SECA Commission

City of Naperville 400 S. Eagle Street Naperville, IL 60540 Meeting Minutes - Final Wednesday, January 17, 2024 6:00 PM Meetings Rooms A&B SECA Commission SECA Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 17, 2024 A. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Brodhead called the meeting to order at 6:02 PM. B. ROLL CALL: Present 8- Judith Brodhead, Nancy Chen, Natalia Dagenhart, Rich Gannon, Shannon Greene Robb, Allison Longenbaugh, Lai So, and Arthur Zards Absent 4- Vasavi Chakka, Tom Miers, Kader Sakkaria, and David Scriven-Young Also present: Miranda Barfuss, Community Grants Coordinator; Rafaella Giaquinto, Student Representative; Devina Das, Student Representative C. PUBLIC FORUM: None D. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Approve the SECA Commission meeting minutes of December 7, 2023 Attachments: SECA Commission Meeting Minutes DRAFT 12-07-23 Commissioner Greene Robb made a motion to approve the SECA Commission meeting minutes of December 7, 2023, seconded by Chen. The motion carried by a voice vote. E. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Reschedule the January SECA Bootcamp to second quarter 2024 Zards reported that the SECA Bootcamp scheduled for Saturday, January 20, 2024 was canceled due to low registration numbers and suggested strengthening the marketing. Commissioners discussed who is leading the event, staff and Commissioner responsibilities, marketing plans, and the overall purpose of the bootcamp. Greene Robb made a motion to table the agenda item until the February meeting to allow additional time for offline planning discussions. Motion failed for lack of a second. Commissioners discussed combining the bootcamp with the special events seminar in February or the SECA mandatory pre-application meeting(s) in August/September. Commissioners agreed to resume in-person SECA pre-application meeting(s), boosting the marketing of the meetings and providing additional content to attendees. The first portion of the meeting(s) will be mandatory, providing a review of the SECA application process, guidelines and restrictions. The second portion will be optional, providing breakout networking discussions on sponsorship, marketing, and grant writing. Barfuss City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 2/26/2024 SECA Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 17, 2024 agreed to provide web and press release samples showing how the SECA pre-application meetings have been promoted at the next meeting. 2. Revise the CY24 unified funding recommendation due to an event cancelation Barfuss reported that DuPagePads has canceled Old Naperville Days leaving $13,500 of recommended funding to reallocate. Commissioners discussed dividing the funding proportionally across applicants, adding additional funding for several applicants and setting aside the money for public art requests that arise throughout the year. Commissioner Zards made a motion to add the $13,500 funding recommended for Old Naperville Days to the $10,000 funding set aside for public art requests that arise throughout the year, seconded by Greene Robb. The motion carried by a voice vote. 3. Review the CY24 SECA Grant Fund application/approval process and discuss potential changes for CY25 Commissioners discussed receiving public comment from applicants at the meeting prior to the unified recommendation meeting vs. scoring applications without input. Commissioners agreed that having the opportunity to ask applicants questions in-person is helpful to the allocation process and the meeting also allows Commissioners to discuss applications with each other before submitting their individual recommendations. Commissioners agreed that the meeting will be maintained and applicants’ attendance will be strongly encouraged. Commissioners discussed categorizing “trade fairs” as special events and the appropriateness of funding them. Commissioners agreed that differentiating a trade fair from a special event with vendors is too difficult and future funding decisions will continue to be made on an individual basis. Commissioners discussed requiring display of the SECA Grant Fund Program logo for funded projects and agreed to make the display of the logo mandatory. Commissioners discussed reviewing how the initial SECA mission to provide seed money for new events has evolved and specifically highlighted continuing funding for long-time established events, whether events without city services are penalized with lower funding, whether organizations that request larger funding amounts are at an advantage, whether SECA should fund organizations who donate the proceeds of their events to other organizations, and the history of City obligations. No action was decided. Commissioners discussed capping the number of consecutive years applicants can receive funding, several long-time established events, and the ways in which implementing a cap may impact the SECA process. Commissioners agreed not to implement a cap at this time. Chen discussed the recent approval of a public art piece for the Day of the City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 2/26/2024 SECA Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 17, 2024 Dead and stated that the application process was not followed. Brodhead clarified that no funding was allocated for the piece and that the Naperville Public Library asked the Commission for input. The commissioners agreed that any public art piece funded by SECA would go through the approved public art application process . F. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner So made a motion to adjourn the SECA Commission meeting of January 17, 2024 at 7:49 PM, seconded by Commissioner Chen. The motion carried by a voice vote. /S/ Miranda Barfuss Miranda Barfuss Community Grants Coordinator City of Naperville Page 3 Printed on 2/26/2024