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, July 1, 2025 7:00 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Vicki Scaman called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:10 P.M. II. Roll Call Junior Leader Clerk Eva M. Waters called the official roll. Present: 6- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Leving Jacobson, Village Trustee Straw, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Wesley Absent: 1- Eder III. Agenda Approval President Scaman moved the Proclamation Item after the Awards Item. Junior Deputy Clerk Obadiah Cooper took the roll call vote. President Scaman introduced the two junior deputy clerks and presented them each with certificates of competency. It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Wesley, to approve the Agenda as amended. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 6- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Leving Jacobson, Village Trustee Straw, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Wesley NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1- Eder IV. Minutes A. MOT 25-201 A Motion to Approve Minutes from the 6/10/2025 Regular Meeting and 6/17/2025 Regular Meeting of the Village Board. It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Wesley, to approve the Minutes. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. VI. Awards Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 7/17/2025 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 1, 2025 C. ID 25-412 Sergeant Derrick Verge honored with the Police Medal of Valor from Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police Village Manager Kevin Jackson introduced the Item. Police Chief Shatonya Johnson presented the Item and requested a moment of silence. Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police Vice President and Vernon Hills Chief of Police Patrick Kreis presented Sergeant Derrick Verge with the Police Medal of Valor. V. Proclamation B. MOT 25-202 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation for a Day of Remembrance for Tymoteusz Karpowicz President Scaman read the Proclamation into the record. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Commissioner Daniel Pogorzelski accepted the Proclamation and gave remarks and introduced his colleagues in the audience. It was moved by Trustee Enyia, seconded by Trustee Straw, to approve the Proclamation. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. VII. Non-Agenda Public Comment There was no public comment. VIII. Village Manager Reports D. ID 25-420 Review of the Tentative Village Board Meeting Calendars for July, August and September 2025. Manager Jackson presented the updated Board calendars for July, August, and September. A Finance Committee meeting will be scheduled the week of July 28th precedent to the budget kick-off. A second goal-setting meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 3rd. President Scaman said Trustees Taglia, Eder, and Straw will be the Finance Committee. She said there will be public bike plan meetings on July 14 at Carroll Center and July 16 at the Community Recreation Center from 6-8 PM. IX. Village Board Committees There were no reports. X. Citizen Commission Vacancies E. ID 25-426 Board and Commission Vacancy Report for July 1, 2025 There were no reports. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 7/17/2025 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 1, 2025 XI. Citizen Commission Appointments, Reappointments and Chair Appointments F. MOT 25-204 A Motion to Consent to the Village President’s Appointment of: Citizen Involvement Commission - Mark A Dunham Jr, Appoint as Commissioner Environment & Energy Commission - Richard Katz, Appoint as Commissioner President Scaman tabled the appointment of Richard Katz to the Environment & Energy Commission. It was moved by Trustee Wesley, seconded by Trustee Leving Jacobson, that this Motion be approved as amended. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. XII. First Reading G. ID 25-417 A First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 13 (“Human Rights”) of the Oak Park Village Code By Adding A New Article 9 (“Gender Affirming Care”) Aaron McManus: Gender-affirming care is really important and cis people access it more than anyone else. This is not trans sanctuary though it is a good step in that direction. Advocated for a public declaration of the sanctuary status that Oak Park could be. Mika Yamamoto: She was on Governor Pritzker's affirming and inclusive schools task force. Gender-affirming care saves lives and is vital. She implored the Board to see that acknowledgement is only the beginning of the real work. Resident: Trans people deserve to be in all spaces and places. She worries about an ordinance drawing unwarranted attention to the trans community in Oak Park and targeting their safety. This ordinance does not provide additional protections or safety. Manager Jackson introduced the Item and Assistant Village Manager/HR Director Kira Tchang presented the Item. Trustee Enyia said we as a community want to try to do what's best by all of our individuals here in Oak Park to keep people safe and give them the ability to thrive. He said he would like to look at the pieces that were left out to see what we can do and what it would cost. Trustee Leving Jacobson requested a robust listening session with community members on what sanctuary means and what it would require of us. We need to consider folks who are fleeing persecution from other states and coming to our community and if specific protections can be Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 7/17/2025 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 1, 2025 written in for them. The primary thing we can do as a village is supporting mental health care based on what we already have in place. She expressed concern in how what we seek out to do in protecting is undermined by our surveillance technology. Trustee Straw said this is a great first step. He noted the Illinois Lawful Health Care Activity Act provides some protections for providers when data is being sought. He said he wants to see us go further on the path to being a sanctuary village for trans and gender queer individuals and creating a task force is a meaningful step towards that. Trustee Wesley said he supports this ordinance as well as a trans sanctuary ordinance. He echoed the concern that this might draw undue attention to us and he would like to protect against that. Trustee Taglia said this is a good first step for the