President and Board of Trustees

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes President and Board of Trustees Monday, January 12, 2015 6:30 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order President Abu-Taleb called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 6- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Salzman, Village Trustee Tucker, and Village President Abu-Taleb Absent: 1- Village Trustee Ott III. Consideration of Motion to Adjourn to Executive Session to Discuss Litigation and Setting the Price of a Lease in Conference Room 130. It was moved by Trustee Brewer and seconded by Trustee Barber to enter into Executive Session pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21) – discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed under the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11) - litigation, and 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(6) - setting of a price for lease of property, in Room 130. AYES: 6- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Salzman, Village Trustee Tucker, and Village President Abu-Taleb NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1- Village Trustee Ott V. Reconvene to Special Meeting in Room 101 and Call to Order The Special Meeting reconvened at 7:35 P.M. in Council Chambers. VI. Roll Call Present: 7- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Ott, Village Trustee Salzman, Village Trustee Tucker, and Village President Abu-Taleb Absent: 0 VII. Agenda Approval It was moved by Trustee Tucker and seconded by Trustee Brewer to approve the agenda for the meeting. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. VIII. Non-Agenda Public Comment There was no non-agenda public comment. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 2/3/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 12, 2015 IX. Regular Agenda A. ID 15-029 Presentation and Discussion of the Fair Housing Task Force Report. President Abu-Taleb thanked all who served on the committee for their work. Village Manager Cara Pavlicek gave an overview. The Village receives funds from the Federal government that are for several specific uses, including housing. There is a process in place to determine how those funds are allocated for the private not-for-profit sector as well as some Village uses. As a recipient of those funds, the Village is required to certify that they are furthering fair housing as a government. One of the responsibilities in the furtherance of fair housing is to conduct an analysis of impediments to fair housing on a routine basis. The results of the most recent analysis included issues that caused some concern. The Village Board established the Fair Housing Task Force as a result of these concerns. This committee held meetings approximately twice per month from March through November of 2014 and referred to the Village's Fair Housing Ordinance and Diversity Statement to develop the recommendations that will be discussed. The Board is not expected to take any action tonight, but staff would like a timetable as to a future agenda for formal adoption of all or some of these recommendations. John Murtagh. Mr. Murtagh, a member of the Fair Housing Task Force, expressed concern that no proof of discrimination or any other specifics were released to the committee from HOPE,the entity that conducted the analysis. Joi Cregler of the Fair Housing Task Force gave a presentation summarizing the recommendations of the committee. She noted that they were asked not to do a detailed investigation of the allegations in the HOPE report, but to make recommendations as to what can be done to prevent discrimination in the future. They were asked to focus on enforcement, community education and the housing related agencies in Oak Park. Their recommendations for enforcement include: - A point person designated and overseen by the Village Manager to implement fair housing enforcement and education. - Routine testing that includes both random and targeted at those suspected of violating fair housing law. - Review and update all Village ordinances and policies, using the Model Fair Housing Ordinance and Cook County Fair Housing Ordinance as examples. - Using the above as examples, establish guidelines and penalties imposed upon property owners for fair housing violations. - Continue to emphasize conciliation in the Village enforcement process. Recommendations for community education are: - Review and update Village sponsored fair housing educational programs and Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 2/3/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 12, 2015 create a testing component to these programs. - Establish a fair housing collaboration that includes representatives from the landlord/realty community and housing agency partners and Village staff. - Conduct a Village-wide outreach and marketing campaign on fair housing. - Re-institute the services provided by the Community Relations Department for community education via block parties and in the form of new resident welcome packets. - In connection with these recommendations, the Village Manager should review and make recommendations regarding increasing the staff of the Community Relations Department - Prepare and provide a summary of the Village's Fair Housing Ordinance to landlords to be used with applications for housing in Oak Park. Recommendations for oversight of housing-related agencies in Oak Park are: - Establish regular meetings with these agencies together with the Community Relations Director and the Neighborhood Services Manager. - Review