Community Relations Commission

1 Minutes of a Meeting of the 2 Community Relations Commission 3 Northbrook, IL 4 Thursday, February 9, 2017, 7:00pm 5 6 Present: Chairman Bruce Doughty, Commissioners Christine Beeftink, Elliot Bruckman, 7 Jason Han, Mary Hansen, Sharon Latek, Helena Osorio and Grace Seo. 8 9 Representatives: Representatives Alice Lonoff, Ron Mantegna, John Martin and Nancy Stoddard. 10 11 Absent: Commissioner Dr. Rochelle Singer. 12 13 Others: Village Staff Liaison Erik Jensen, Josselyn Center Executive Director Susan Resko, 14 Members of the Public Jennifer Linton and Emily McGinnis. 15 16 Welcome 17 Chairman Doughty called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Civic Room at Northbrook Public 18 Library. 19 20 Hear from the Audience 21 Chairman Doughty recognized Ms. Linton and Ms. McGinnis. 22 23 Ms. Linton and Ms. McGinnis introduced themselves and stated they had come to the Commission to 24 speak about a beautification project for the Cherry Lane Underpass. Ms. Linton overviewed the project. 25 26 Representative Stoddard asked if they were looking to create a community art project. 27 28 Commissioner Seo joined the meeting at 7:03. 29 30 Ms. Linton confirmed. 31 32 Representative Lonoff asked if they had reached out to the Arts Commission. 33 34 Ms. Linton confirmed that they would be. 35 36 Chairman Doughty suggested that Ms. Linton and Ms. McGinnis speak further with Liaison Jensen and 37 suggested they also reach out to Chris Laughlin, the Arts Commission Chair. 38 39 Ms. Linton and Ms. McGinnis thanked the Commission for its time and exited at 7:07. 40 41 Review and Approval of the January 12, 2017 Regular Meeting Minutes 42 Revisions were noted as follows: 43 44 Lines 45: Insert the word “made” 45 Line 143: Insert an apostrophe for Farmers’ Market 46 Line 241: “Commission’s Youth Members” 47 48 A motion was made by Commissioner Hansen, seconded by Commissioner Bruckman, to approve the 49 meeting minutes as amended. On a voice vote, all aye. 50 51 Review and Approval of the August 16, 2016 Celebration of Cultures Subcommittee Minutes 52 Revisions were noted as follows: 53 54 Line 22: Correct the spelling to “film” 55 Line 35: Strike the line 56 Line 59: Insert “the” 57 Line 66: Change “festival” to “faire” 58 59 A motion was made by Commissioner Hansen, seconded by Commissioner Han, to approve the meeting 60 minutes as amended. On a voice vote, all aye. 61 62 Review and Approval of the December 28, 2016 Celebration of Cultures Subcommittee Minutes 63 Revisions were noted as follows: 64 65 Correct the date of the minutes to reflect “December 28, 2016” 66 67 A motion was made by Commissioner Han, seconded by Commissioner Bruckman, to approve the 68 meeting minutes as amended. On a voice vote, all aye. 69 70 Review and Approval of the September 15, 2016 Northbrook Cares Subcommittee Minutes 71 A revisions was noted as follows: 72 73 Line 33: Correct Spelling of Nancy Vaccaro’s Name 74 75 A motion was made by Commissioner Bruckman, seconded by Commissioner Hansen, to approve the 76 meeting minutes as amended. On a voice vote, all aye. 77 78 Village Update 79 80 Liaison Jensen asked Commission to modify the agenda to allow the Community Presentation to be 81 done first as Ms. Resko had already set up her presentation and both Ms. Resko and he would also be 82 using the same AV equipment. The Commission agreed. 83 84 Community Presentation 85 86 Chairman Doughty welcomed Ms. Susan Resko, Executive Director of the Josselyn Center. 87 88 Ms. Resko thanked the Commission for the opportunity to present and gave a brief overview of the 89 Josselyn Center. She then showed a short film overviewing the Center’s services. 90 91 Ms. Resko then discussed the need within the community for mental health services and the breadth of 92 different services the Center can provide. She concluded by discussing improvements the Center would 93 be exploring in the near future. 94 95 Representative Mantegna asked about the age ranges of the Center’s clients. 