Human Relations Commission — Skokie, IL
Date: 2024-01-22

Human Relations Commission
 Monday, January 22, 2024
 6:30pm

Location: Village Hall, 5127 Oakton Street – Conference Room D & E (2nd Floor)

 AGENDA

I. Call to Order


II. Approval of Agenda


III. Approval of Minutes of November 27, 2023


IV. Committee Reports

 A. Neighbor Engagement Committee
 1. Block Parties
 a) Block Party Forum
 b) Block Party of the Year Awards: Monday, February 5th Please join us at
 the Village Board meeting at 7:25pm
 2. Know your Neighbor
 3. 4th of July Parade

 B. Housing Committee Updates
 1. Housing Subcommittee
 2. Fair Housing Ordinance

 C. Equity and Diversity Committee Updates
 1. Early Intervention Hate/Bias Incidents
 2. Black History Month
 3. Unite Against Racism w/ YWCA
 4. Skokie Festival of Cultures
 5. Skokie Juneteenth
 6. Skokie Pride
 7. SEED Training


V. Other Items of Business
 A. Village Seal Redesign


VI. Adjourn


Next Meeting: February 26, 2024, 6:30pm at Village Hall 5127 Oakton Street, Skokie IL. 60077

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