Community Relations Commission

CITY OF WHEATON COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION Minutes - Wednesday, February 3, 2016 I. Call to Order: by Secretary Bill Gilbertson at 7:00 p.m. II. Roll Call: Commission Members Present: Commission Members Absent: Bill Balis Ronnie Gillis Bill Gilbertson Dan Loftus Tony Lyons Bobby McNeily Erik Miller Vickie Miller Renee Webb III. Citizens to be heard: None IV. Approval of the minutes: from November 4, 2015. Tony moved, Vickie seconded and the motion for ap- proval carried. V. Continuing Business: A. Military Projects – Bill Gilbertson. Bill read a thank you note from the families of the 1st Battalion 18th Infantry. They thanked us for our “loving generosity this holiday season.” With the majority of the troops in Kuwait the gift bags were indeed a blessing for the families back home. Bill indicated he would be look- ing for a way to celebrate the units return home from Kuwait in July. B. Cultural Diversity – Dan Loftus. Dan and Bobby, again, had met with Betsy Adamowski from the Wheaton Library to discuss timing of the event. They decided to hold the event on Saturdays, either August 20 or 27. These dates would not interfere with back to school activities or the beginning of the NFL season and allow more people to attend the event. They will decide on the exact date soon. Bobby indicated that they would be communicating the event via posters in downtown businesses, the city news- letter, letter to schools, Chat with the Mayor, a Wheaton Moms site and even Facebook. C. Make a Difference Day – Bill Gilbertson. Bill is still thinking we need to refocus our effort on this activity and develop specific volunteer projects for people to participate in on that actual day. The national empha- sis on this event is to get people out on this particular day and do a good deed for the benefit of individuals or the community. D. Serve Illinois/Cities of Service – Renee Webb. With the chaos in the State of Illinois Government and the elimination of the contact person she had consulted with there has been little progress. However, she hasn’t given up on the program. She did suggest that before Don Rose retires we should meet with him and get some ideas on how best to proceed, hopefully, at our March 2 meeting. Renee indicated that she would arrange for the meeting with him. E. Good Citizens – Vickie Miller. Vickie indicated that the Good Citizen letters and nomination forms would be going out soon to the various categories to include High School Students, Adults and Groups. They are to be returned no later than April 10 so we can review them and make selections at our April 20 meeting. The awards will be presented at the May 16 City Council Meeting. F. Treasurer’s Report – Bill Balis. Bill presented documents indicating that we had a balance of $903.94 in our CRC Community Sponsor Fund left over from 2015. In our combined CRC Budget/Escrow Account we had a balance of $4,242.16. Bill indicated that he was informed by Mary Grantz that our Escrow Ac- count had been eliminated and combined with our CRC Budget. Bill Gilbertson indicated this was unac- ceptable and would consult with Chairman Gillis on arranging a meeting with the Finance Department to resolve the issue. G. Media Coordinator – Bobby McNeily. As indicated above, Bobby indicated he would be coordinating the various media exposure for the Cultural Diversity Event. VI. New Business: None - !1 - VII. Commissioners Comments: No comments. VIII. Adjournment: Tony moved and Renee seconded a motion to adjourn at 7:50 p.m. Motion passed. - !2 -