City of Wheaton Community Relations Commission met Aug. 3.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
1 Call to Order 7:05 pm Rachel, tempore chair, motioned; Laura, seconded
2 Welcome
Roll Call
a. Present: Rachel Bautista, Meg Beasley, Mike Hodel, Laura Peccarelli, Ben Waterman, and Angela Welker; Saleha Juwaid and Marco Scola called in.
b. Absent: Erica Nelson
3 Approval of Minutes Laura motioned; Angie seconded; unanimously approved as presented
4 Old Business
5 New Business
a. Election of open positions
i. Rachel gave an overview of her involvement on the commission. Laura made a Motion to approve that Rachel Bautista serve as chair of the Wheaton Community Relations Commission; Saleha seconded. Rachel was elected to a one-year term as chair.
ii. It was noted that Meg has served as interim secretary for 4 months. Laura made a motion to approve that Meg Beasley serve as secretary of the Wheaton Community Relations Commission; Rachel seconded. Meg was elected to a one year term as secretary.
b. Ordinance Review of Boards, Commissions, and Committee Update
i. First reading was on August 1; there is now a feedback period until the ordinance is voted on during August 15 City Council.
ii. The only commentary the commission has is clarity on Section 2-257 as to what the criteria is for recruiting and appointing new members for open board and commission positions; and a request for a timeline from receipt of application to when the application is forwarded to commissions and boards.
iii. Rachel will share this feedback with the city manager.
c. Budget Update
i. Treasurer Saleha Jawaid reported that the 2022 budget is $10,000. The commissions YTD expenditure are $419 (not including approved expenditures from the July meeting). The commission is under budget due to cancellations of Festival of Cultures & Good Citizens which make up ^70% of total FY22 budget.
ii. Looking ahead to 2023 budget, tentatively discussed planning for a $15,000 budget, due to 2021 overage ($2300) which is more representative of operating budget, and due to inflation, as well as plans to expand and better support commission's 2 marquis events (Good Citizens & Festival of Cultures) in light of the 2022 cancellations.
iii. The commission will revisit the budget as the new templates are distributed.
iv. There is a new point of contact for finances: Robert Lenhhardt
v. Rachel will follow-up with the now-defunct Sister City Commission to better understand its program and budget.
d. T-Shirts for members of the Wheaton Community Relations Commission
i. With new members, the commission discussed ordering new shirts for members to wear at events. There was some discussion about having shirts for others who volunteer at events with “VOLUNTEER” printed on the back. Commission members Angie and Saleha will research shirt vendors and pricing.
e. The Festival of Cultures is tentatively scheduled for September 24 at Memorial Park pending park district approval. Various tasks related to running the event were assigned.
i. Event logistics: Laura and Ben
ii. Cultural partner and vendor outreach: Erica and the group; through a working document to spread out workload
iii. Financial sponsorship: Angie
iv. Communications: Meg and Rachel
f. Good Citizen's Awards will take place in May 2023
i. The commission will need a committee to call for submissions, collect submissions, organize selection, and coordinate brunch. Angie and Meg will serve on that committee.
g. Make a Difference Day will be expanded to include several October weekends.
i. The commission is looking into working with the Environmental Improvement Commission to partner in a fall Prairie Path clean up and possibly participate in Oaktoberfest, that includes planting oak trees and an educational component for children.
ii. The Commission will once again participate in Stuff-a-Truck with the People's Resource Center as well as partner on a collection of gloves, mittens, hats, and scarves. Commission will reach out to the Downtown Wheaton Association to arrange for the collection to be included as part of trick-or-treating event.
iii. Commission will also consider working with the DuPage Senior Citizens Council and Cantigny as long as activities can be specific to Wheaton. Opportunities for leaf clean up and meal delivery. This may or may not be in conjunction with Make a Difference activities.
h. Latin X/Hispanic Heritage Month - September 15-October 15
i. September 15 - The Latinx community in DuPage County program taking place at Cantigny during the day will be tailored to Wheaton in virtual program at the Wheaton Public Library that evening. The speaker is Sarah Phalen, director/ curator at the West Chicago City Museum
ii. September 21 - "LatinX, Hispanic, Latino, Latine: History of Terminology & How Each is Embraced Today" Presentation and panel Discussion will take place virtually from the library at 7 pm. Panelists will include Dr. Limaris Pueyo, Director of Multilingual Learners & Equity at CUSD 200; Dr Catalina Maria Johnson, Ph.D., a Chicago-based journalist; Wheaton resident Mario Fernandez, a teacher at Addison Trail High School and instructor at Concordia University; and Neil Cruz, a former Wheaton resident and social studies teacher at Glenbard North. This program is in partnership with League of Women Voters of Wheaton and Wheaton Public Library.
i. Ida B. Wells
i. October 24 - Author Michelle Duster would present an in-person program about her great-grandmother, Ida B. Wells on October 24th at the Wheaton Public Library in partnership with the League of Women Voters of Wheaton and library.
j. A Rock-the-Vote concert at Adam's Park in partnership with the Wheaton Public Library Wheaton Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Wheaton Association, and League of Women Voters of Wheaton is still under consideration, pending logistics challenges.
k. Veteran's Day - Rachel raised this for discussion in case there is interest in doing an event or partnerships to honor local veteran's. She outlined past events. Ideas will be discussed at future meetings.
VII. Adjournment: 8:43 pm Rachel motioned; Laura seconded; unanimously approved.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n_o-HR24lYSV8oZyJbYK35aizlQx4CJaFocKZ66_sYc/edit
Alerts Sign-up