the current scope of services and funding amounts of these agencies to determine whether any updates or revisions be made to address fair housing concerns and the Village's commitment to promote diversity. In addition, the committee wanted to highlight the importance of affordable housing and providing fair housing opportunities to residents of the community. They would like local organizations, industry groups and multi-family property owners to develop, sustain and promote affordable housing for low and moderate income residents of the community, who are disproportionately members of protected classes under the Federal Fair Housing Law. Trustee Tucker, a member of the Task Force, stated that six complaints were filed by HOPE based on the work they did for the Village. One case, which was based on improper handling of testers who were hard of hearing, had a favorable resolution for the landlord as it was simply a matter of equipment failure. The other five cases are moving forward in HUD's dual track process in seeking conciliation and investigation. It is important to note that two of those five cases have settled with an admission of wrongdoing. HOPE will monitor for continued compliance. He also thanked the other committee members as well as staff and Trustee Brewer, who chaired the Task Force. Trustee Salzman raised the subject of an adjudication process for those who violate the ordinance. Trustee Ott commented that these issues were once resolved through a conciliation process through the Community Relations Commission rather than an adjudication process. There was a discussion regarding increasing the Community Relations Department staff and duties, as well as training for the Community Relations Commission, should they start presiding over the hearing process. Village Manager Pavlicek added that the conciliation process will help a prospective resident who has been prohibited from renting a property that they have chosen to rent get into that property so that they are not a victim of Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 2/3/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 12, 2015 discrimination. Many of the State and Federal processes correct that for future incidents of discrimination but do nothing to help get that person into the housing that they were legally entitled to rent. Trustee Lueck thanked the committee and looked at this as a positive objective for Oak Park. As a next step, she suggested that staff come back with a work plan that would list which recommendations can be accomplished within three to six months and would only be the cost of staff time, followed by those that are targeted for six months to a year and would require additional funding or changes in how things are funded, then the recommendations that are even longer term than that. She asked why none of the HOPE report recommendations were included. Trustee Brewer noted that they did look at their recommendations and what the committee came up with does include some of those; however the language may be different. Trustee Lueck also noted that there are issues related to affordability in the report and that there's an intersection between diversity and affordability. She wanted to know how the Village collectively thinks about housing, diversity, affordabiltiy and other measures of diversity in Oak Park as they move forward to make sure that people are not being discriminated against for housing. She briefly discussed other ways to measure diversity. Trustee Barber thanked the committee and spoke highly of the report. He noted, however, that there should be penalties in place when conciliation fails. It needs to be recognized that for many of the people who are going to experience this, the conciliation will probably come too late to remedy their particular situation. Trustee Ott wanted to see proactive communication to the public regarding what discrimination is and what the Village is going to do to help if someone is discriminated against. In regards to Trustee Lueck's comment regarding other areas of discrimination, Trustee Brewer stated that the Analysis for Impediments to Fair Housing Choice lists information that could be valuable in determining the diversity of Oak Park in areas other than housing. He added that there is some understanding that staff would like to mix in some of the items included there. He thanked his colleagues on the Board who also served on the Task Force as well as the other members and staff. President Abu-Taleb thanked Trustee Tucker for recommending that this committee be formed. He added that the Village still has a lot of work to do but is going in the right direction. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 2/3/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 12, 2015 Trustee Ott noted that Oak Park is one of the best models for fair housing in the nation and that this plan moving forward will help ensure that they maintain being that leader in fair housing. She added that she was proud to serve on the committee. Trustee Brewer added that when Oak Park adopted its Fair Housing Ordinance, they were leaders in a movement to end segregation and discrimination in housing. The work of the Task Force shows that Oak Park is still willing to be a leader in the areas of fair housing and fair housing enforcement. XI Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 8:46 P.M., Monday, January 12, 2015. It was moved by Village Trustee Barber, seconded by Village Trustee Brewer to adjourn the meeting. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 2/3/2015