Board meeting: Sept. 10, 2019

September 10, 2019 Paige Worthy

MINUTES

HOLS board meeting
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Paige’s apartment

Who’s at the table?

Ransom
Stone
Allen
Paige
Adam
Katy
Ashley
Jules
John

Old business

Approve previous meeting minutes:
1. July 2019 minutes

New business

October meeting: State of the Neighborhood (Paige & Katy):
1. Venue: Davis Theater
2. Date: Saturday, 10/26
3. ACTION ITEM: Paige & Katy to start dividing and conquering this week the email list to invite speakers. Start local, alderman first.
Treasurer’s report (Allen):
1. Allen filed/renewed our non-profit status.
2. Have about $1,600 in funds.
3. Still looking for solid membership reconciliation & renewal process.
4. Considering offering a year-end discount, maybe $30 that will cover Oct. 2019 - Dec. 2020.
Committee shenanigans
1. Beautification (Ashley)
  1. Planting days- The Beautification Days at Giddings & Oakley in September went extremely well.
    1. 9 people showed up to volunteer on Saturday.
    2. Smaller crew showed up for the really hard root removal on Sunday but everything worked out.
  2. Funding needs for the Beautification Days --
    1. We got $80 in donations online for plants through our social media/email ask.
    2. We had a $150 budget originally.
    3. The project when fully built out was estimated to be $800.
    4. But THANKS TO SO MANY AMAZING DONORS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS AND BUSINESSES, it cost only approximately $100. What an amazing, supportive community we live in.
    5. Thank you to the Rockwell Gardening Group.
    6. A BIG THANK YOU as well to City Grange Gardening Center and Lamanda Joi.
    7. Ransom is working on a beautiful sign to recognize the beautification project.
  3. Future projects-
    1. Learning from this project, for future projects to remain viable/successful we will need members to nominate locations then water and maintain the areas after the project is installed.
    2. So if any members have any desired locations they’d like to see beautified, contact our beautification committee.
    3. ACTION ITEM: Paige to add page to website for our gardening/beautification efforts.
2. Planning & Development (Adam, Stone, Jules, Paige)
  1. First developer presentation & discussion
    1. The first meeting took place to discuss the parking lot next to Roots about a dispute over Affordable Housing requirements.
    2. 14 people attended
    3. Committee is looking to having additional meetings in the future without developer presentations that will focus on education and policy review to strengthen the committee.
    4. Reaching out to find out about any future developer presentations in the pipeline.
    5. One developer has tried to reach out directly to the Association President, but we redirected them to the Alderman.
  2. Leland Greenway involvement
    1. Community Presentation: 9/24, Dank Haus, 6 pm
    2. ACTION ITEM: Paige to email out the comments to the Board from the Walking Tour of the Greenway before the community meeting.
  3. Interaction with 47th ward ZAC and 40th/47th ward in general
    1. Didn’t discuss this meeting.
  4. Future initiatives
    1. Western Brown Line plaza- didn’t discuss this meeting.
    2. Other Master Plan stuff
      1. ACTION ITEM: Adam is to reach out to the SSA to ask about getting Teska & Associates to give a presentation about the master plan.
3. Outreach/fundraising
  1. First outreach committee meeting
    1. 5 people in attendance.
    2. Social Media and other discussions took place.
    3. Held the meeting at Ravenswood Station and it was a big hit with its $3.99 all-you-can-eat spaghetti.
    4. Committee will be looking for another potential meeting in the future.
  2. Informal events
    1. Maybe looking at Safety Meetings in the future or at minimum sharing with membership the Beat Meetings held by CPD #19 & #20.
    2. Katy will continue to monitor even the Nextdoor app to share those meetings if safety concerns pop up.
    3. ACTION ITEM: Katy to email Sheila to start scheduling some Happy Hours.
  3. Meeting/partnering with other neighbor associations
    1. Didn’t discuss this meeting.
4. Paige cried at 8:04 pm with tears of happiness of how well the committees are working this year.
Communications
1. What’s your take on how often we are communicating with members?
  1. Newsletter
    1. Everybody thinks it is good.
    2. Monthly is great.
    3. Keep up the great work.
  2. Social Media
    1. If the board needs anything posted, send to Paige and either she will post it or will teach you how.
[TIME PERMITTING] Survey to current opt-ins RE: HOLS in 2019
1. Review current results
2. Brainstorm based on findings
  1. Do survey at year-end and spin more to the positive:
    1. What event did you enjoy this year?
    2. What event did you attend?
    3. By the way, you want to renew for 2020?
Miscellaneous discussion + airing of grievances
1. Some discussion started over the possibility of a holiday party or gathering in January when everyone’s schedule starts to calm.