2  96 97 Ms. Resko stated that 25 to 30% are children (under 18), and the rest are adults of any age. 98 99 Representative Mantegna asked how clients reach the Center. 100 101 Ms. Resko stated there are a variety of ways, including referrals from hospitals. 102 103 Representative Mantegna asked what the Center needs in terms of support from the Village. 104 105 Ms. Resko explained that community support is a key part of providing services. 106 107 Commissioner Han asked about the Center’s service area. 108 109 Ms. Resko explained that it covers many portions of northern Cook and Lake Counties. 110 111 Commissioner Beeftink asked if there was a wait list for on-going care. 112 113 Ms. Resko stated there was not. 114 115 Representative Stoddard asked about the Center’s staff and volunteer size. 116 117 Ms. Resko stated it has roughly 30 employees at this time. Ms. Resko then explained how volunteering 118 works at the Center including the “Josselyn Champions” program, which provides psychiatric services for 119 low-income children. 120 121 A brief conversation was held by Commissioner Han and Ms. Resko on Cook County Jail and the 122 relationship between mental health and antisocial behavior. 123 124 Chairman Doughty thanked Ms. Resko for presenting. 125 126 Village Update 127 128 Liaison Jensen discussed the Village’s budget cycle and the relationship between the State’s budget 129 crisis and local government revenues. 130 131 Liaison Jensen updated the group on the Village’s website project. 132 133 Finally, Liaison Jensen shared some information from President Frum’s State of the Village address with 134 the group. 135 136 Update on Activities 137 138 1. Northbrook Cares 139 140 Chairman Doughty overviewed the recent website design session the Northbrook Cares 141 Subcommittee held for the website project. He stated there would a future Subcommittee 142 meeting to discuss the first round of templates given to the Subcommittee to consider. 3 143 Chairman Doughty then overviewed the Text-A-Tip program implementation and stated the 144 program was now live at Glenbrook North. He discussed that the program would soon be 145 launching in local middle schools. 146 147 2. Celebration of Cultures 148 149 Commissioner Han overviewed the status of the planning for the Celebration of Cultures and 150 stated that a full Subcommittee meeting would be held on Monday, February 13 to continue 151 planning and logistics efforts. 152 153 Commissioner Han discussed some of the groups that would be participating and stated that a 154 new coordinator had been recruited for the Russian station. 155 156 Chairman Doughty briefly explained the film festival component that would be included in the 157 broader umbrella of the Celebration of Cultures this year. 158 159 Commissioner Han discussed the recent marketing meeting held between the Subcommittee, 160 Northbrook Public Library and the North Suburban YMCA and the outcomes from the 161 meeting. 162 163 Representative Mantegna asked if anyone on the Commission would be interested in 164 showcasing some cultural artifacts for display at the Library for the month of April. 165 166 Chairman Doughty asked when the films for the film festival would be shown. 167 168 Commission Han stated throughout the month of April on Wednesdays. 169 170 Representative Martin asked if the Film Festival and Faire would be co-branded. 171 172 Commissioner Han confirmed they would be. 173 174 Representative Lonoff asked for some examples of artifacts that could be displayed in the 175 Library cases. 176 177 Representative Mantegna stated smaller items, like a rug or doll, could be included. 178 179 3. Welcome to Northbrook/Flamingo Fridays 180 181 Commissioner Bruckman stated that the Welcome to Northbrook/Flamingo Friday event 182 would be held on Friday, May 19 from 5:30 to 7:30pm at Village Hall. He noted that the 183 Subcommittee had opted to extend the time for the event. 184 185 Commissioner Bruckman stated new organizations, like the Youth Commission, would be 186 invited to participate this year. 187 188 Commissioner Hansen discussed new focuses for this year including a social media campaign 189 and outreach to condominium owners. 