Human Relations Commission

Human Relations Commission Wednesday, September 27, 2023 6:30pm Location: Village Hall, 5127 Oakton Street – Conference Room D & E (2nd Floor) In Attendance: Commissioners: Anthony Agee, Alexander Chaparro, Sheila Crumrine, David Donegan, Krishna Goyal, Jonathan Lavin, Marcos Levy, Joseph Meyers, Maria Monastero Bueno (chair), Swarupa Pahan, Jeremy Segall, Karen Sherman, James Specker, Trustee Khem Khoeun; Skokie Staff Liaison: Amanda Sabri Not in Attendance: Deborah Arnold (E), Sheryl Bloom Basile (E), Jaili Fajardo, Anwar Haq, Ralph Ruebner (E), Mayha Syed I. Call to Order @ 6: 35 pm II. Introductions & Updates A. New commissioners Joseph Meyers & Anthony Agee introduced themselves, their connection to Skokie and their relation to the work of the Human Relations Commission. Current commissioners, Trustee Khoeun, and Staff Liaison Amanda Sabri also introduced themselves. A community member also introduced herself and her desire to learn more about the commission and possible desire to join the commission in the future. Maria Monastero Bueno provided a brief introduction of Sheryl Bloom Basile, a new commissioner who could not attend tonight’s meeting. III. Approval of Agenda: Agenda approved. IV. Approval of Minutes of June 26, 2023 A. Corrections: Sheila Crumrine requested that VI:A be updated to reflect that during her review of the Onboarding Binders, she highlighted the ordinance on commissioner meeting attendance requirements. Trustee Khoeun requested that VI:B be updated to correct Trustee Keith Robinson’s name and update the third sentence to read as “Trustee Khoeun highlighted that some of the perpetrators of hate bias incidents may be youth, making education and intervention likely a better avenue to address this issue”. B. Jonathan Lavin motioned to approve amended minutes, motion seconded by James Specker. C. Maria Monastero Bueno announced the official resignations of commissioners Daphnee Camelien, Michelle Reitman, and Pearl Rubenzik. V. Committee Rosters & Reports 1 Maria Monastero Bueno introduced the new suggested committee structure. Karen Sherman and Alex Chaparro provided positive feedback regarding the new structure. Maria Monastero Bueno requested that each member sign up for one or two committees and indicate if they are willing to lead the committee. It is the expectation that committees would then meet between this meeting and the next meeting to discuss a plan for programming for the coming year. Maria Monastero Bueno also requested that committees come to meetings prepared with updates for the commissions. Swarupa Pahan requested that 4 th of July Parade Participation be added to a committee. It was determined that it will be added to the Neighbor Engagement Committee. Alex motioned to adopt the new committee structure of Neighbor Engagement Committee, Housing Committee, and Equity and Diversity Committee. Subcommittees to be assigned as needed. Motion seconded by Karen Sherman. A sign-up sheet for committees was utilized at the conclusion of the meeting. A. Neighbor Engagement Committee 1. Block Party Forum: Alex Chaparro provided an overview of the commissions work with Block Parties for new members. He then provided a recap of last year’s successful Block Party Forum. Moving forward, Alex indicated he would like to choose a date as soon as possible to secure the venue and have enough time to promote the event. Alex also discussed the creation of a block party landing page that would contain a tool kit of templates, best practices, links to the block party application, etc. This landing page could then be shared with residents. He is currently working on a draft that he plans to present at the next meeting. Possible dates for the next Block Party Forum were discussed. Alex Chaparro suggested hosting the event at the end of February or beginning of March to catch those who are planning for summer. 2. Block Party Awards, Attendance, Promotion: Maria Monastero Bueno reviewed the Block Party of the Year Award process. Maria also discussed the commission’s support of block parties at multi-unit buildings. Creating a deadline for submission of Block Party of the Year applications was discussed. Currently the application states that it should be submitted “as soon as possible after your block party is held”. Alex Chaparro indicated that a deadline may need to be created in the future to decide on winners in time for a Block Party Forum in February. 3. Know your Neighbor: Karen Sherman provided a brief history on the previous Know your Neighbor program funded by the Chicago Community Trust and the plan of the commission to try to bring back this idea in a different form. James Specker, Alex Chaparro, Sheila Crumrine and Karen Sherman will be meeting to discuss how to engage the community to determine how they would like to see this program brought back. Sheila Crumrine added that they will specifically focusing on multi-unit buildings. James Specker inquired whether selling ad space on the Block Party Forum flyer to relevant retailers, such as a bounce house company, could be a revenue source for the Know Your Neighbor program. B. Housing Committee 1. Housing Subcommittee: Jonathan Lavin reports that he has been assigned to the Housing Subcommittee of the Plan Commission. Their first meeting will be 2  taking place on 10/23/23 and he will provide an update to this committee after the meeting takes place. 2. Fair Housing Ordinance: Maria Monastero Bueno and Karen Sherman provided a history on the commission’s role related to Fair Housing Complaints. Staff Liaison Amanda Sabri suggested the commission could have fair housing information available when it has tables at future events. Alex Chaparro asked if there was a way to find out how many complaints were filed with HUD for Skokie residents and how statistics related to how many were found guilty. C. Equity and Diversity Committee 1. Early Intervention Hate/Bias Incidence: James Specker asked if there were any updates regarding this initiative and if it should be its own committee. Trustee Khem Khoeun provided a brief history of the Proposal for Early Intervention in Hate Crimes for new members of the commission. She also provided an update stating that we are still in the early stages of the conversation with the next step being for Village staff to have conversations with some of the individuals doing this work around the country and resources that were consulted when creating this proposal. It is the hope that these conversations will help determine the role of the Human Relations Commission in this work, wanting to be mindful of everyone’s time and commitments. When the time comes, it will be helpful to identify specific liaisons within the Human Relations Commission. It was determined that at this time, Early Intervention in Hate Crimes will remain under the Equity and Diversity Committee, but that if needed, it can later become its own committee. 2. Black History Month (February): No updates. 3. Unite Against Racism w/ YWCA (April): No updates. 4. Skokie Festival of Cultures (May): Karen Sherman and Krishna Goyal explained that festival organizers are now meeting quarterly instead of monthly. Previously the commission has participated by placing an ad in the printed program or supplying volunteers for the welcome table. However, the paper program is no longer being printed and the festival committee has expressed they prefer only Skokie Park District employees at the welcome table. Committee members will discuss new ways to be involved in the festival this year. 5. Skokie Juneteenth (June): No updates. 6. Skokie Pride (June): No updates. 7. SEED Training: David Donegan provided an update that registration for the next cohorts is due October 6th. There will be two cohorts, one on Monday evenings and one on Wednesday mornings. The class will begin the week of October 16 th. David Donegan will send out the email to commissioners. Amanda Sabri informed members that there may be some spots available in the class through the Village and requested that anyone who is interested please contact Amanda. 8. Additional Programs: Alex Chaparro inquired about possibly adding programing for Hispanic History month. Maria Monastero Bueno suggested that any addition of new programming would be a great thing for the Equity and Diversity Committee to discuss for the next year. 3 VI. Old Items of Business A. Village Seal Redesign: Maria Monastero Bueno gave an overview on the work of the Village Seal Redesign Committee and reports that the committee has received six Requests for Qualifications from individual artists and design firms. The deadline for proposals has been extended to November 17th. VII. Adjourn: James Specker motioned to adjourn, motion seconded by Sheila Crumrine. Next Meeting: Oct 23, 2023, 6:30pm at Village Hall 5127 Oakton Street, Skokie IL. 60077 4