Board meeting: July 9, 2019

July 9, 2019 Paige Worthy

MINUTES

HOLS board meeting
Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: American Legion #973 Tattler Post

Meeting called to order: 7:01 pm

Who’s at the table?

Adam
Allen
Ashley
John
Jules
Ransom
Stone
Paige

Old business

Approved previous meeting minutes (Adam, Stone)
1. May 2019 meeting

New business

Summer meeting (Ashley, Adam)
1. New summer social gathering will be announced shortly.
2. Tuesday, July 23rd, 6:30 pm, Welles Park Concert Series.
3. Intent is just to go and support great local events in our neighborhood.
4. Paige will confirm the date and get announcement out to the membership.
State of the Neighborhood (Paige & Katie)
1. Scheduling - October 26th
  1. Committee thought the turnout for the Aldermanic debates on Saturday mornings were a good turnout so thought this might be a good time for this type of event as well.
  2. Time to still be announced.
2. Venue - Davis Theater
  1. We wanted a place that would donate their space. If Davis didn’t work out, we discussed other potential locations like McPherson School, Gateway to Learning, Old Town School of Folk Music.
3. Guests — who were we missing last year?
  1. Board discussed that they really like the guests last year and will just copy and paste the guest list/contact info from last year over to this year (except for notable differences like Alderpersons).
  2. US Senators will be back in session during this time so doubtful for their participation.
  3. Paige is going to reach out to Maggie O’Keefe to see if the neighborhood association she coordinates wants to participate/advertise. Same potential with Northcenter.
Leland Greenway discussion/walkthrough (Stone & Paige)
1. Great turnout for the event. Approximately 23 people attended and provided input
2. Felt like some good, concrete ideas came from the discussions.
3. Notes from the night have been handed over to Paige who will type up and clarify.
4. Paige will reach out to Josh at CDOT to see about presenting these notes and comments to CDOT BEFORE they make their final public comments.
47th ward
1. Ward council
  1. Paige has been asked to represent HOLS on the 47th Ward’s Advisory Council.
2. Zoning Advisory Committee
  1. Stone and Adam will be serving on the Zoning Advisory Committee.
  2. Developers will go to the local Zoning Committees (like HOLS) for any projects first. Then those proposals will go before the Ward Zoning Advisory Committee with Adam & Stone.
  3. The HOLS Zoning Committee should be ready to start having meeting soon.
40th Ward
1. Paige mentioned that she and Jules will reach out the 40th Ward offices to get more acquainted and see what committees/roles we can find volunteers to assist with projects for their office.
Committee stuff
1. Beautification (Ashley)
  1. Possibility of “adopting” pedestrian greenway bumpouts (TBD)
  2. Permits are required for work of $50 or more.
  3. Giddings & Oakley:
    1. There are two curb bump outs that need some TLC on the NE and NW corners.
    2. A concept drawing and rendering have been created
    3. Getting projected costs of the concepts together right now.
    4. Will have more info soon of total costs and then will find dates for work.
  4. Patch of dirt in front of old Lincoln Quality Meats
    1. Need to write a letter to owner of the building out of courtesy before doing any work.
    2. Suggested to reach out to SSA for funds/ideas since this is a segment of land in their area.
  5. During the Leland Greenway discussion, it came up that there are possibilities for groups/individuals to “Adopt” an area for beautification.
  6. Someone had to the idea of maybe having a sign or two than can be placed in the future Beautification approved areas that says “Watch This Space” and a link to our web or social media. Can be good advertising that our Association is at work for our neighborhood.
2. Planning & Development (Adam)
  1. Right now, the committee is in a “HOLS-ing” pattern. (Holding pattern if the humor doesn’t translate well via text.)
  2. With Stone and Adam working closely with the 47th Ward office, they will activate this committee when the call comes down.
  3. Adam will send along the 47th Ward’s Vision that was shared with him.
3. Outreach/fundraising
  1. Square Roots update (Paige)
    1. 25 24 volunteers joining us on Sunday!
    2. This should get us a grant very close to $500.
    3. THANK YOU EVERYONE VOLUNTEERING!
  2. Survey (Jules)
    1. Jules will begin work immediately on updating the survey.
    2. Need to determine intent/desired data and format appropriately
4. Events
  1. Please see Agenda item: New Business #1
Miscellaneous discussion + airing of grievances
1. One, big happy neighborhood group
2. Except that we should all make sure to communicate more frequently with Paige especially when we are working real hard and doing great work. Oh and also when she requests information, please respond.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm (Jules & Ashley)

Board meeting: May 8, 2019

May 8, 2019 Paige Worthy

HOLS board meeting

Date: Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: American Legion #973 Tattler Post

7:08 meeting called to order

Who’s at the table?

Ransom
Stone
Allen
Paige
Adam
Katy
Ashley
Julia

Old business

Approve previous meeting minutes:
1. January 2019 meeting
2. March 2019 meeting

Motion: Adam

Second: Allen

APPROVED

New business 

TIFs 101 postmortem (thank you to Stone + Julia!!!)

Really happy with it

As long as we’re presenting info that’s helpful to the neighborhood, we don’t mind if other people show up

Matt Martin postmortem:

Good vibe, great questions answered

Wants to leverage neighbor associations as stakeholders in the ward.

Survey to current opt-ins RE: HOLS in 2019
1. Review current results
2. Brainstorm based on findings

Should we offer a “financial aid” membership?

Add demographic questions

Paige to follow up with Julia RE: survey questions

Remove questions about why/why not dues

Write survey “report” and press for more responses

+ Julia/Adam Planning & advocacy to hold meeting facilitating further discussion of the survey result “There are problems in the neighborhood I’d like to see solved”

Donor management/accounting software update (Paige & Allen)

DonorBox + Quickbooks (waiting for license approval, $50)

Financial:

Add “local business sponsor” for $150
Open-ended donation button add
Financial assistance notes
Suggested donations for events on Eventbrite

June meeting: “Beautification” — where are we?

Committee shenanigans
1. Beautification
  1. Previous meeting + upcoming event @ Grafton

June meeting: Gene @ Gene’s (Gene Schulter 773-218-7200)

OR in the park

Evening of 6/26

Planning & Development
1. SSA 21 master plan update
2. Bill Platt: new member & area developer

Add survey respondents who showed interest to planning & advocacy Mailchimp list

Katy to connect with Adam/Julia to talk about “advocacy”

Invite Maggie O’Keefe to invite her membership to Andre meet & greet

Outreach/fundraising
1. Missio Dei conversation
2. Square Roots volunteer grant
3. Let’s get informal events off the ground!
4. Meeting/partnering with other neighbor associations
  1. Paige and Katy to reach out
5. Outreach meeting in end of May/mid-June
Events
1. Partnership with Borelli’s Pizza
  1. Potential holiday party venue??
  2. Need to get everything in writing with them in the future
2. Gideon Welles partnership?

Miscellaneous discussion + airing of grievances

Paige logs a request for everyone to copy info@heartoflincolnsquare.org on their correspondence

8:56 move to adjourn: Ashley

Second: Julia

Board meeting: March 13, 2019

March 13, 2019 Paige Worthy

MINUTES

HOLS board meeting — welcome, new board members!!

Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2019

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Paige’s house

Meeting called to order at 7:09 pm.

Who’s at the table?

Ransom
Stone
Allen Schild
Paige Worthy
Adam
Katy
Ashley
John Ratzenberger

Old business

@Ransom — can we have minutes from January and March meetings by next Wednesday?

Ransom will work on the January minutes. John Ratzenberger was newly elected as Secretary and will put together the March meeting minutes.

New business

How cute are my cats?

Everyone unanimously approves.

