Board of Trustees

Village of Skokie Board of Trustees Budget Hearing #2 Meeting Minutes April 16, 2026 | 6:15 p.m. Conference Room D & E or Village of Skokie YouTube Channel 5127 Oakton St., Skokie, IL 60077 The Village’s FY27 Proposed Budget and Budget Message, a detailed summary of the budget, are available for review on the Village’s website, www.skokie.org/budget. Annually, the Village Board reviews the budget at four public budget hearings. These hearings are open to the public and also are streamed live and archived on the Village’s YouTube channel. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Tennes. Mayor Tennes asked if there were any objections to Trustee Lissa Levy participating remotely. Hearing none, she confirmed that Trustee Lissa Levy would participate remotely. Roll Call/Declaration of Quorum In attendance: Trustees Lissa Levy, Iverson, Pure Slovin, Schechter, Robinson and Mayor Tennes. Also present was Deputy Corporation Counsel, Barb Mangler, Village Clerk Minal Desai, Village Manager, John Lockerby, Assistant Village Manager Nick Wyatt and Assistant to the Village Manager, Alex Franz. Not in Attendance: Trustee Kimani Levy. Review of Budgets: I. Administration John Lockerby presented the FY27 budget for the Administration Division and highlighted the Strategic Plan and ADA Assessment. Mayor Tennes thanked staff for their work on the Strategic Plan. Trustee Robinson asked about the scope of the ADA Assessment. Nick Wyatt explained that the plan will include two phases with the first being a facility analysis. Trustee Schechter asked about the economic vitality strategy. Mayor Tennes explained that the plan will encompass all of Skokie. Trustee Pure Slovin asked about IT operations. John noted that IT Director, Tomasz Tarasiuk, will explain more during his presentation. II. Human Resources Human Resources Director, Debra Stinson, presented the FY27 Human Resources budget. Mayor Tennes highlighted the accomplishment of staffs 100% compliance of the workplace harassment training. Mayor Tennes asked about police and fire recruitment and any new initiatives to increase recruitment. Debra detailed new initiatives including using existing staff to help share openings. Trustee Iverson asked about recruitment of 639209  non-public safety personnel. Debra noted that the Village is not experiencing any difficulty in recruiting for those positions. Trustee Robinson asked if local universities are being contacted to help with recruitment. Debra and John explained that they are and detailed the extensive outreach that is conducted during recruitment. Trustee Robinson suggested creating a “sense of belonging” to help attract recruits. Trustee Pure Slovin thanked the department for their work and noted that recruitment of police officers is a nationwide issue. Trustee Schechter suggested including the objective from the Fire narrative on equity and inclusion as well as three new objectives. III. Communications and Community Engagement Director of Communications and Community Engagement, Patrick Deignan, and Communications Manager, Meredith Gioia, presented the FY27 Communications budget and highlighted accomplishments from FY26. Mayor Tennes inquired about the pop-up Village Hall. Patrick explained that it is being worked on as part of the strategic plan. The Mayor asked what they thought was the most effect outreach method. Patrick explained the focus groups through the strategic plan were effective in reaching new populations. Trustee Pure Slovin asked how many people engage at the Village booth during events. Patrick explained that it varies by event but is an important part of community engagement. Trustee Robinson asked if users can subscribe to the Village’s events calendar. John explained that staff would follow up. Trustee Iverson noted the success of the website redesign. Trustee Schechter asked about the Village’s relationship with The Record North Shore. Patrick noted the strong relationship. Mayor Tennes thanked staff for their work on the Building Better Skokie webpage and asked how the page is being marketed. Meredith explained that it will be published in The Scoop and the Village’s other communication channels. IV. Information Technology Information Technology (IT) Director, Tomasz Tarasiuk, presented the FY27 IT budget and accomplishments from FY26. Trustee Lissa Levy asked that any AI Assistant has a male voice or allows users to select the voice. Nick explained that this would be done and that the name “Swifty” was chosen to be gender-neutral. Trustee Schechter asked about flock technology and information security. Tomasz explained the data security measures the Village takes. Trustee Iverson asked about invoice processing and if systems exist to detect scams and duplicates. John said that Finance