village and he would like to move ahead with the ordinance as it is and have these discussions. President Scaman said we would like to know how this ordinance would be used to protect someone if there was a violation and then connecting those resources. She recommended continuing to work with Aaron McManus and also engage with PFLAG and our other governmental partners and our Community Mental Health Board. Trustee Wesley asked if we are aware of any other places in the U.S. who have passed a trans sanctuary ordinance that have also come under attack and any efforts they have undertaken to mitigate that. Director Tchang said she would have to do more research and bring that back. President Scaman noted the Village is going through a certification process as a welcoming city to provide a roadmap for continuing to review our ordinances, policies, and procedures. Trustee Wesley said he worries about intersectionality, where folks are naturalized and also members of the trans community. Manager Jackson said it sounds like there is an interest in doing robust community engagement and mobilizing a task force and engaging our Community Relations Commission, which would extend the time a bit in terms of getting something approved. President Scaman recommended engagement with PFLAG to look at what we currently have and bring that forward on a regular timeline of a second reading while we continue to put the additional next steps in place. Manager Jackson said we can do some listening sessions and make those considerations about protecting people's privacies. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 7/17/2025 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 1, 2025 Trustee Straw said he thinks we can continue doing community engagement while moving forward with this ordinance regarding gender-affirming care. XIII. Consent Agenda It was moved by Trustee Wesley, seconded by Trustee Straw, to approve the Consent Agenda. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 6- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Leving Jacobson, Village Trustee Straw, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Wesley NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 1- Eder H. MOT 25-171 A Motion to Approve the March 2025 Monthly Treasurer’s Report for All Funds This Motion was approved. I. MOT 25-186 A Motion to Approve the Unaudited Year-to-Date Quarterly Financial Report as of March 31, 2025 J. RES 25-223 A Resolution Approving an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Village of Oak Park and Oak Park Elementary School District 97 for the Installation of Water Meter Data Collection Equipment on Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Buildings and Authorizing Its Execution K. RES 25-224 Concur with the Housing Programs Advisory Committee and Approve the Resolution Authorizing a Single-Family Housing Rehabilitation Loan (SFR-104) L. RES 25-225 A Resolution Approving a Task Order for Professional Engineering Services with Edwin Hancock Engineering Co. for Design Engineering Services for the 2026 Alley Improvement Project in an Amount Not to Exceed $325,477 and Authorizing its Execution M. RES 25-227 A Resolution Approving a Second Amendment to the Task Order for Professional Engineering Services with Baxter & Woodman, Inc., for Photometric Design Services for Future Street Lighting Improvements to Change the not to Exceed Amount from $59,960 to $70,960 N. RES 25-229 A Resolution Approving a Contract with K-Five Construction Corporation for Project 25-2, Resurfacing of Various Streets, in an Amount not to Exceed $4,418,280, Authorizing its Execution, and Directing Staff to Prepare the Necessary Budget Amendment Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 7/17/2025 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 1, 2025 O. RES 25-230 A Resolution Approving an Amendment to the Task Order with TranSystems Corporation for Construction Engineering Services for the Madison Street Improvement Project to Change the not to Exceed Amount from $512,926 to $562,882 and Authorizing its Execution XIV. Regular Agenda P. ID 25-366 A Presentation on Racial Equity Initiatives Director Tchang introduced the Item and University of Illinois Chicago Great Cities Institute Senior Fellow Dr. Kathleen Yang-Clayton presented the Item. Trustee Taglia asked if there is a community in the U.S. that we should aspire to be. Fellow Yang-Clayton recommended speaking with Manager Jackson about his work in Long Beach, California. She also recommended the Government Alliance for Racial Equity (GARE). Trustee Straw asked what effective community engagement looks like as it pertains to performing racial equity analyses of policies we're considering. Fellow Yang-Clayton said community engagement is baked into local government. Those who have a lot of challenges have a hard time participating. We are trying to focus on some of the internal barriers staff face and how we can make this work internally be more inclusive and transparent and welcoming. Trustee Straw inquired about best practices. Fellow Yang-Clayton said GARE has a step-by-step Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA) guide for staff and leaders of local government. She said her focus is less on the process and more on the implementation of what the assessment is saying. Trustee Leving Jacobson noted the set of insights missing from the data and how that impacted the findings and she inquired about the budget implications for the recommendations. Fellow Yang-Clayton said the missing data is based on the work of the external team and she can get back to her on that. Spending more on internal learning and development comes at a cost but if you don't create those cultures, there are costs there as well. When you have a very strong investment on the people on the inside of the organization, you drive down the consequences of not doing that and you are improving performance. Studies show that making this investment internally really does have budgetary improvements. Trustee Wesley inquired about the lack of policy direction in this report. Fellow Yang-Clayton said this was a needs assessment and their scope of work was not to produce policy recommendations. Broadly speaking it was Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 7/17/2025 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 1, 2025 to assess what is going on internally and externally in the village so this report is more of a roadmap. He said a lot of this report seems to be things we already do here and he