Community Relations Commission

Community Relations Commission Meeting Wednesday, February 3, 2021 7:00 – 8:30 pm Virtual Meeting I. Call to Order 7:06 pm II. Welcome everyone III. Roll Call – Present: Colleen Attwell, Katie Sivak, Saleha Jawaid, Larniecia Smith, Jennifer Sever, Rachel Bautista, Kay Frederick, Krista Selvey, Laura Peccarelli and Tony Asta. Absent: Erica Nelson. Welcome to new member Laura Peccarelli. Member Kristen Santiago will be leaving the commission. We had one additional applicant, Judy Beavers, but she lives in Winfield therefore couldn’t join the commission. IV. Approval of Minutes – Kay made a motion to approve January minutes. Krista seconded the motion. All members approved the motion. V. Old Business a. Committee Updates – i. Strategy/Planning Update – Meeting with Erica Bray Parker was held to discuss alignment with Council/City goals. Sharon Barrett-Hagen is our official liaison and we will engage with her even more. Potential meeting with Mike Duggan to continue progress. Would like to present at Council meeting if possible. ii. Black History Month – Campaign launched this week including social media, webpage. iii. Women’s History Month – Women’s History Month is in March. Partnerships with DuPage Art League, DWA, LWV, Wheaton Chamber, and Wheaton Public Library are in the works. Looking for suggestions for women to profile on social media. Discussion of budget needed for Women’s History Month. Motion put forward by Katie Sivak and seconded by Colleen Attwell to approve between $200-$600 dollars. All members approved the motion. iv. Good Citizens Awards – Important dates have been decided: March 22 applications go live, April 26 applications close, May 17 event. Jen has been working with Susan Bishel on logos, flyers, social media plan, etc. v. Festival of Cultures - Tony said that we are “penciled in” for Memorial park on Sunday, September 12th. The park district will be making a decision on April 1st regarding the opening of the park district for events. Funkadesi, a performance group, has penciled in the date as well. Sometime in March we will begin to hold meetings to discuss the shape and planning of the event. The Fine and Cultural Arts group has 1) agreed to sponsor a high school art contest for the cover of the 2021 brochure and 2) allocate $1,000 for the performance stage. vi. Make a Difference Day - Larniecia gave an overview of planning for the 2021 event, stating that we would probably begin in the July time frame to advertise to the community to build up to October. VI. New Business - None VII. Adjournment – 8:07 pm. Tony motioned to adjourn, Katie seconded the motion. All members approved the motion. VIII. Next meeting: Wednesday, March 3, 2021