Human Relations Commission

Human Relations Commission Monday, January 22, 2024 6:30pm Location: Village Hall, 5127 Oakton Street – Conference Room D & E (2nd Floor) In Attendance: Commissioners: Anthony Agee, Sheryl Bloom Basile, Alexander Chaparro, Sheila Crumrine (vice-chair), David Donegan, Krishna Goyal, Jonathan Lavin, Marcos Levy, Maria Monastero Bueno (chair), Swarupa Pahan, Jeremy Segall, James Specker, Trustee Khem Khoeun; Skokie Staff Liaison: Amanda Sabri Not in Attendance: Deborah Arnold (E), Joseph Meyers (E), Karen Sherman, Mayha Syed (E) I. Call to Order: 6:30pm II. Approval of Agenda A. Sheryl Bloom Basile motioned to approve the agenda, motion seconded by Krishna Goyal. III. Approval of Minutes of November 27, 2023 A. Commissioners provided amendments to minutes. Sheila Crumrine moved to approve minutes as amended, motion seconded by Jeremy Segall. IV. Committee Reports A. Neighbor Engagement Committee 1. Block Parties a) Block Party Forum: Due to scheduling conflicts and Library room availability, it was decided to move the forum to Monday, March 4. It will be held in the Business & Community Room at the Skokie Library at 6:30pm. Alex Chaparro and the Neighbor Engagement Committee will work with Amanda Sabri on the promotion of this event through Village channels as well as directly to past Block Party hosts. The Block Party of the Year Award winners from 2023 will be invited to be panel speakers at this year’s forum. b) Block Party of the Year Awards: The awards will be presented at the Village Board meeting on Monday, February 5 at 7:30pm. All commissioners who are able are encouraged to attend. 2. Know your Neighbor: a) Commissioners discussed what Know your Neighbor looked like historically. Alex Chaparro proposed promotion of a smaller version of a block party that could take place outside of the summer months, possibly indoors or outdoors, weather permitting. The Neighbor Engagement Committee will work on a template for these types of events that could be put forth to the  community. Amanda Sabri will search for materials from the former Know your Neighbor program and provide them to the committee as a starting point. 3. 4th of July Parade a) It was confirmed that the committee will determine what will be distributed at the parade, prepare materials ahead of the parade, and coordinate with commissioners to determine who can participate. B. Housing Committee Updates 1. Housing Subcommittee a) Jonathan Lavin reported that the Housing Subcommittee met on 1/8/24 and identified several things that they want in regards to Affordable Housing in Skokie: Flexibility, Character, Reasonable Standards, Protect/Conserve. The committee will meet again on 2/12/24. There will be two upcoming sessions for community input where all are encouraged to attend (1/30/24, 6:30-8:30pm @ Oakton Community Center, 1/31/24, 9-11am @ Skokie Library). b) Trustee Khoeun gave update that the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance that failed to pass previously is going to be revisited again by the Village Board in the near future. She provided a history on why the Housing Subcommittee was created and welcomed feedback from commissioners regarding affordable housing in Skokie. 2. Fair Housing Ordinance – no updates. C. Equity and Diversity Committee Updates 1. Early Intervention Hate/Bias Incidents: Trustee Khoeun reported that feedback from the previous meeting was shared with Village Manager. Police will continue to be the only entity taking reports on hate/bias incidents and tracking data at this time. It was discussed that a possible role of the commission would be to hold community trainings. 2. Black History Month: Sheila Crumrine and the committee will start working with community partners in August or September to begin planning for Black History Month programming in 2025. 3. Unite Against Racism w/ YWCA: Sheila Crumrine has reached out to Heather Sweeney, who is the Equity Institute Learning Manager at YWCA and will be coordinating the Unite Against Racism event. Sheila has not heard back from Heather but will begin to coordinate details once communication is established. Swarupa Pahan suggested the commission organizing a pledge and stand against racism independent of the YWCA if we are ultimately unable to coordinate with them. 4. Skokie Festival of Cultures: Krishna Goyal reported that the Festival of Cultures committee voted in December on the theme for the festival passport. She also reported that the event will be the third weekend in May. She will communicate with the committee to see if it is possible for the Human Relations Commission to have a table at the festival. 5. Skokie Juneteenth: Sheila Crumrine reported that Nancy Kim Phillips, Director of Community Engagement at Skokie Library, invited her to a preliminary planning meeting on January 30 regarding a Juneteenth Fair Housing program. The hope is that the Human Relations Commission could play a role in supporting this program.  6. Skokie Pride: Sheila Crumrine reported that the event is set for Sunday, June 23, 1-4 pm and Cassie Schafer of the Skokie Park District has confirmed they have a table secured for the Human Relations Commission. There may or may not be a fee associated with the table registration. Sheila provided a sign-up sheet and requested that commissioners sign-up to be available to help at the Human Relations table on Juneteenth. There was a discussion regarding combining orders of what is handed out at events (pinwheels, flags, bracelets, etc.) in order to buy in bulk. However, it was determined that each event needs separate items and it would be best to purchase separately. It was also suggested that all commissioners could help with assembling pinwheels at a future meeting. 7. SEED Training: David Donegan discussed the transition of SEED being facilitated through Skokie Library to it now being run by Niles Township District for Special Education (NTDSE). He will discuss both promotion as well as recruiting of additional facilitators (currently there are only 4 facilitators) with NTDSE. V. Other Items of Business A. Skokie Police Use of Force Review Board: James Specker inquired whether or not updates from the Skokie Police Use of Force Review Board should be brought to the Human Relation Commission meetings. James is the chair of this board and is appointed for his quadrant. Karen Sherman is also appointed to this board as a representative of the Human Relations Commission. Maria Monastero Bueno confirmed that it would be appropriate to have updates from the Skokie Police Use of Force Review Board provided to the commission. James then explained the process of the board and their structure. B. Maria Monastero Bueno reported that Ralph Ruebner provided the Village with his resignation. Anwar Haq and Jaili Fajardo are also no longer members of the commission. C. Village Seal Redesign: The Village Seal Committee has met several times recently on January 8 and January 22. The committee has met with three women-owned artists/firms, some of whom provided preliminary designs. The committee is now requesting cost estimates, based on the scope of work needed. VI. Adjourn: 8:00pm