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 Tuesday, October 10, 2023 8:30 PM Room 201 I. Call to Order Village President Vicki Scaman called the Special Meeting to order at 9:06 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley Absent: 0 III. Agenda Approval President Scaman requested to move the Proclamation in Honor of John Troelstrup after Agenda Approval. It was moved by Trustee Enyia, seconded by Trustee Wesley, to approve the Agenda as amended. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. D. MOT 23-96 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation In Honor of John Troelstrup. President Scaman read the Proclamation into the record. Former Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb and Retired Village Clerk Sandra Sokol made remarks. The Village Board took a recess from 9:23 P.M. to 9:32 P.M. to converse with the family in attendance. It was moved by Village Trustee Enyia, seconded by Village Trustee Wesley, that this Motion be approved. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 IV. Non-Agenda Public Comment Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 10/31/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes October 10, 2023 John Bergholz: Resident of 30 years. Opposes the Village's plans to accept $150K from the state to house illegal aliens and apply for a $7.5 million federal grant. The plan is not fair to Oak Park taxpayers. The Board's duty is to serve the citizens of this Village and they are not doing the job they were elected to do. Turn down the money. V. Proclamation A. MOT 23-89 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation Proclaiming October 2023 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month Trustee Buchanan read the Proclamation into the record. President Scaman said Sarah's Inn does an amazing job and the Village is lucky to have the organization serving our community. It was moved by Trustee Wesley, seconded by Trustee Straw, that this Motion be approved. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 B. MOT 23-90 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation Proclaiming October 9, 2023 as Indigenous Peoples Day Trustee Robinson read the Proclamation into the record. President Scaman thanked Chief DEI Officer Dr. Danielle Walker. It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Straw, that this Motion be approved. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 C. MOT 23-92 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation Proclaiming October 7, 2023 as Ageism Awareness Day Trustee Straw read the Proclamation into the record. It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Wesley, that this Motion be approved. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 10/31/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes October 10, 2023 NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 VI. Regular Agenda E. ID 23-446 Presentation and Discussion on a Referendum Question for the March 19, 2024 Primary Election Ballot Regarding Whether the Village of Oak Park Should Adopt Ranked Choice Voting to Elect the Village President, Village Trustees and the Village Clerk Village Manager Kevin Jackson introduced the Item. Village Attorney Paul Stephanides presented the Item. It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Buchanan, to continue the meeting past 10:00 P.M. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Community member Joshua Klayman gave a presentation in support of ranked choice voting (RCV). Trustee Straw said he is a big proponent of RCV and thinks Oak Park can and should lead. It is not a solution in search of a problem. He shared his personal experience campaigning. He said his one concern is Cook County's ability to administer a RCV election. Attorney Stephanides clarified the Village Board would have to adopt an ordinance to put the referendum question on the ballot. The referendum is currently drafted as binding but could be changed to advisory. Early voting can take place at any of the county's 54 early voting sites though it is unknown if the county would set up separate booths for Oak Park voters. Trustee Robinson said that calls into serious question whether RCV would eliminate the early voting option for Oak Park voters. Attorney Stephanides added it could raise some legal issues and RCV could be prohibited statewide based on the task force's findings, which would supersede the Village's home rule authority. Trustee Robinson said she thinks it makes sense to wait and see what the task force finds and what the state decides. She said she has significant concerns about confusion of the nine-point referendum and possibly eliminating an entire voting period for Oak Park voters. She noted that complex voting protocols can be a form of disenfranchisement and she does not see RCV providing a solution for contentious elections. FairVote Illinois Statewide Organizer Rebecca Williams said she does not see an issue with early voting because Oak Park residents would receive Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 10/31/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes October 10, 2023 an Oak Park ballot. President Scaman noted that different equipment and booths would be necessary. Organizer Williams said she believes it is a simple software upgrade that would not require separate machines and she will confirm that with their policy expert. She said if the state decides to allow it statewide, all counties need to be RCV ready. It will be a large undertaking that will cost money and require some counties to upgrade their equipment or software. For Oak Park, Cook County uses Dominion machines that would need a simple software upgrade. She said FairVote Illinois chose Oak Park because local groups came to them. The nine-point referendum is lengthy because they want to make sure it is legally sound and people are understanding what they are voting on. It is similar to Evanston's referendum and FairVote Illinois would be doing a broad outreach campaign to voters. Trustee Buchanan said she fully supports this referendum because the benefits far outweigh the negatives and she is a proponent of moving forward. Trustee Parakkat said he supports RCV and moving forward because he sees the point of making better use of the data collected from voters and because we are changing how our democracy is dealt in the community. He said the state's decision does not have implications in the decisions the Village Board makes. Attorney Stephanides noted it is not known what the County will do if the state adopts RCV or who will pay for it. President Scaman said she is not in support and doesn't understand the rush. It is an unfunded mandate on Cook County. If it weren't an issue, Evanston wouldn't be seeing the challenges they are today and their process is simpler than ours. It's a big ask for Cook County to change software for one community, especially for early voting. She said she favors Oak Park pushing for change but we can see change coming. The difference in waiting from 2025 to 2027 is worth it to her to understand if there is something we need or if the County is going to need the funding. She said she doesn't anticipate the next Village Board election being nearly as contentious. She said her no vote is about it being a big deal to change our voting system and she does not intend to find the dollars if the Governor is going to be right behind us with the funding. Because Oak Park likes to be a leader, we sometimes find ourselves losing out on funding sources that come with the change. Oak Park is not needed to make this happen. It is coming with proper