPLAN implementation at the community level. There was consensus to move the Census status to another category. Transparency Regarding the role of the Clerk, Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla asked for the Village Clerk do an assessment of archived records to ensure that has been done correctly and report it to the community. Village Clerk Scaman asked if this was regarding records of the Village Board or records of the Village. She commented that there are pieces of archiving that are done in the Clerk's Office and others under the purview of the Village Manager. If the Board is looking for a report on what has been archived and what is scheduled for destruction under State Law, that task is under the direction of the Finance Director. Village Trustee Boutet stated that this goes back to establishing the role of the clerk, which is a discussion for a different meeting. Village Trustees Boutet and Walker-Peddakotla would like that put on an agenda. Economic Development Village President Abu-Taleb suggested removing Madison Street from this category. Village Trustee Andrews suggested investigating and identifying underperforming areas rather than setting specific priorities. Concentrating on North Avenue was suggested at the previous meeting. Village Trustee Boutet commented about the underutilization of the Housing Center. She initiated a conversation regarding equal investment of all areas in the Village, identifying vacant lots and possibly buying for potential development. Village President Abu-Taleb stated that the Village should always keep an open mind and be looking for these opportunities. There was agreement to focus their effort on commercial improvement on the East side of the Village. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla was in favor of having this conversation in a Study Session. Village Trustee Boutet also spoke about the need for uniform code enforcement. There was a discussion regarding an increase in sales tax revenue. Village Manager Pavlicek commented that this has remained flat. Village Trustee Andrews suggested Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 10/8/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes September 23, 2019 eliminating the goal of increasing the EAV, as it is too subjective. There was a discussion regarding the option to divide single family residences into multi-family residences. Village Trustee Moroney spoke about his suggested revisions to the language. Financial and Fiscal Responsibility Village Trustee Andrews suggests that the one goal under the Budget category should be to limit the tax levy increase to 3%. All other items listed are activities that fall under that. Village Trustee Boutet would like to move to program-based budgeting as well as a three-year projection. Village President Abu-Taleb and Village Trustee Andrews suggested a two-year projection. Village President Abu-Taleb did not agree with the concept of program-based budgeting. Village Trustee Boutet spoke in support of it. Village Trustee Andrews would like to know what it would entail to move to a program-based budget system as well as the cost. He would have to see a hybrid model with Oak Park's data inserted. He would like more information before making that decision. Village Trustee Boutet stated it was a way to empower the Board to make better decisions. Village Trustee Moroney stated that the budget process is complex and difficult. He expressed skepticism regarding this making the process easier. Village Trustees Walker-Peddakotla and Taglia would like to explore it further. Regarding the Debt category, Village Trustee Andrews believes that should be a percentage of the overall Village budget not the EAV. Village Manager Pavlicek explained the rationale behind that. There was discussion. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla suggested that be tied into the Village's bond rating. There was a discussion regarding the Collaboration category. Village President Abu-Taleb wanted to remove working with other taxing bodies to minimize property tax increases and having a joint meeting with all taxing bodies to discuss cost saving measures. Village Trustee Boutet explained the value of I-Gov. It was not designed to collaborate about decreasing taxes. Village Trustee Andrews believes there is collaboration whenever possible. Village Trustees Buchanan and Boutet disagreed. There was further discussion. Village Trustee Boutet discussed the advantages of collaboration, and not just to save money. Village Trustee Moroney believes it is underestimated how much the Village collaborates with the other taxing bodies. Village President Abu-Taleb agreed but pointed out that as long as governmental partners are managed separately with separate budgets, true collaboration is unlikely. Village Manager Pavlicek identified several opportunities where collaboration with other municipalities has offered fiscal savings. Village President Abu-Taleb also acknowledged that the Village has collaborated with other taxing bodies for various projects but stated that having formal meetings to discuss general collaboration is not the best use of everyone's time. Village Trustee Andrews saw no value in I-Gov. He suggested that collaboration be noted as a core value and not a goal. Village Trustee Moroney suggested a disclaimer on this document regarding it's purpose and intent. It was agreed to remove tasks that have already been completed. Village Trustee Andrews would like an accurate discount rate used regarding pensions. He suggested looking at the last three years' investment returns and using that as the rate. Village President Abu-Taleb noted that if the Board reduced it from the current 6.75 to a lower rate, it would result in a larger unfunded portion. Village Trustee Andrews commented that it would make it transparent. Village Manager Pavlicek stated she would Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 10/8/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes September 23, 2019 provide a broader range of scenarios regarding discount rates for FY21. Village Trustee Andrews expressed concern regarding understating pension obligations. Village President Abu-Taleb understood his concern but wanted to look at what the Village Manager brought back to them. Village Trustee Moroney commented that the Illinois Municipal League has several recommendations regarding consolidation of police and fire pensions and he suggested that the Board evaluate them. There was agreement to evaluate these recommendations and include the Pension Boards in the discussion. It was agreed to leave Infrastructure/SMART City goals as is. Environmental Health & Sustainability Village Trustee Andrews stated that all items under this category are tasks. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla noted that the goal should be achieve 50% renewable by 2030 with the other items as tasks to achieve that. There was agreement. Village Trustee Andrews commented that the Plan-It-Green grade should be one of the measurables. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla would also like the composting program more wide-spread, such as more availability in multi-unit residences. Village Trustee Taglia discussed using Sustainability Funds for the water loss situation. Village Manager Pavlicek explained why it is tied to reduced electrical consumption, but would do some research regarding any aggregation restrictions. The Village currently has a modest water conservation program. Racial Equity Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla stated that the CRC had some input regarding this and referred to an email she had sent to the Board earlier. Village Trustee Moroney would like to conduct a racial equity impact assessment as a first step. Village Trustee Boutet stated that the first step should be joining GARE in order to understand what they should be looking for. Village Trustee Moroney stated that GARE seems prescriptive and he would like to hear about other organizations. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla discussed a Board meeting prior to her term where a CRC member discussed and described GARE. The CRC has been consistently pushing to join that organization since that time. Village Trustee Boutet asked what steps have been taken at the staff level, aside from the National League of Cities training.She reiterated that GARE training should be done prior to an assessment. There was a discussion to determine in what order these steps should be taken, whether another meeting is necessary and whether there was previous consensus and direction to join DARE. Village Walker-Peddakotla asked if they could get consensus to add join GARE, conduct an assessment and participate in training to the goals. There was consensus. She also asked if the CRC can continue to work on a racial equity resolution or ordinance. Village Trustee Andrews stated that a resolution or ordinance could be drafted, but he would like it drafted in clear language. B. ID 19-289 Discussion of the Draft Revised Protocols from the May 13, 2019 Special Meeting Joshua Klayman, representing VOICE. Mr. Klayman discussed his proposed protocols that he sent to the Board and spoke about an individual who could offer the Board assistance regarding program-based budgeting. Village Trustee Boutet would like all meetings held at Village Hall. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla agreed. Village Trustees Andrews, Taglia and Moroney and Village President Abu-Taleb like the collaborative nature of sitting around a table for these types of meetings. Village Trustee Andrews would like a video camera in the room however. Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 10/8/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes September 23, 2019 Village Trustee Boutet suggested a quarterly Doodle be sent in order to determine dates that Board Members are unavailable. Village President Abu-Taleb stated that he doesn't have an issue with trustees missing occasional meetings. Village Trustee Andrews stated that he doesn't believe a government entity should be scheduling their meetings around religious holidays. Village Trustee Boutet believes that instead of having scheduled months off, breaks should be scheduled by consensus of the Board. Village President Abu-Taleb commented that even the US Supreme Court takes a scheduled break in July and August. Anytime the Village Manager needs the Board to meet, they meet. He believes it's important to recognize that most of this Board have families, jobs, etc. and it is okay not to have meetings for six weeks in the summer. Village Trustee Boutet would like to update the Agenda Item Commentary document to include SMART Goals and to include that in terms of racial equity. Village Trustee Andrews stated that he would like to look at GARE suggestions and go through that training before any changes are made. Village Trustee Moroney doesn't see the value in overburdening staff with all those metrics on every agenda item. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla agreed with Village Trustee Andrews. Village Trustee Boutet stated that people in the community are requesting an earlier release of Board agendas. She suggested publicly posting the draft agenda on Tuesdays when it is released to the Board. Village President Abu-Taleb and Village Trustee Andrews did not agree with publishing a draft agenda. Village Trustee Buchanan noted that releasing it on Tuesday would provide members of the community with an interest in specific topics the opportunity to plan ahead to attend the meetings. Village Trustee Andrews disagreed. Village Trustee Boutet stated that this is about informing the public about the topics to be discussed. Village Manager Pavlicek explained the process, but preferred the latitude to release the public agenda on Thursdays. There was discussion that ended in consensus to leave it as is. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla asked that the deadline for Board be moved from 7:30 a.m. on Thursdays to noon. There was consensus. There was a conversation on how best to keep track of forthcoming agenda items. Village Trustee Andrews requested a system to provide the status of pending items. There was discussion. Village Trustee Taglia noted that those items are listed on the Board Calendar. Village Trustee Andrews would like to investigate some type of technology. Village Trustee Andrews believes that the Finance Committee should be a Committee of the Whole. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that would require an ordinance. Village Trustee Moroney suggested bringing that to the Board for vote. Village Trustee Boutet suggested password protected Executive Session materials on line rather than them being hand delivered by police officers. There was discussion. Village Trustee Boutet stated that currently, the Board doesn't address issues brought up at Public Comment. She would like the Board to offer a response at that time. Village Trustee Moroney discussed how that derails the meeting and keeps staff there unnecessarily long. VII. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Andrews, seconded by Village Trustee Moroney, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 10:00 P.M., Monday, September 23, 2019. Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 10/8/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes September 23, 2019 Respecfully Submitted, MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 7 Printed on 10/8/2019