department would research this. V. Board of Fire & Police Commissioners Board of Fire and Police Commission Chair, Will Evans, Human Resources Director, Debra Stinson, and Police Chief, Jesse Barnes, presented the FY27 Board of Fire and Police Commission budget. Mayor Tennes asked how much time it takes a commissioner to review a candidate. Chair Evans replied that it takes about an hour per candidate. Trustee Iverson asked what the top challenge is for getting recruits. Chair Evans explained that there are a number of challenges. Trustee Iverson asked if there is an 639209  element that makes it most difficult for a new hire to succeed. Chief Barnes noted the difficulty and demands of the job. VI. Police Chief, Jesse Barnes, Deputy Chief Denise Franklin, Deputy Chief John Oakley, Communications Director, John Barkhoo, and Management Analyst, Chris Polinski, presented the FY27 Police budget and accomplishments from FY26. Mayor Tennes asked what a specialty vacancy is. Chief Barnes replied that there are a number of specialty positions in the department like detective and evidence technician. Mayor Tennes asked what languages are included in the Next Generation 911 system and if they align with the most common languages in Skokie. John Barkhoo replied that there are 15-20 languages and more are being added. Mayor Tennes asked about the co- responder program. Chief Barnes explained the success of the program. Trustee Pure Slovin asked how many officers are nearing retirement. Chief Barnes explained that there are nine that are age eligible. Trustee Pure Slovin asked about office retention. Chief Barnes explained efforts the department is taking to increase retention. Trustee Pure Slovin asked if full staffing decreases overtime costs. Chief Barnes explained that it does but it is a slow process as officers complete training. Trustee Iverson asked if AI is helping alleviate administrative burdens. Chief Barnes noted that administrative duties are increasing but technology is making improvements. Trustee Iverson asked about training mandates and the burden on staff resources. Chief Barnes explained the large amount of training that Skokie Police Officers do. Trustee Schechter requested the number of hate crimes and complaints. The Mayor noted that it is published annually in the Police Annual Report. John said that he will send the link to the report to the Village Board. Mayor Tennes asked about roll calls in the park. Chief Barnes noted that it is in their engagement plan for the year. VII. Public Works Public Works Director, Patrick Hastings, Assistant Public Works Director, Liz Zimmerman, Director of Engineering, Russ Rietveld, Senior Engineer, Samantha Maximilian, and Operations & Fleet Superintendent, Brad Maggi, presented the FY27 Public Works budget and accomplishments from FY26. Mayor Tennes noted the Village’s financial requests to the state for stormwater funding and reminded the group of the overhead sewer rebate program. Mayor Tennes asked about alley flooding. Patrick explained the progress the department is making to alleviate alley flooding. Russ explained the backyard drainage program. Mayor Tennes commended the department for their work on the lead service line replacement program and noted that funding for the program is a regional issue. Trustee Pure Slovin asked about the Church street bike lane project. Patrick and Russ provided an update on the project. Trustee Pure Slovin asked if the department has seen an increase in overflowing trash bins as a result of switching to once-a-week garbage pickup. Liz Zimmerman noted that that there has not been an increase in the single-family areas and explained the efforts to mitigate overflowing trash in the multifamily areas. Trustee Robinson inquired about the transmission water main analysis. Patrick explained the efforts that are underway to analyze the Village’s 639209  critical infrastructure. Trustee Iverson inquired on the future costs of rehabilitating the transmission main. Patrick explained that funding has been budgeted. Trustee Iverson asked about the performance of the electric vehicles and if there are any difficulties in getting parts. Brad explained the success of the electric vehicles and low maintenance costs. Public Comment David Dalka expressed his support for a new commander in investigations and noted an increase in white collar crime, solicitation to his resident and requested less deputy chiefs. He also commented on Church street, the alley near Jane Stenson, stop signs on Lorel, trees on the expressway and fiber internet to all of Skokie. Adjournment Motion to adjourn 8:45 p.m. Moved: Trustee Robinson Seconded: Trustee Pure Slovin Ayes: Lissa Levy, Iverson, Schechter, Pure Slovin and Robinson Nays: None. Absent: Trustee Kimani Levy. MOTION CARRIED 639209