123 Madison Street  
Oak Park, Illinois 60302  
www.oak-park.us  
Village of Oak Park  
Meeting Minutes  
President and Board of Trustees  
Monday, November 8, 2021  
7:00 PM  
Remote  
I. Call to Order  
Village President Scaman called the meeting to order at 7:01 P.M. She  
authorized a statement be read providing that the meeting is being held  
remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines and that it is not prudent  
to have people present at the Village Board's regular meeting location due to  
public health concerns related to that pandemic.  
II. Roll Call  
6 -  
Present:  
Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Parakkat,  
Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee  
Walker-Peddakotla  
1 - Village Trustee Enyia  
Absent:  
III. Agenda Approval  
It was moved by Village Trustee Taglia, seconded by Village Trustee Robinson,  
to approved the Agenda. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote  
was as follows:  
6 -  
AYES:  
Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Parakkat,  
Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee  
Walker-Peddakotla  
0
NAYS:  
1 - Village Trustee Enyia  
ABSENT:  
IV. Non-Agenda Public Comment  
There were non Non-Agenda Public Comments.  
V. Regular Agenda  
ID 21-348  
A.  
Village Board Review of the Recommended Fiscal Year 2022 Budget  
Village Clerk Christina Waters read the following Public Comments aloud.  
Brynne Hovde: Brynne Hovde submitted their public comment requesting  
the Board to put aside funding for a non-police crisis response solution as  
a first step down the path of transformation and meaningful change.  
Lisa Rader: Lisa Rader submitted their public comment requesting the  
Board to respond to calls from ROYAL and other activists and community  
members of color to re-imagine our community safety response model and  
demanded that the Village Board vote to set aside funds in the FY2022  
budget to create a non-police crisis response program in our village.  
Interim Village Manager Lisa Shelley then introduced the Item.  
Steve Drazner, Chief Financial Officer for the village, then gave an  
overview presentation.  
Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification regarding the lost revenue  
and the ARPA distributions for 2020 and 2021 lost revenue - are the funds  
appropriated for 2021 yet?  
CFO Drazner responded the lost revenue has not been calculated yet for  
2021. Once 2021 has been audited the actual lost revenue funds will be  
allocated.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla expressed concerns with the habitual  
parking fund lost revenue and the sustainability of the fund for the future.  
CFO Drazner responded the topic warrants further discussion as the fund  
is paying out a significant amount of debt annually in addition to the cost to  
maintain the structures.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley added these discussions are scheduled to  
happen with the Board in the first quarter of 2022.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley then gave a summary of the Finance  
Committee discussions regarding future budgeting challenges which  
include requirements to fully fund the public safety pensions, the  
sustainability of the parking fund, body camera requirements, the lead  
service line replacement notification act, the response for mental health  
and behavior services, and the continued impact of Covid.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley gave an overview of the follow-up items  
from the Finance Committee discussions.  
Public Works Director John Wielebnicki gave an overview of the Vision  
Zero pedestrian safety project and staff's recommendation to add $25,000  
for a consultant for this project.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested clarification if the  
Transportation Commission agrees that $25,000 is sufficient for the  
consultant.  
Village Engineer Bill McKenna responded the requested funds are to get a  
consultant on board to guide the commission through figuring out the  
elements to include in the future plan.  
Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on the origin of the Vision  
Zero plan and is it separate from the Greenways Plan.  
Interim Village manager Shelley responded the Vision Zero plan was  
specific to this year's Board goals.  
Public Works Director John Wielebnicki added they are different plans.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla provided background that both the  
Bike Walk Oak Park organization and Transportation Commission  
members have asked if the Board would consider a Vision Zero plan to  
create a safety network to increase pedestrian and bicycle safety.  
President Scaman requested staff to put together a formal action regarding  
the Vision Zero plan for the November 22 meeting.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley and CFO Drazner gave an overview of the  
request for three additional full-time Firefighters.  
Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification on if this request was related  
to having a third ambulance in service.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley responded the idea is by adding one  
additional person to each shift the likelihood becomes greater to have the  
third ambulance in service.  
President Scaman requested clarification on if the recommendation is to  
consider postponing this to the new year to customize these positions to be  
potentially in response to an alternative 911.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley responded it could be an option but with  
an added cost due to it's dedicated staff and ambulance vehicle.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested clarification on how a third  
ambulance would impact call times and added that whether an ambulance  
could play a role in alternative crisis response is orthogonal to the  
conversation of increasing firefighters. Increasing the firefighter and  
paramedic staff should be done because the community needs it due to an  
aging population and an increase in call volume.  
Village Trustee Parakkat commented understanding what percentage of  
the call volumes are due to Covid could make for a better informed  
decision on staffing needs.  
Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification on if the increase in  
staffing is in conjunction with staff who are retiring.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley responded they are an addition to filling  
any vacancies to ensure there are enough staff on shift.  
