Cultural & Social Awareness Commission

MINUTES CITY OF WOODSTOCK CULTURAL AND SOCIAL AWARENESS COMMISSION July 18, 2023 A regular meeting of the City of Woodstock Cultural and Social Awareness Commission was called to order by Chairperson Crystal Squires at 5:02 p.m. on Monday, July 18, 2023, in the Basement Conference Room at Woodstock City Hall. A roll call was taken. COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: John Kendall, Jose Rivera, Joe Starzynski, and Chairperson Crystal Squires. Abdul Akel arrived at 5:14 p.m. COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Kerry Smith. STAFF PRESENT: Human Resources Director/Staff Liaison Deb Schober and City Clerk Cindy Smiley. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Motion by J. Starzynski, second by J. Kendall, to accept the minutes of the April 3, 2023 meeting as presented. Ayes: Kendall, Rivera, Starzynski, and Chairperson Squires. Nays: none. Abstentions: none. Absentees: Akel and Smith. Motion carried. 4. DISCUSSION ITEMS a. & b. Review & Finishing of Roadmap Chairperson Squires expressed her wish to discuss what finishing the Roadmap looks like. She noted at the last meeting the Commission discussed when to bring it forward to the City Council, stating she also wishes to talk about the timeline. She expressed her wish to discuss where the Commission wishes the Plan to go and how to finish the Roadmap, being realistic about the Commission’s availability to finish this as a group. Brief discussion ensued of previous discussions of tasks to be done to finish the Roadmap, including linking the plan to the City’s goals and deciding whether to develop other language for the Open to All project or leave as is with language from another website. Noting the City’s Strategic Plan has now been streamlined to one page, Ms. Schober suggested the Commission look at making the Roadmap more finite also. She noted one of the goals was to share the survey, discussing how this could be done. Commissioner Kendall agreed, opining Open to All can be left as it stands and the Roadmap is ready to go with some basic formatting. He suggested doing this formatting and confirming it is ready for submittal to Council at the next Commission meeting. Ms. Schober noted the City’s Strategic Plan is being approved at the next Council meeting. Discussion ensued of whether to remove the section of the Roadmap that links it to the Strategic Plan. Commissioner Kendall suggested removing it from the document by making the points to  Cultural and Social Awareness Commission 07/18/23 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 the Council when presenting it at the meeting. It was the consensus of the Commission to accept Commissioner Kendall’s suggestion. A brief discussion ensued of the timeline. It was the consensus of the Commission to present it to the City Council at its September 5th meeting, with the Commission meeting one more time to finalize everything. Commissioner Kendall agreed to make the necessary revisions and format the document to send to Ms. Schober who will send the revised document to all Commission members. The members will review this for discussion at the next meeting. c. Events Chairperson Squires stated the purpose of this item is to discuss what the Commission wishes to accomplish regarding events by the end of the year. Noting she volunteered at Summer in the Park, Ms. Schober opined there is a lot of opportunity for the Commission to have a table at events and show the residents of Woodstock that there is a Cultural and Social Awareness Commission, and this is important to the City. She noted there are not many other Commissions like this in other cities. Commissioner Starzynski suggested looking at what events are scheduled through the end of the year and what events align with the Commission. Discussion ensued of a presence at events and what can be done including a physical or digital suggestion box, T-shirts for the Commission, sponsoring an ice cream social or movie in the park, among others. It was agreed to investigate this further, including how to fund these suggestions. Chairperson Squires noted this would include a commitment to man the booths. Noting Mexican Independence is coming up on September 17th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Chairperson Squires stated she will discuss this with someone from Hispanic Connections. In response to a suggestion from Commissioner Akel, discussion ensued of the possibility to accept donations. A brief discussion ensued of the Commission hosting an event, noting the Commission’s previous discussion of a holiday event. Commissioner Kendall favored getting the Roadmap approved and starting to be the Commission’s focus for the rest of the year, noting Open to All will be a lot of work. Chairperson Squires concurred favoring having one initiative up and running to talk about at events. Discussion ensued of the previous idea of a “Christmas Around the World” event. Noting it could be Holidays Around the World showcasing holiday traditions, Commissioner Squires stated she will speak with Arlene Lynes about the Downtown Coalition working on this with the Commission. She will also speak with someone from the Opera House about having a theme of “Holidays Around the World” for the Community Room trees.  Cultural and Social Awareness Commission 07/18/23 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3 5. NEXT MEETING DATE It was the consensus of the Commission to meet next on Monday, August 14, 2023 at 5 p.m. in the Basement Conference Room. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no comment forthcoming from the Public. 7. OTHER DISCUSSION ITEMS Discussion ensued of the need for an additional member on the Commission and how they are solicited and appointed. 8. ADJOURN Motion by J. Starzynski, second by J. Kendall, to adjourn this regular meeting of the Cultural and Social Awareness Commission to a Special Meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 14, 2023, in the Basement Conference Room of Woodstock City Hall. Ayes: Akel, Kendall, Rivera, Starzynski, and Chairperson Squires. Nays: none. Abstentions: none. Absentees: Smith. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 5:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Smiley, City Clerk