Choosing new board roles
1. Officers?
2. Committee heads?
3. @John — as our business member, are you happier just pinch-hitting as needed/in an advisory role?

Elections for board officers and committee assignments were held:

President: Paige Worthy (Stone, Katy)
Vice President: Stone (Paige, Adam)
Treasurer: Allen Schild (Stone, Paige)
Secretary: John Ratzenberger (Adam, Stone)
Planning/Advocacy Committee Chair: Adam (Ransom, Ashley)
Beautification Committee Chair: Ashley (Allen, Stone)
Outreach/Fundraising Committee Chair: Katy (John, Ashley)
Events Committee Chair: Ransom (Allen, Stone)

Setting dates for future board meetings
1. Second Tuesday of even months still good?

Board Meetings are second Tuesday’s of ODD months and the board is good with those dates.

Setting dates for future community meetings

The community meetings will fall under the leadership and direction of the Vice President with the support of the Events and Outreach committees and the rest of the board.
April Community Meeting: “Build A Better Block”
1. Lead by board members Stone & Julia
2. Dates TBD
  1. April 23
  2. April 24
  3. April 30
3. Topic under consideration: TIF’s and SSA’s
  1. Non-debate style but wish to have to off-setting points of view to help explain what TIF’s and SSA’s are and their purpose.
4. Potential speakers:
  1. Ben Javorski - reporter who is anti-TIF on a broad Chicago-scale
  2. Potentially Rudy Flores or Ryan Warsing from the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce who can talk about the TIF and SSA projects that are hyperlocal to the area and the benefits they have brought.
  3. Potentially seek input from someone that is contracted by the city to help manage TIF applications.
June Community Meeting: Beautification
1. Will be coordinated by Ashley & Adam
2. Looking at potential events/topics - everything from Community Yoga to softball game to educational event
3. More information to come
October Community Meeting: State of the Neighborhood
1. Will be coordinated by Katy & Paige Worthy
2. More information to come

Survey to current opt-ins RE: HOLS in 2019

Board seeks to put together a couple of different surveys (SurveyMonkey or Google Forms) for different audiences:
1. Those who have not renewed:
  1. Why not?
  2. Was there something you were hoping for?
  3. And more questions to be developed by Outreach committee
2. Those have renewed:
  1. Why?
  2. What would you like to see?
  3. What communications would you like to be a part of?
  4. Are there any specific interests or volunteer opportunities for the community we can arrange?
  5. More questions to be developed
3. Paige will look into putting a link to the survey for those that have renewed into the auto-reply email asking people for their input.
4. Have 484 people on our email list.

Technical infrastructure
1. GSuite accounts for committee and any human who wants a HOLS email to streamline board work! (Go @Katy!)

New email addresses were assigned to assist in the communication flow.
Will continue to use Google Drive and other G Suite apps to streamline communication.

Mailchimp for committee communications

Paige wishes to get out of the survey of association members their interests so we can “tag” their accounts within Mailchimp. This will allow for more targeted communications from the Board/Committees to those who are interested in a topic and not spam others out.

Other tools that would help you do your job better/more easily?

The Treasurer has expressed an interest in finding a better way to track membership renewals.
1. Paige is going to look into Salesforce. She believes we may already have a 10 user license from techsoup.org.
2. Will also make sure that we sure that we do have an account with techsoup.org.
Discussed potentially using Slack but was concern about the archiving/loss of historical information after 14 days. Still an option to look into as we continue to grow and work better together.
Discussed Meetup.com as a resource to work side by side with Facebook events to help recruit attendees to specific events like Happy Hours, etc. in the area. (Katy would be primary user)
Nextdoor - need to find a way to see about getting an Association account, not just one individual if even possible. Katy and the Outreach committee to look into.
Paige Worthy says she feels like the connection with the BlockClub reporter is great at the moment and we should continue to feed information to that person.
Continue to use Eventbrite for events.