President Scaman read a comment submitted by Village Trustee Enyia  
requesting a study of services and call times be done at the end of next  
year.  
Staff was advised to report back at the next meeting on response times  
with the third ambulance and what percentage of the calls are related to  
Covid.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested clarification if the $50,000  
requested is for the alternative crisis response team and if that funding is  
sufficient.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley responded it is difficult to assess what  
amount of funds would be needed at this time prior to having discussions  
on what the Board wants.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla suggested there should be a larger  
amount of funds set aside for this program.  
Village Trustee Taglia commented the Board can amend or change  
funding amounts but at this point, until the Board understands what could be  
recommended for this program, it is performative to change amounts.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla commented the current response  
model with Thrive Counseling needs to change to a model the community  
wants. The current model has police responding first instead of trained  
mental health professionals and crisis response professionals responding  
to calls directly.  
Village Trustee Parakkat commented he supports mental health services to  
augment policing, but there should be support for the existing model as  
well. New models should not come at the expense of the existing model. He  
encouraged the community to not pit these models against the each other,  
to respect both for what they are, and figure out the right balance.  
Village Trustee Buchanan commented that she feels the frustration but has  
confidence in the consultants they chose to do this work given the  
reassurance that the Board is in charge of what the consultant does.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla commented a non-police emergency  
response team should happen in addition to what the consultant  
recommends. As a municipality that calls itself progressive we should be  
doing this regardless of what the police consultants recommend.  
President Scaman commented she looks forward to talking to as many  
members in the community that will engage us on this, from every sector of  
our community. Every community is going to have to customize what the  
response is for the needs of their community, and the consultant will create  
a response structured to meet our need based on data.  
Village Trustee Robinson commented this Board got handed the consultant  
piece from the previous Board and she does not understand why no  
progress was made in the last six months of the previous Board's term.  
Getting the consultant underway will let us know what things policing-wise  
are being done right and will help identify and address gaps.  
President Scaman added consultants are brought on due to capacity -  
there is not enough staff to run the assessment needed in a timely manner  
unlike the consultant who is kept to a timeline. There is a lot that needs to  
be pulled together to have a dialogue that is as informed as possible and  
this is the fastest way to achieve that.  
Staff was advised to bring back a dollar amount for this item to the next  
meeting to show a commitment to the plan.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley commented based on the direction tonight  
for what will be brought forward at the next Board meeting, staff will make a  
recommendation on if the budget needs to be adjusted or cut as items are  
added or subtracted.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley added the recommendation for the  
alternative service delivery model is to fund a program like that based on  
the program that is selected as there are so many varying options. The  
amount suggested was to generate conversation among the Board of what  
it really is the Board is looking to accomplish with this request.  
CFO Drazner then gave an overview of adjustments made to the affordable  
housing revenue.  
Staff was requested to provide a memo regarding the Sustainability  
Incubator Program for the next meeting.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested clarification on the  
Communications memo which is requesting $14,000 for the website  
revamp.  
CFO Drazner responded this would be in addition to the original funding  
request.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested clarification on the  
additional $50,000 requested for the Community Safety Consultant.  
President Scaman responded that was the $50,000 that was to be set  
aside for the alternative response team.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested to amend the wording as it  
currently reads the money is going to the consultant and not the alternative  
response program.  
Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification on if the ARPA request  
that are being approved are for the first ARPA allocation the village has  
already received.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley responded staff will provide a report on all  
the requests so the Board can see the bigger picture. The village is  
expected to receive the second ARPA allotment sometime in late Spring of  
2022.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley added staff will report back with a  
snapshot of the community survey and comments for the ARPA fund  
allocation at the November 15th Board meeting.  
Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on if there were any  
remaining funds from the Covid Relief Fund.  
CFO Drazner responded the village received approximately $450,000  
which was all applied to firefighter overtime. He does not expect to receive  
any additional funds from that.  
Staff was requested to follow up at the next meeting with any possibilities to  
get federal funding for the website redesign.  
President Scaman requested clarification on if ARPA funds would be  
needed for any of the partner agencies for their fiscal year.  
Interim Village Manager Shelley responded she would confirm and if ARPA  
funds are needed before the end of 2021 then she will bring that to the  
Board. She will report back to the Board on November 22 as to what  
ARPA funds are needed to be passed before the end of the year.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested to get a layout of what the  
expected starting fund balance is for the future Affordable Housing Trust  
Fund.  
CFO Drazner responded he has an updated schedule for the Affordable  
Housing Fund budget which will be presented at the next meeting.  
VI. Adjourn  
It was moved by Village Trustee Buchanan, seconded by Village Trustee  
Robinson, to adjourn. The motion was approved. The Meeting adjourned at 8:50  
P.M., Monday, November 8, 2021.  
Respectfully Submitted,  
Deputy Clerk DeViller  
6 -  
AYES:  
Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Parakkat,  
Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee  
Walker-Peddakotla  
0
NAYS:  
1 - Village Trustee Enyia  
ABSENT: