Human Relations Commission — Skokie, IL
Date: 2023-04-24

Human Relations Commission
 Monday, April 24, 2023
 6:45pm

Location: Village Hall, 5127 Oakton Street – Conference Room A (1st Floor)

 AGENDA

I. Call to Order


II. Approval of Agenda


III. Approval of Minutes of February 27, 2023


IV. Chair Report: Maria Monastero Bueno


V. Committee Reports
 A. Housing Committee Updates
 1. Block Party of the Year Awards – Update on April 17th Village Board recognition
 2. Block Party Forum
 3. Know your Neighbor
 B. Equity and Diversity Committee Updates
 1. Unite Against Racism Event/ “Until Justice Is” – April 25th
 2. Juneteenth Planning Committee update from David Donegan: Activities planned
 for Saturday June 17 and June 5 Village Board proclamation by Trustee Keith
 Robinson.
 3. SEED Updates
 4. Skokie United Updates
 5. Skokie Pride Updates
 C. Festival of Cultures Committee Update


VI. Old Items of Business
 A. Human Relations Onboarding Process Updates


VII. Adjourn




 Next Meeting: May 22, 2023, 6:30pm at VILLAGE HALL 5127 Oakton Street, Skokie IL. 60077

Human Relations Commission Minutes
 Monday, April 24, 2023
 6:45pm
Location: Village Hall, 5127 Oakton Street – Conference Room A (1 st Floor)

In attendance: Commissioners: Deborah Arnold, Daphnee Camilien Alexander Chaparro, Sheila
Crumrine, Jonathan Lavin, Maria Monastero Bueno (chair), Swarupa Pahan, Ralph Ruebner, Jeremy
Segall, Karen Sherman, James Specker; Skokie Staff Liaison: Amanda Sabri

Not in attendance: David Donegan, Jaili Fajardo, Krishna Goyal (E), Anwar Haq, Marcos Levy, John
Muszynski, Michelle Reitman (E), Pearl Rubenzik, Mayha Syed, Trustee Khem Khoeun (E)


I. Call to Order @ 6:45 pm


II. Approval of Agenda: Agenda approved.


III. Introduction of New Staff Liaison & Existing Members: Amanda Sabri is the new Skokie
 Staff Liaison to the commission. She introduced herself and the existing members/participants in
 attendance also introduced themselves.


IV. Approval of Minutes of February 27, 2023: minutes approved with a recommendation to make
 grammatical correction on the first line of the 4th page. There was no “official” meeting in March,
 so there are no minutes to approve for March.


V. Chair’s Report, Maria Monastero Bueno
 A. Budget Presentation: Maria Monastero Bueno provided an overview of the presentation
 she gave Village Board at the Budget Hearing at 6:15pm this evening. She relayed the
 board was very appreciative of the work of the Human Relations Commission.
 B. Unite Against Racism Event / “Until Justice Is” – April 25th: Maria Monastero Bueno
 indicated she will be unable to attend this year’s event. Sheila Crumrine reports ten
 representatives will be coming from Oakton Community College with Dr. Rick Daniels,
 Director of Student Life and Campus Inclusion. Commission members will meet in front
 of Village hall at 10:15am. “Unite Against Racism” signs will be available at the event,
 as well as copies of the pledge against racism that will be read. Former signage was
 discarded due to it having the outdated phrasing (“Stand Against Racism”) listed. A
 request for new signage was made.




Document Number: 610823 Version: 1
 C. Block Party of the Year Awards: Maria Monastero Bueno reported the awards were
 presented at the Village Board Meeting on April 17th. Several commission members were
 in attendance, which was appreciated. Representatives from 8300 Kolmer Ave and
 George & Park Ave Block Parties were present to receive their awards at the meeting and
 members of the commission took pictures with the winners. Maria Monastero Bueno
 delivered the award to a representative of the 8000-8100 Lowell Block Party who was
 not able to attend the meeting.
 D. Hate & Bias Community Education Project: Maria Monastero Bueno informed the
 commission that Trustee Khoeun and Trustee Robinson presented at the last Village
 Board Meeting about hate crime and hate bias incidents. The Human Relations
 Commission will be tasked with a community education project focused on hate and bias
 education, which Trustee Khoeun can speak more about at the next commission meeting.
 Maria Monastero Bueno reported that funds will be attached to this project and Corporate
 Counsel, Michael Lorge, has two experts in California he would like to connect the
 commission with. Members were encouraged to view the report attached to the 4/17/23
 Village Board Meeting agenda as well as view the recording of the Village Board
 meeting, both available online.


VI. Committee Reports
 A. Housing Committee: Block Party of the Year Awards: See #VC above.
 B. Housing Committee: Block Party Forum: Alex Chaparro provided an update on the
 Block Party Forum. He reported that it was decided to push the forum back several
 months and he suggested a date of Monday, June 12. He has reserved a room at Skokie
 Public Library that can accommodate 50 people. The room is reserved from 6-8:30pm.
 Maria Monastero Bueno suggested having the actual event from 6:30-7:30pm. The three
 2022 Block Party Award winners will be invited to share about their parties and answer
 questions. Images of their block parties will be shared during the forum. Alex Chaparro
 reports that an open invitation will be offered to Officer Wilken and his department if
 someone is able to come to discuss the Block Captain program. If no one is able to
 attend, a Block Captain can discuss their role and literature can be available. To get the
 word out about the forum, Alex Chaparro reported that invitations will be sent to all
 block party applicants from 2022 and 2023. Additionally, the forum will be promoted via
 all Village of Skokie media channels and through the Skokie library if possible. Alex
 Chaparro will update the flyer and send it to Maria Monastero Bueno and Amanda Sabri
 for distribution. Alex Chaparro motioned to have the 2nd Annual Block Party Forum on
 6/12/23 from 6:30-7:30pm with a budget of no more than $150 for refreshments. Motion
 approved.
 C. Housing Committee: Know your Neighbor: Alex Chaparro asked if the commission is
 looking to reinstate Know your Neighbor as it was previously known. Karen Sherman
 stated that she believed the big concern was with incorporating blocks with multi-unit
 buildings. She feels it would be best to go back to the drawing board and spend a year



Document Number: 610823 Version: 1
 getting input from residents of these blocks before determining how to proceed. Some
 ideas for garnering feedback included going door to door and sending out surveys which
 could be translated into multiple languages, facilitating feedback through existing Block
 Captains and involving the school districts. Possible ideas for future Know your
 Neighbor events included simply blocking off streets for children to play, without the
 financial burden of planning a party, bringing in a food/ice cream/coffee truck to get
 neighbors together, or having neighbors meet at a park. Karen Sherman motioned to start
 a subcommittee to do outreach with community members and garner input on the best
 way to proceed with the Know your Neighbor program. Motion approved. Karen
 Sherman, Sheila Crumrine, James Specker and Alex Chaparro will be a part of this
 subcommittee. They will meet before the next scheduled Human Relations Commission
 meeting.
 D. Equity and Diversity Committee: Unite Against Racism Event: See #VB above.
 E. Equity and Diversity Committee: Juneteenth Planning Committee: David Donegan
 was not in attendance to provide an update. Maria Monastero Bueno will follow up with
 David Donegan to request that he come to the next meeting to provide an update
 regarding the commission’s participation at the June 17th Juneteenth event at Oakton
 Community Center. She will also request he provide updates on the SEED classes.
 F. Equity and Diversity Committee: SEED: See #VE above.
 G. Equity and Diversity Committee: Skokie United: No updates.
 H. Equity and Diversity Committee: Skokie Pride: Organizers of the event have been
 notified that the Human Relations Commission will be participating. Sheila Crumrine
 discussed that the commissions table at the event was free due having non-profit status.
 She wondered if it would be possible to sponsor tables for local small businesses that
 may be struggling, as the table fee of $150 may be a hinderance. Maria Monastero
 Bueno explained that this does not fall within the prevue of this commission and
 therefore, it would not be appropriate to use the budget of this commission to sponsor
 tables for for-profit businesses. Jon Lavin suggested making a recommendation to the
 Village Manager and City Council to support small businesses at such events to make
 them more accessible. Jon Lavin will bring this matter to John Lockerby to discuss what
 can be done.
 I. Equity and Diversity Committee: Festival of Cultures: Karen Sherman shared that
 year festival organizers preferred to have Skokie Park District staff at the welcome table
 and did not need the assistance of the Human Relations Commission. Karen Sherman
 will reach out this year’s organizers to confirm their preference for this year. Maria
 Monastero Bueno will check with Krishna Goyal on the status of putting an add for the
 Human Relations Commission in the Festival of Cultures booklet if it is not too late. The
 Festival of Cultures will be on May 20-21, which will be before the next commission
 meeting. Alex Chaparro made a motion to give the Chair discretion to place an ad in the
 booklet if the opportunity is still available, not to exceed $175. Motion approved. Karen
 Sherman motioned to increase this amount by $100 if needed. Motion approved.