Committee biz
1. Beautification
  1. Not a lot to discuss other than the desire of Ashley get as much knowledge transfer from prior committee chair as possible before he moves from the area.
2. Planning & Development
  1. On the radar is the joint Lincoln Square SSA/Master Planning Committee meeting that we have members a part of on April 18th.
  2. Next the committee is in a holding pattern until after the April runoff elections for the Aldermanic races for the 47th and 40th Wards. Hope that there will still be a positive interaction and demand from 47th Ward for input from HOLS Neighbors Association for committee positions.
3. Outreach/fundraising
  1. Beyond all the work of putting together surveys, the committee wishes to really work to analyze what causes members and non-members to interact with the Association.
  2. Will look deeply into the Facebook metrics and corresponding events (like the BlockClub story that was recently shared about the debate -- did that drive interaction?)
  3. Also looking to a “refer-a-friend” program that will enter members and their recruits into drawings for prizes from local businesses.
  4. Welcome-wagon? Will look into all the ways that new residents, buyers or renters, get information about the area and how we can welcome them.
    1. Do the aldermanic offices send out anything?
    2. Can we use public information to find out?
    3. What kind of information/goodies do we share?
    4. We wish to be a resource for all residents so we need to continue to get in front of them.
4. Events
  1. Other potential events beyond the Community Meetings in Agenda #4:
    1. Square Roots?
      1. July 2019 - official date not released
      2. Volunteer to serve beverages
    2. Farmers Markets?
    3. Apple Fest?
    4. Maifest?
    5. Oktoberfest?
    6. Gene’s Rooftop private event?

Other topics that need discussing?
1. Paige wishes to get out a small monthly newsletter to the membership highlighting all the things that the association is doing. All the committees are doing work so we need to share that with the membership to continue to be a resource for them.

Meeting adjourned at 8:48 pm. (Paige, Katy)

APPROVED 5/8/19

Board meeting: Jan. 9, 2019

January 9, 2019 Paige Worthy

MINUTES

HOLS Board Meeting

Date: 1/9/19

Time: 7pm

Location: Tattler Post 973

Board Members Present:

Raminder Chadha

Julia Brown
Dillon Goodson
Adam Kingsley
Emily Ransom
Allen Schild
Emily Stone
Paige Worthy

Not in Attendance:

Emily Friend

Agenda

Previous Meeting Recap
October Meeting Discussion
Holiday Party
Boundary Restructuring
Policy, Planning & Advocacy Update
LSRCC Master Plan Meeting
Treasurer's Report
Beautification Update

Paige Worthy, Board Member, called the meeting to order at 7:12pm

August Meeting Recap

Consensus among board members that the outreach was not as successful as desired.

May consider having a “summer break” in 2019.

Neighborhood schools page will be added to the website with local school info.

October 18th Meeting “State of the Neighborhood Address”

This meeting will be an opportunity for the community to meet currently elected officials.

There are five confirmed speakers:

19th District Police Commander Marc Buslik
20th District Police Commander Sean Loughran
Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey
State Representative Ann Williams
47th Ward Alderman Ameya Pawar

Yet to respond:

40th Ward Alderman Pat O’Connor
Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer
Senator Heather Steans
Senator John Cullerton
Senator Dick Burbin
Senator Tammy Duckworth

Theme for meeting:

what is happening that affects Lincoln Square residents, and;
how can residents be engaged in the political process on a local, state or federal level.

Format:

The speakers can pick one or touch on each the themes
Speakers will have 5 minutes to talk followed by 5 minutes for questions
Questions must be submitted in advance.

Proposed venues:

Sulzer (followed by a post meeting meet-up)
Dank Haus

December 4th Holiday Party

Location: Nick’s Pizza & Pub

Considering:

Sponsored bar package with ticket sales
Toy drive or canned food drive
- Waiting to hear back from Ross Outten about the event partnership

Restructuring our neighborhood boundary rules

Consider keeping current boundaries for our scope of work and influence but opening them for anyone who wants to be a member.

September 20th Policy, Planning & Advocacy Meeting

Location: Nick’s Pizza & Pub

Goal:

Develop HOLS mission statement regarding zoning and development
Mission statement to be approved by Board
Approved statement will be submitted to aldermanic candidates with a request to commit or provide alternate viewpoints.

