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 31, 2022 6:30 PM Virtual I. Call to Order Village President Scaman called the meeting to order at 6:32 P.M. She authorized a statement be read providing that the meeting is being held remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines and that it is not prudent to have people present at the Village Board's regular meeting location due to public health concerns related to that pandemic. II. Roll Call Present: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla Absent: 0 III. Adjourn to Executive Session It was moved by Village Trustee Parakkat, seconded by Village Trustee Robinson, to enter into Executive Session pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21) - Approval of Executive Session Minutes, pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) - the appointment of a specific employee of the Village, pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(3) - the selection of a person to fill a vacancy in a public office, and pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2) - Collective Bargaining. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 IV. Reconvene to Special Meeting and Call to Order The Special Meeting reconvened at 7:32 P.M. V. Roll Call Present: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla Absent: 0 Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 2/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 31, 2022 VI. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Robinson, seconded by Village Trustee Parakkat, to approve the Agenda. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 VII. Non-Agenda Public Comment The following persons spoke their Non-Agenda Public Comments aloud: Reverend Stanly Davis: Reverend Stanly Davis, an ordained minister with the United Church of Christ, spoke their public comment in opposition to recent public comments that referred to public health officials functioning like fascists and linking local anti-virus efforts to the European Holocaust. They feel the comments are antisemitic and racist and should be called out for the hatred they are designed to feed. They asked the Board to publicly condemn these vile, false, and divisive comments. Manny Houle: Manny Houle, the Assistant Regional Director of the Anti Defamation League in the Midwest, spoke their public comment in opposition to recent public comments that drew false comparisons between public health measures related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and Nazi Germany. Protecting public health should never be equated to the horrors committed by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. They respect and defend the right to protest and freedom of expression, but condemn the use of Holocaust trivialization and any other antisemitic and other hateful language and strongly encourage individuals to refrain from making these types of comparisons in the future. Village Trustee Buchanan read the following public comment aloud: Michael Soffer: Michael Soffer, an Oak Park River Forest teacher of the Holocaust Studies courses, submitted their public comment opposing recent public comments that have been made which inaccurately and defensively compare the village's public health measures to the horrific policies of Adolf Hitler. He shared the story of his wife's great uncle who suffered and died during the Holocaust, and feels there is no comparison between the public health measures meant to save lives and genocidal policies meant to end them Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 2/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 31, 2022 VIII. Proclamation Village President Scaman read the Proclamation aloud. A. MOT 22-12 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation for Proclaiming A Day of Remembrance Lawrence (Larry) Christmas on January 31, 2022. It was moved by Village Trustee Enyia, seconded by Village Trustee Parakkat, to approve the Motion. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 IX. Citizen Commission Appointments, Reappointments and Chair Appointments B. ID 22-34 Motion to Consent to the Village President’s Appointment of: Transportation Commission - Brian Straw, Appoint as Member It was moved by Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla, seconded by Village Trustee Parakkat, to approve this Report. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 X. Regular Agenda C. ID 22-26 Discussion Regarding an Initial Plan for Expending American Rescue Act Funds Interim Village Manager Shelley gave an overview of this Item. The following person spoke their public comment aloud: Rita Maniotis: Rita Maniotis spoke their public comment expressing concerns over the $38.9 Million Oak Park is receiving for ARPA funds over the strings that are attached to the funds. They believe the disbursement of funds are discriminatory as it is contingent on strict Covid-19 mitigation policies that are discriminatory to people who have had covid and decide Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 2/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 31, 2022 to not get the vaccine. She also requested the village return the money that was already received. Village Trustee Parakkat requested some sort of prioritization of needs for the disbursement of the ARPA funds to see where the funds would be most impactful. Chief Financial Officer Steve Drazner then gave an overview presentation of the ARPA fund allocation. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the forecasted lost revenue numbers that were presented. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested clarification on how lost revenue is being defined and is there a bigger issue than ARPA can solve if the village is losing revenue each year. CFO Drazner responded the federal government's definition of lost revenue is based on a 5% growth rate calculation that they are allowing the village to take. If the village is only projecting a 1 or 2% growth rate instead of 5%, then the lost revenue would be the 3 or 4% that was not attained, not actual lost revenue. Interim Village Manager Shelley added that the formula uses 2019 as the base year to apply this formula to. Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification on what we have reported to the federal government so far. CFO Drazner responded all requests through 12/31/21. Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification if there was still flexibility to fund the requests they are going to review tonight from a different source, which could then free up some of the ARPA funds. CFO Drazner responded in the affirmative. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla expressed concern that the term "lost revenue" is misleading and may result in taking the funds in-house to be use for projects outside of ARPA guidelines. Interim Village Manager Shelley then gave an overview of next steps needed. Village Trustee Parakkat reaffirmed the need for a prioritization of these requests for future requests like these. Village Trustee Robinson agreed a prioritization or categorization of needs for the community partners would be helpful. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 2/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 31, 2022 Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested clarification on how these requests came to the Board table. She commented on the usefulness of utilizing a call for proposals with a set of criteria, which would help inform the decision making process for the disbursement of funding. The community partners requesting ARPA funds then presented their requests to the Board. Park District of Oak Park: Kassie Porreca, President of the Park District Board, and Jan Arnold, the Executive Director of the Park District, then presented their funding request and answered questions from the Trustees. Village Trustee Walker Peddakotla requested clarification on if the Board was expected to make a decision on these requests tonight or if this was purely just a discussion Item. Interim Village Manager Shelley responded the hope was to have some sort of direction at the end of tonight for each of these requests. President Scaman commented that she and Trustee Enyia would be putting together an impact analysis toolkit with the Park District and bring that back to the Board. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla expressed her concern the Board is asked to allocate millions of dollars to the community partners without a clear impact assessment and without thinking about the community's needs based on the community survey. Hephzibah: Mary Beth Sheets, Executive Director for Hephzibah, then presented their funding request and answered questions from the Trustees. Collaboration for Early Childhood: John Borrero, Executive Director for the Collaboration for Early Childhood, then presented their funding request and answered questions from the Trustees. Tourism Joint Organization Funding Request: Eric Wagner, President and CEO of Visit Oak Park, then presented their joint organization funding request on behalf of Visit Oak Park, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation, and the Oak Park Area Arts Council, and answered questions from the Trustees. Village President Scaman requested clarification on when staff expects to bring contracts back to the Board for approval. Interim Village manager Shelley responded mid-February depending on Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 2/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 31, 2022 any feedback from tonight's discussion and the complexity of the agreement. Camille Wilson-White, Executive Director of the Oak Park Area Arts Council, spoke to the urgency of the funding request and the impact for local area arts organizations. Heidi Ruehl-May, Executive Director of Unity Temple Foundation, also reiterated the urgency of the funding and the importance of collaboration between all of these arts organizations to share efficiencies and resources. Interim Village Manager Shelley added two other partner agencies, the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation and the North Avenue Business Association, also came forward with proposals but are not being discussed tonight as they will be brought up at future funding discussions. Interim Village manager Shelley added there is work that is in process or upcoming that will address community health services in town, crisis intervention, reparations and equity. Many of these reports or discussions will not happen until later in the year, so these partner agencies tonight were here to address some of their immediate needs while this other work is in process. President Scaman thanked Representative Lilly for her office's support to fund the streetscape needs of North Avenue. XI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Robinson, seconded by Village Trustee Parakkat, to adjourn. The motion was approved. The Meeting adjourned at 10:44 P.M., Monday, January 31, 2022. Respectfully Submitted, Deputy Clerk DeViller AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 2/8/2022