Community Relations Commission

CITY OF WHEATON COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION Minutes - Wednesday June 7, 2017 I. Call to Order: by Chairman Gail Forrest 7:05 p.m II. Roll Call: Commission Members Present Commission Members Absent Gail Forrest Erik Miller Bill Gilbertson Vickie Miller Ronnie Gillis Steve Limp Renee Webb III. Citizens to be heard: We were visited by Leslie Day who was interested in learning about the function of our Commission to consider joining it. Each of the Event Chairman gave Leslie an overview of the work we do for each of our Events and Projects. After hearing this and observing the remainder of the meeting Leslie indicated that she would be submitting an application to the City of Wheaton seeking an appoint- ment to the Community Relations Commission. The Commissioners unanimously endorsed her joining the team. IV. Approval of the minutes: from May 15, 2017. Ronnie Gillis moved, Steve Limp seconded and the motion for approval carried. V. Continuing Business: A. Military Projects -- Bill Gilbertson — Bill informed the Commissioners that Erik Miller had made ar- rangements with Sharon Barrett-Hagen to make the approved, $500 donation to the military event taking place at Cantigny Park from July 21 to 23 featuring the surviving Native American code talkers. Bill re- ceived the daily schedule of events for the program and determined that Saturday, July 22 would be the best time for the Community Relations Commission to participate. With the focus on the attendees being main- ly current and veteran military personal we thought it would be a good audience for telling the story about our adopted military unit and maybe be able to solicit some donations to help us fund the project. Bill urged Commission Members to show their support for this event. B. Cultural Diversity – Steve Limp — Steve and the other Commissioners that participated in the World Tour Event in May felt it was a success but the windy outdoor weather made it difficult to manage the ac- tivities in the various tents. Betsy Adamoski from the Library suggested that we do somewhat less labor in- tensive activities if we do another joint project. She suggested doing something like movies inside. With all of the open space that the Library has on the lower level we could probably do something inside to re- duce the weather factors. It was also discussed to maybe go back to our joint event with the Wheaton Band Concerts. It was also suggested to work up some kind of an event in Wheaton’s Downtown area. It was suggested that we set up a brainstorming session with Betsy Adamoski to consider other options. C. Make a Difference Day – Renee Webb/Ronnie Gilles — No Report D. Good Citizens – Vickie Miller. — Overall, the Commissioners felt that Good Citizen Awards Ceremony was a success although there were some negative comments from a few people that thought it was too long and had too many recipients. Those of us that had been to many of these ceremonies didn’t feel it was any different than prior years. We did discuss that maybe we could be a little more concise on announcing the various achievements of each individual which led to them receiving the award but we didn’t feel like there had been too many winners. We also thought it would be a good idea to have each category, Student, Adult and Group come up to the front of the room as a unit to receive their awards, individually. Then they would sit down and another category would come to the front. That way the entire group of winners wouldn’t be required to stand up front for the entire ceremony. It was also discussed to prepare a “bro- chure” to be handed out at the reception that would highlight the achievements of each of the award win- ners.  E. Treasurer’s Report—Erik Miller — No Report F. Media Coordinator – Steve Limp — Steve indicated that he was going to meet with all of the people over at the Communications Annex and learn what is available to get more publicity for our Commission. VI. New Business: We discussed to need to recruit additional members to the Community Relations Commis- sion which has experienced several resignations in recent months. We considered placing an announce- ment for new members in the City Newsletter and some individual networking. Steve Limp will pursue it. Gail will arrange a meeting with Mayor Gresk to discuss ways to encourage citizens to consider joining the City of Wheaton Community Relations Commission. VII. Commissioners Comments: None VIII. Adjournment: Ronnie, moved, Steve seconded, a motion to adjourn at 8:15 p.m. The motion passed.