Timing:

Mission statement to be submitted to Board by December 14th
Seeking Board approval of mission statement by January 4th

Meeting Agenda:

Identify planning/development principles
Identify key zoning/development issues of concern
Discuss role of Alderman
Examin mission statements of other community groups

LSRCC Master Plan Meetings

Adam Kingsley attended first meeting on 9/12
There will be 5-7 total planning sessions
Send Adam’s report to members

Treasurer’s Report

$875 in the bank.

Paige implemented new accounting software on the website via Wave Checkouts

Beautification Update

10 people attended the meeting
Made a list of qualities to evaluate projects against.
Considering a high-profile project to get started
- Western Brown Line – 311 requests to remove dead trees, re-set tree grates, plant flowers by trees
- Paint planters under Brown Line and fill with shade-appropriate plantings
- Corner Gardens: Lincoln/Leland & Giddings/Oakley
Project Target: Spring 2019
Considering Kickstarter campaigns
Dykes with Drills is interested in building Little Free Pantry or Little Free Library

Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm

Emily Ransom, Secretary

APPROVED 5/8/19

Community meeting: Oct. 18, 2018

October 18, 2018 Guest User

October Community Meeting

Dank Haus— Sigurd

German American Cultural Center

Paige Worthy

Board Chair

Live stream on FB

Mission-community group

John Ratzenberger

Gateway to Learning

Dorothy’s Can Do Café

For adults with learning disabilities

Culinary skills for home, work, community

Dillon Goodson, board member

Ideas -> action

For election season, local, state federal reps

How to improve the neighborhood

19th & 20th police districts

40th & 47th ward alderman

#heartofls

John Fritchey, Cook County Commissioner, Chair of Tech cmte

Early 2000’s dwindling community group participation

Collective voice

Election year budget- no new taxes, revenue -> not enough $

County is better off than city, state

85% of budget -> health & safety

Commander Mark Buslik Dist Comm of 19th dist

Police accountability. PhD in criminology

203,000 in 19th 2nd in population 4 in geography

Fullerton/Lawrence/lake/river

Sean Lockhart

Lawrence/Peterson/lake/river

20th district lowest crime dist in Chicago

Be an educated reader of the media

Cost: crime goes down, resources cut

Complacency: people don’t call the police in safe neighborhoods

Captain John Riordan

Degree in public safety

One of two safest neighborhoods in America 20th dist.

Garage burglaries *biggest issue bikes

#1: self-inflicted crime=e.g. walk the dog leave door unlocked, or window open, car unlocked car running in the cold avoidable— 70% of crime, phones & computers in car, go in=burglary, offenders are young, violence down, tires & rims theft citywide problem, catalytic converters

Composed consent decree: settlement agreements Rodney King-> police depts. Not accountable. Justice dept. can conduct civil rights investigation. How are policies implemented? Supervision, training, accountability. Look at mental health issues, police response inadequate. Training for dealing with someone in crisis. Use of force policy what you should do vs. what you can do. Reform is poor way to look at the issue. Think in terms of transformation. Long-term planning and training. Don’t just fix it, make it work. Ignore politics. Consent decrees are beneficial.

All policies are online. Use of force policy.

Artur

Anne Williams, State Rep

North Center, Lincoln Sq, Ravenswood, Lincoln Park…

11th dist, 47th ward +

108,000 constituents

Public safety #1 issue, public schools

State budget challenging

2014-$6 billion in unpaid bills, budget impasse ->$15 billion in debt + service on the debt

2016 -> looking at Trump policies and trying to inoculate IL: choice, healthcare, public schools, environmental, immigrant & refugee rights, net neutrality

Strides on gun violence Gun Dealer Licensing Act, passed bipartisan, vetoed

Mike Quigley, Congressman

Chicago out to Oak Brook

fin svcs, transportation, housing and urban development, appropriations cmte.

Personal contact with reps & staff = most effective way to communicate your ideas

Alllan Schild & Emily Stone, board members

Alderman O’Connor

MB new tenants?