190 4 191 Commissioner Osorio suggested different ways the outreach campaign could be done. 192 193 News from the Schools 194 195 Commissioner Latek stated that District 30 was currently doing parent-teacher conferences. She 196 discussed the valentines for seniors and veterans program her class was participating in. 197 198 Representative Martin stated the St. Norbert’s annual Daddy-Daughter dance would be held on 199 Saturday, February 25. He also stated two St. Norbert’s students were winners in the VFW Patriot 200 Pen program. 201 202 Chairman Doughty stated that the District 225 Variety Show would be held during the last week in 203 February. He stated that Commissioner Bruckman would be performing again this year. 204 205 Chairman Doughty stated that District 225 was reviewing its busing contract and that the Board of 206 Education was discussing methods for containing insurance costs. 207 208 News from the Northbrook Clergy Association 209 210 Commissioner Hansen reviewed the most recent Clergy Association meeting and stated that Dr. 211 Mike Riggle, the District 225 Superintendent, had joined the Association for a conversation on 212 civility and how to give students a moral compass. 213 214 Old Business 215 216 There was no old business. 217 218 New Business 219 220 1. Budget Update 221 222 Liaison Jensen discussed the latest budget report. He stated that the only new expenses in 223 January came from the Northbrook Cares website design session held at the January 11 224 Subcommittee Meeting. 225 226 2. One Community, One Book 227 228 Commissioner Beeftink reviewed her previous conversations with Library Director Kate Hall. 229 She stated that she had received a list of about a dozen potential books for the program and 230 was pleased with the selection the Library had presented. She then shared the list with the 231 group and asked if anyone would be interested in joining a subcommittee. 232 233 Commissioners Hansen and Seo expressed interest. Commissioner Beeftink stated a meeting 234 would be scheduled in the near future. 235 236 3. Collaborations with Other Commissions 237 5 238 Chairman Doughty reviewed the presentation given by Carla Slawson-Martens, the Youth 239 Commission Chair, at the last regular Commission meeting. He reminded the group of the 240 upcoming Institute for Civility presentation being hosted by the Youth Commission. 241 242 Chairman Doughty stated that he would be reaching out to the Senior Services Commission 243 for potential future collaboration on a Northbrook Cares expansion to cover seniors. 244 245 Eyes and Ears on the Street 246 247 Chairman Doughty asked Commissioner Osorio for an update on podcasting and social media. 248 249 Commissioner Osorio mentioned that the Welcome to Northbrook Subcommittee was planning on 250 doing a social media campaign and reiterated how hashtags could be used as part of the 251 campaign. 252 253 Commissioner Osorio then overviewed her research to date on creating a podcast and an 254 enhanced social media presence. 255 256 Chairman Doughty asked for an update on different ways the Commission could use new 257 technology at the next meeting. 258 259 Representative Mantegna stated the 61st annual pancake festival would be held at Village 260 Presbyterian Church on Saturday, March 4 from 7:30am to 2pm. 261 262 Representative Lonoff thanked everyone for getting the word out on the MLK Jr. Day of Service. 263 264 Commissioner Hansen let the group know that a Rally for Kindness was tentatively scheduled for 265 Sunday, March 5 at 3pm at Greenbriar School. 266 267 Next Meeting Date 268 269 Chairman Doughty reminded the group that the next meeting would be held on Thursday, March 270 2. 271 272 Adjournment 273 274 A motion was made by Commissioner Hansen, seconded by Commissioner Han, to adjourn the 275 meeting. On a voice vote, all aye. 276 277 The meeting closed at 8:45pm. 278 279 Respectfully submitted, 280 281 282 283 Erik Jensen 284 Staff Liaison 6