education and equipment and with the power of the Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 10/31/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes October 10, 2023 state leading it. She said she does not want to vote 15 days ahead of the Governor's decision and burn that bridge. Trustee Wesley said our elected officials regardless of body are entrusted with our democracy regardless of scale. Anything that contributes to voter confusion contributes to the erosion of our democracy and we need to undertake those things very seriously with a great deal of care and preparation. He said he would like to know what the task force is going to say and if there will be funding for education, marketing, and awareness. He noted the elections would change for only one of Oak Park's six governments. He said he worries that all of the partners support RCV. Both sides should be providing education. He said he doesn't feel comfortable making changes to democracy on the 26% who vote in a primary election when we can wait to get 71% participation in the general election and still make the 2025 election date. There is no downside to waiting for the state where we would have a lot more information, potentially more funding, and more voters making the decision. He said he is a proponent of RCV, especially at the state level. President Scaman agreed with Trustee Wesley's reasoning. Organizer Williams said extensive polling has been done and the majority of voters in other cities said RCV was simple to use. She said they are committed to ensuring it goes well. She noted it would be more of a rush to take it from the November 2024 election to implementation in April 2025. Trustee Wesley said he thinks the vote for the referendum is as important as its implementation. Mr. Klayman said a ballot referendum would increase voter turnout in a primary election. He noted that although general elections have higher turnout, their attention is focused on the presidential races. It will be even more onerous on Cook County if they only have a few months to implement. If it is postponed again, it will be like starting over again for the Village Board. Trustee Wesley said he thinks it is more important to have more people weigh in than it is to implement in 2025. He said he feels Oak Park's current "pick 3" system offers many of the same benefits. Mr. Klayman said many of the jurisdictions that do RCV have a mixed ballot with single and multiple races. The ballot already has two kinds of systems where you vote for one for Clerk and President and vote for three for Trustee. President Scaman said that is not accurate. Trustee Wesley said the ballot would have pick one, pick three at large, and pick three RCV and that would be different than the other five governments in Oak Park. Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 10/31/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes October 10, 2023 President Scaman disagreed that the County couldn't turn it around quickly if it was a November election for the following April because the County would start to take action in March when the Governor comes back with a response. She noted there was no one in the audience this evening. She said she doesn't think the Village Board is taking a risk except for making a decision where the burden to potentially have to battle the County is one they are not taking. Trustee Parakkat said he does not think the level of voter turnout is a disqualifying factor for any decision we are making. He said we all have a responsibility to educate and vote in favor of RCV and he has not heard anyone say they don't believe RCV is a good model. He said it is easier to get it on the ballot now and give a longer implementation cycle to April 2025. He noted this came to the Village Board a year ago and nothing has been done about it. If we agree it is a superior system, let's do it. President Scaman said she has spoken with the Mayor of Evanston and they are having to put considerable energy into making it as easy as they can for the County so the burden is on them. The Village has a lot it is trying to get done and we do not want to keep dividing ourselves, our time, and our agenda and keep moving things like climate change and Vision Zero. Trustee Enyia shared his professional experience with the challenges of introducing something new to people. He said RCV creates confusion by giving different types of multiple choices on the same ballot and asking people to think about voting differently. We don't want to set up residents for failure or set them back about feeling confident. He said he has not gotten enough feedback and agrees with partnering with organizations to have more dialogue with residents and go at the speed that allows everyone to be brought along. He said he thinks we are doing the right thing but he wants to see more engagement before we change the way Oak Park residents are going to be voting. Trustee Straw noted the task force will make recommendations to be implemented for the 2028 presidential primary elections. The only thing that would speed implementation by Cook County would be for the Village Board to do something so it would have two municipalities doing RCV. He said it is simple to distribute paper ballots to the early voting sites. He said he doesn't think the task force's recommendations are going to have any bearing on the Village Board's decision on whether to implement in 2025 or whether March or November is better. He said he is confident folks can educate Oak Park voters in five months to understand RCV than the County can deploy the technology and procedures necessary to implement RCV in five months, which leans in favor of March as opposed Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 10/31/2023 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes October 10, 2023 to November. If the Village Board is not doing the referendum on the March ballot, it means we are making a decision that we will not be implementing for 2025 and 2027 would be the earliest elections where we would be implementing RCV. Trustee Wesley said he is fine with that and noted the Village Board convened a community task force to discuss whether or not to upgrade or tear down Village Hall. We need to prioritize getting as many people to vote on something that changes the way democracy works in this Village. The outcome of the task force will give us an indication of what the state is going to do and whether Oak Park will get the green light or join Evanston in fighting the state. He said he is okay with delaying until 2027 because elections have been run this way for decades. RCV will not materially change the fairness of our elections to such a degree that we have to rush such a major decision. President Scaman clarified that RCV is not available to Oak Park's other governing bodies because they are not home rule. She said she doesn't think we are taking a risk in waiting and improving our chances that the implementation is not an additional unnecessary burden on us as a municipality. She said this community takes a lot of ownership over its form of government and noted that residents banned together in 1952 to change from a strong mayor form of government to a village manager form of government. Manager Jackson confirmed that the recommendation from the majority of Trustees is to wait for Governor Pritzker's response. VII. Adjourn It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Wesley, to Adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 at 11:33 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Deputy Clerk Hansen Village of Oak Park Page 7 Printed on 10/31/2023