Community Relations Commission

Village of Niles COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION Minutes from the Meeting held on Tuesday, December 7, 2021 Members Present: Joe Kuffel (Chair), Carolyn Drblik, Vicky Duka, Jovan Marinac, Jeff Kash Village Staff Present: Katie Schneider – Village of Niles John Jekot – Village Trustee Nick Zakula – Niles Police Dept, Deputy Chief I. Call to Order: Vicky Duka called the meeting to order electronically via Zoom audio/visual conferencing at 6:04 p.m. on Tuesday, December 7, 2021. Katie Schneider called the roll for attendance. II. Approval of Meeting Summary Jovan Marinac made a motion to accept the minutes of the September 23, 2021 meeting as presented. Carolyn Drblik second the motion, all were in favor, none opposed. Minutes approved. III. Reported Citizen Comments/Complaints a. Police and other Village Departments Deputy Chief Zakula reported on community engagement initiatives of the Niles Police Department. The Niles Police raised $11,643 for the athletes of Special Olympics by participating in the Polar Plunge and Plane Pull. For October, the Niles Police wore a pink patch for Breast Cancer Awareness month and raised $1,700 in patch sales that was donated to Caldwell Breast Cancer Treatment Center at Lutheran General. The Walk Like MADD raised over $1,100 for an annual total of $14,445 in donation for various causes in the area. For the fall, Niles Family Services and Niles Police Department partnered for the Turkey Drop, providing Thanksgiving dinner to six families in the area. Coming up is Shop with a Cop with Walmart for 25 families to shop with a $100 gift card. As part of Operation Santa, 17 bicycles that were inventory of closed cases, were rehabbed at Amlings Cycle and will be part of Operation Santa. George Alpogianis donated funds for Amlings to fix the bikes. Niles Family Services In the last two weeks, Family Services secured over $10,000 for the Food Pantry. Various Village Departments are supporting families that need assistance for Christmas Shopping. b. Telephone / Email Hotlines- No complaints or inquiries were submitted or reported. c. Members of the Community Relations Commission There were no reports from Commissioners. IV. Old Business V. New Business A schedule was set for quarterly meetings. Katie Schneider will send calendar invites and post to the Village website. VI. Open Discussion and Public Comment Members of the public can participate remotely in the meeting and provide live comment during public comment sections of the meeting via Zoom. Public comments are limited to three minutes per person. Comments should be related to the Community Relations Commission mission: The mission of the Community Relations Commission shall be to foster, encourage and stimulate the improvement of relations among and between citizens of all races, creeds, national origins and economic and educational levels; and to provide all individuals with an equal opportunity to grow and participate to the best of their ability in the economic, educational, social and cultural activities available that are available in the community. Renee Sutherland: Renee is concerned because she knows that complaints have been sent to the Community Relations Commission hotline and wants to know why these concerns are not being addressed. She stated that spoken comments were ignored at the last meeting and now written comments are being ignored. David Sutherland: David Sutherland is an organizer with the Niles Coalition and part of dozens of people organized around the Save Niles Library. Many people are at the meeting tonight, have written letters and spoken out that Carolyn Drblik, who is President of the Niles-Maine District Library, should be removed as a member of the Community Relations Commission since she is wrecking the community. It’s time for the Community Relations Commission members to step-up and implement a plan of healing and mitigate the harm imposed on our community. In his email submitted to Community Relations Commission, David outlined three solutions: 1) Remove Carolyn Drblik 2) Outreach to impacted groups like the Niles Youth Community, LGBTQ, ethnic heritage, workers, etc. 3) Commit to a newly funded, promote, celebrate and ensure access to the Niles Maine District Library. Pam Wolff: No comment except to agree with Renee and David Sutherland. Alisa Sanders: She would like to know what is the best way to reach out since no one is responding to their complaints. She was concerned that emails were not getting through and wants to know why members of are not responding and if there is a better way to communicate their message. At the request of David Sutherland, Katie read an email David wrote to the Community Relations Commission. Email attached to minutes. VII. Next Meeting The next meeting will be held in December; Katie Schneider will reach out to commissioners to schedule and post to the website. VIII. Adjournment Carolyn Drblik motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:29 p.m. Jovan Marinac second the motion. All were in favor, none opposed. Meeting adjourned. Minutes Submitted by: Katie Schneider, Staff Liaison Archived: Wednesday, September 14, 2022 8:08:13 AM From: David Sutherland Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2021 1:04:28 PM To: Brown, Darren; Jekot, John; Brown, Darren Cc: Schneider, Katie Subject: Anti-Library Community Attack Complaint Sensitivity: Normal ​Hello, I am writing to Community Relations Commissioners Joe Kuffel, Vicky Duka, Jovan Marinac, Jeffrey Kashwith, Trustee John Jekot, and Darren Brown with a complaint regarding community relations. The mission of this commission states: "The purpose of the Community Relations Commission shall be to foster, encourage and stimulate the improvement of relations among and between citizens of all races, creeds, national origins and economic and educational levels; and to provide all individuals with an equal opportunity to grow and participate to the best of their ability in the economic, educational, social and cultural activities available in the community. The Commission will also assist in the development of public information and related communication programs to enhance the quality of life for all Village residents." Earlier this year a hostile anti-library slate of candidates seized control of the Niles-Maine District Library board. Their agenda was clear, to defund the library. Joe Makula made explicitly racist comments further illuminating the ideology they are operating upon. This slate consisted of Joe Makula, Stephen Folga, Olivia Hanusiak, and Suzanne Schoenfeldt. They quickly appointed themselves as officers and implemented a plan that has devastated the library and our community. The harm they have already inflicted will take years to undo, if we are lucky. That is why community members have organized the #SaveNilesLibrary campaign. The rally organized over the summer was one of the biggest Niles has ever seen and more will follow. As president of the board, Carolyn Drblik has been the architect of this attack upon our community. Libraries are one of the few places where ANYBODY in our community can find a safe place without having to spend a single penny. This type of institution threatens people with a certain bigoted political outlook. It motivates them to leverage their privileged positions to undermine this form of community support. The Niles-Maine District Library is a cornerstone of our community. It is a rich resource of learning, exploration, and support for our youth. It is one of the reasons people move to Niles. Niles is becoming known for this political attack. Dozens of articles have been written not only in our local news outlets but in places like: Truthout: Right-Wingers Are Taking Over Library Boards to Remove Books on Racism BookRiot: Demolishing Public Libraries From The Inside: Niles Public Library Is A Warning Journal of Oak Park: Palaces for the plunderers Prism: Libraries aren’t neutral ground in the fight for anti-racist education American Libraries: A Conflict of Values ALA Intellectual Freedom Blog: #SaveNilesLibrary Prioritizing the needs of the most vulnerable ensures all needs are met. Right now many people in our community are being systematically marginalized. People are hurting and their voices are being silenced. One such example is the youth. The Niles Youth Community emailed, spoke a public comment, and made a petition to ask for equity, resources, and representation of the Niles-Maine District Library. Many members in the community signed that petition and wrote comments in support. Carolyn Drblik completely ignored these demands of our marginalized community members. It is clear by Carolyn Drblik's antisocial behavior that she has no place on the Community Relations Commission according to the stated mission. This attack has sent a rift throughout our community. I am asking the Community Relations Commission to step in and implement a plan of healing to mitigate the harm imposed upon our community. 1) Remove Carolyn Drblik from your committee immediately. 2) Outreach to the impacted groups (the youth, elders, disabled, all ethnic heritages, LGBTQIA+, workers, etc) and listen to their needs regarding the library. 3) Commit to a newly funded task force that will implement a project to promote, celebrate, and ensure access to the Niles-Maine District Library according to the determination of the outreach. This is an opportunity for Niles to lead by example and show the world how a community looks after their people. As a commission overseeing the social wellness of our community, this is your time to take action. Thank you, :David Sutherland