McDonalds reconstruction

Need to patronize local, independent businesses

Alderman Pawar

Universal basic income task force as a way to address poverty, student loans, food insecurity, housing crisis, automation displacing workers

Earned income tax credit

Federal guaranteed jobs program

Office of labor standards

Legislation to get rid of local control of zoning for affordable housing

Need 40,000 units in Chicago

City-wide issues vs. Lincoln Sq.:

Transportation & density & housing

Rockwell hub, Western Ave station, Metra

2-flats -> bigger building

Build densely near transit, eliminate local control

Schools will lose students over time if housing gets too expensive

Vacant storefronts, need more diversity: older, younger, single people

One Illinois-non-profit news org, new project

Prepared by Joanne Oyer

Approved 11-13-18

Board meeting: Sept. 11, 2018

September 11, 2018 Guest User

September Community Meeting

Heart of Lincoln Square Neighbors Association
September 11, 2018
6:30PM at American Legion Tattler Post 973

Board Members Present:

Raminder Chadha
Julia Brown
Dillon Goodson
Adam Kingsley
Emily Ransom
Allen Schild
Emily Stone
Paige Worthy

Not in Attendance:

Emily Friend

Agenda

Previous Meeting Recap
October Meeting Discussion
Holiday Party
Boundary Restructuring
Policy, Planning & Advocacy Update
LSRCC Master Plan Meeting
Treasurer's Report
Beautification Update

Paige Worthy, Board Member, called the meeting to order at 7:12pm

August Meeting Recap

Consensus among board members that the outreach was not as successful as desired.

May consider having a “summer break” in 2019.

Neighborhood schools page will be added to the website with local school info.

October 18th Meeting “State of the Neighborhood Address”

This meeting will be an opportunity for the community to meet currently elected officials.

There are five confirmed speakers:

19th District Police Commander Marc Buslik
20th District Police Commander Sean Loughran
Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey
State Representative Ann Williams
47th Ward Alderman Ameya Pawar

Yet to respond:

40th Ward Alderman Pat O’Connor
Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer
Senator Heather Steans
Senator John Cullerton
Senator Dick Burbin
Senator Tammy Duckworth

Theme for meeting:

what is happening that affects Lincoln Square residents, and;
how can residents be engaged in the political process on a local, state or federal level.

Format:

The speakers can pick one or touch on each the themes
Speakers will have 5 minutes to talk followed by 5 minutes for questions
Questions must be submitted in advance.

Proposed venues:

Sulzer (followed by a post meeting meet-up)
Dank Haus

December 4th Holiday Party

Location: Nick’s Pizza & Pub

Considering:

Sponsored bar package with ticket sales
Toy drive or canned food drive
- Waiting to hear back from Ross Outten about the event partnership

Restructuring our neighborhood boundary rules

Consider keeping current boundaries for our scope of work and influence but opening them for anyone who wants to be a member.

September 20th Policy, Planning & Advocacy Meeting

Location: Nick’s Pizza & Pub

Goal:

Develop HOLS mission statement regarding zoning and development
Mission statement to be approved by Board
Approved statement will be submitted to aldermanic candidates with a request to commit or provide alternate viewpoints.

Timing:

Mission statement to be submitted to Board by December 14th
Seeking Board approval of mission statement by January 4th

Meeting Agenda:

Identify planning/development principles
Identify key zoning/development issues of concern
Discuss role of Alderman
Examine mission statements of other community groups

LSRCC Master Plan Meetings

Adam Kingsley attended first meeting on 9/12
There will be 5-7 total planning sessions
Send Adam’s report to members

Treasurer’s Report

$875 in the bank.

Paige implemented new accounting software on the website via Wave Checkouts

Beautification Update

10 people attended the meeting
Made a list of qualities to evaluate projects against.
Considering a high-profile project to get started
- Western Brown Line – 311 requests to remove dead trees, re-set tree grates, plant flowers by trees
- Paint planters under Brown Line and fill with shade-appropriate plantings
- Corner Gardens: Lincoln/Leland & Giddings/Oakley
Project Target: Spring 2019
Considering Kickstarter campaigns
Dykes with Drills is interested in building Little Free Pantry or Little Free Library

Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm

Emily Ransom, Secretary

Approved 11-13-15

Welcome Announcement

Paige Worthy introduced each of the Board Members present followed by an introduction of Brent Webb, Commander of Tattler Post 973.