would like to know what we do about it. Trustee Wesley noted that at the time of the data collection, we had a majority minority board and he inquired if anyone was interviewed on the Board other than President Scaman. Fellow Yang-Clayton said the scope of work was to focus on community members that are not given a platform or may feel uncomfortable giving their opinions. She said interviewing Board members is a great next step and the Board will be involved in this roadmap construction. He said the Board could have provided a lot of insight on how to go from voiceless to having a voice. Fellow Yang-Clayton said she hears him about how much struggle has gone into being represented and how that leads to opportunities to support institutional change. Trustee Enyia said it is great to have a roadmap but you need to understand the current climate and barriers and what we are changing from. Oak Park wants to be a community that works with other communities that may not have the same resources to get ourselves all on that same level playing field and working toward the same goal. She agreed we need to keep thinking about this as a public good. President Scaman noted she did not know her colleagues were not interviewed and this Board could deepen the depth of the relevance to Oak Park and she thinks that was a missed opportunity. She said she believes this report to be the baseline we needed. The ultimate goal is that more people in the village have a sense of ownership over our community and how we operate and its future. This report starts from a place of truth and recognizing that we have work to do. Director Tchang provided additional information. Trustee Wesley said we have to move faster. The data was collected in 2023 and now a racial policy audit is going to take six months. If we want to build that trust with the community, we have to show action and show it quicker. He asked if items could be brought to the Board on an ongoing basis rather than all being combined and brought to the Board six months later. Manager Jackson confirmed that can be done. It was moved by Trustee Wesley, seconded by Trustee Straw, to extend the meeting past 10:00 P.M. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Trustee Wesley said we are stuck in a loop of acknowledging racism, talking about doing things, doing something small, and the next Board does the same. If we want to build trust with the community, he said he wants to Village of Oak Park Page 7 Printed on 7/17/2025 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 1, 2025 see more work and he finds it quite frustrating. Manager Jackson asked if he wanted to see anything in particular. Trustee Wesley said he would like to see that anytime we engage someone around this topic that we do not have to wait until the end of that engagement before we understand what the action items might be. Manager Jackson said ideally we would have had a policy audit that happened concurrently with the assessment but they didn't due to a lack of capacity for what we were facing in 2023. We would like to have a strategic action plan that reflects what is left to do. Trustee Wesley agreed and said he would like for there to be less work left when he leaves this Board. President Scaman said she agrees with the report noted there have been Boards that self-destructed over arguments about what systems of oppression means and that Oak Park has done enough. This work will set us up for a more sustainable and successful review of zoning and housing and those other things. Without this capacity-building internally, she fears we would not get this same end product. She hears from the community that our white ways of doing things slower is frustrating to black communities. If we are going to be more inclusive, we need to be more comfortable with changing our ways. Trustee Wesley noted that white people aren't impacted by racism so there is no urgency. The problem is the system and we are the system and we can tear it up and recreate it if we desire to. We should find the things that are broken and fix them so everyone can benefit in the same way. Trustee Straw noted the Board got an exclusionary zoning report two years ago and it feels like progress toward that goal is very slow. Sometimes we are so focused on the perfect replacement for the broken system instead of putting something good in its place and then iterating and making it better. Manager Jackson noted the funding for the missing middle zoning analysis was adopted in the FY25 budget and the housing study was presented in the spring of 2024. Trustee Straw said he would love to see a dashboard and measurement of our progress over time to see how we are advancing our policies on creating a sense of belonging in our community and how we are actionably impacting peoples' lives. Trustee Wesley noted the sense of belonging is one of the questions on our bi-annual survey so we do have baseline data going back several years where we can trace that. Trustee Leving Jacobson asked if there is a mechanism to ask follow-up questions to respondents who say they do not feel any sense of belonging. Director Tchang said as we use the Engage Oak Park tool and other Village of Oak Park Page 8 Printed on 7/17/2025 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes July 1, 2025 methods for soliciting feedback, having some key indicators for follow-up is a good point. Fellow Yang-Clayton said the process change and institutionalizing the follow-up and feedback loops that get integrated into the everyday practices of our local government is critical but it is beyond the scope of this project. She cautioned that when you burn something down, you still want to build something inclusive in its place. She said she will find out if it is still possible to follow up with respondents or if the data was anonymous. XV. Call to Board and Clerk Deputy Clerk Hansen noted there is a Black Maternal Health event on July 23. Details will be forthcoming. Trustee Enyia thanked Officer Verge and the groups that are working on drafting the ordinance to make Oak Park a sanctuary and safe space for everyone. Trustee Taglia wished the community a happy Independence Day. President Scaman expressed her condolences to the family of the former trustee (1977-1981) who passed away. The Fourth of July parade is this Saturday. XVI. 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 at 10:38 P.M., Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Respectfully submitted, Deputy Clerk Hansen Village of Oak Park Page 9 Printed on 7/17/2025