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VII. Old/New Items of Business:
 A. Human Relations Onboarding Process: Sheila Crumrine provided an update on the
 onboarding process she has been working on. She distributed a list of onboarding items
 for review that she and Health & Human Services Director, Mike Charley, had put
 together. Sheila Crumrine thanked Michelle Reitman for providing the documents that
 she had kept previously. One document that was recommended for onboarding was the
 Human Relations Commission Membership Report. This contact list was sent around the
 room for each member to make edits as needed. The document will be updated and
 distributed to all members. Additional onboarding documents were provided by Staff
 Liaison, Amanda Sabri. Sheila Crumrine also suggested having Human Relations
 Calendar to orient new members. Ralph Ruebner stated that the online Village calendar
 should be the starting point. Maria Monestero Bueno mentioned the difficulty of having a
 printed document for something that is continually changing. It was determined that a
 sample calendar could be printed with a link to the live calendar on the Village website.
 James Specker asked if new members meet with the Chair or other commissioners when
 they first join. Maria Monestero Bueno stated that this has been difficult due to time
 constraints. Alex Chaparro recommended the idea of having a rotation of commissioner
 ambassadors to meet with new members when they join in order to make the time
 commitment manageable. Amanda Sabri informed members that every commissioner is
 supposed to take Open Meetings Act training when they first come on the commission.
 Amanda will send out an email with instructions on how to complete the training to all
 members for whom there is not currently a certificate on file.
 B. Village Seal: Report that Ann Tennes & Maria Monestero Bueno drafted was presented
 to the John Lockerby and the Village Trustees. Feedback was extremely supportive, but
 they are curious to know the cost & process of developing a new seal as well as the
 replacement process. A meeting is set for May 8th with John Lockerby, Maria Monestero
 Bueno, Trustee Khem Khoeun, and Jasmine Gurneau, Director of Native American &
 Indigenous Affairs at Northwestern. Maria states they suggested that there be a call for
 proposals from Native American artists themselves and then a possible vote. The first
 dollar amount that has been attached to this measure from the Village’s budget is
 $25,000.00 to start the process. The previous seal is no longer being used and a graphic
 of Village Hall is currently being used. Ralph Ruebner suggested that children be a part
 of the decision process when a new seal is developed, possibly having seal proposals
 displayed at the library to get community input. Jon Lavin inquired whether the report
 has been distributed. Maria Monestero Bueno will ask John Lockerby if it can be sent to
 all members of the commission.
 C. 4th of July: Swarupa Pahan asked if the Human Relations Commission will participate in
 the 4th of July parade. Maria Monestero Bueno reported that the parade is organized
 through the Skokie Park District. Swarupa Pahan made a motion for the commission to
 participate in the 4th of July parade. Participation in the parade will be added to the
 agenda for the May commission meeting. At that time, it will be determined what



Document Number: 610823 Version: 1
 members will pass out at the parade. Swarupa Pahan will reach out to the Skokie Park
 District about the commissions desire to participate in the 4th of July parade.


VIII. Adjourn @ 8:15 p.m.




Document Number: 610823 Version: 1