News

Treasurers Report

By-laws approved, articles of incorporation filed and registered with Federal Government as a 501(c)3.
We can now accept dues at a rate of $20 for individual and $35 for household memberships. Due paying members can serve on committee’s, run for board seats, vote in elections for board seats, enjoy complimentary snacks and networking at neighborhood meetings.
Memberships roll over at Annual Meeting in February 2019.
We are currently offering 10%-off on all dues through the month of April.

Committee Groups

Advocacy
Beautification
Outreach
Events/Fundraising

Advocacy

Participants:

Tess Golden
Sajel
Vanessa
Arnold
Eileen
Jack Lydon
Bernie
Sam (Lovey's husband)
Lovey Reynolds
Carl

Objectives:

• Act as a liaison between organization members and government regarding local development projects (zoning/land use, transit, public space, etc.)

• Advocate on behalf of the organization on social justice issues, small businesses concerns, and local education

Ideas & Initiatives

Members of this discussion group shared their interest area and motivations for joining the committee:
Police accountability – Advocating for civilian control of the police and improvements to the union contract.

Neighborhood school – Comprehensive K-12 that is accessible to everybody

Housing affordability

Transit Oriented Development and other development issues

Aging in the neighborhood/neighborhood accessibility

Neighborhood safety and friendliness

The group also discussed three main strategies for engagement around these issues:
Engaging with the Aldermen's staffs; demonstrating credibility and expertise in relevant topics so that we become a trusted advisory voice.

Proactive education of committee members on relevant topics (e.g. zoning)

Consistently "show up" to any zoning/exception review hearings and advocate in favor of increased density (within reason). Voices in opposition to projects are often those who attend such hearings.

Beautification

Participants:

Damian Raszewski
Craig Klucina
Christine Perri
Dillon Goodson
Emily Ransom

Objectives:

• Beautify and enhance the public way through public art, landscaping, and other streetscape projects sponsored by HOLS

• Organize neighborhood cleanup days

Ideas & Initiatives

Neighborhood-wide trash cleanup

Under L tracks improvement (art, plants, etc)

Rats are a big issue. Organize neighbors to call 311 and have city take care of issue (same for graffiti)

Plant perennial gardens at corners of intersections

Place sculptures and/or other public art at open plazas

Identify funding opportunities through Chamber of Commerce, Aldermen and organize neighbors to raise matching funding for projects via KickStarter

Need to learn more from GRO about how they organize neighbors behind beautification projects

Next Step: Plan neighborhood walk in May to survey and gain prioritizing projects in neighborhood (public art, cleanup, etc.)
Find way to preserve recycled plant material and transplant it into in-ground beds

Outreach

Participants:

Mark Nach
Barbara Reed
Stephanie Maieritsch
Emily Ransom

Objectives:

• Plan and execute marketing initiatives to promote HOLS to the broader Lincoln Square neighborhood

• Develop a membership program with benefits; focus on ways to attract and retain HOLS members

• Act as the liaison to other community organizations and stakeholders

Ideas & Initiatives

Distribute/post flyers throughout neighborhood

Tear off info sheets

$75-$100 business membership

Event establishing Apps

Chamber liaison

Table set up at festivals & farmers market:
Local business sponsors donate items for raffle

People who sign up and pay due at event receives a gift bag of HOLS swag and raffle ticket

HOLS info brochures available to distribute

Utilize WBEZ, Channel 11, Channel 9:
Provides stories of unusual/famous people who live/work in Lincoln Square

Events & Fundraising

Participants:

Phil Byers
Jessie Keener
Megan Hagans
Melaina Prest
Emily Friend

Objectives:

• Plan and execute HOLS-sponsored festivals & community programming

• Plan future HOLS social events and gatherings

• Raise money to support HOLS programming

• Identify opportunities for HOLS to have a presence at other community events

Ideas & Initiatives

Newsletter about meeting "local hero”

Teaching kindness as a community

Building community through events

Promote diversity of Lincoln Square

Representing the different stages of life

Expand the block party idea:

Send a team from your block

Captains of the block party

Lincoln square block party (Maybe at Winnemac Park)

June meeting — International Day of Yoga
Bloom
Coconut yoga
One key yoga

Nursing or Veterans home group visits

Story on media story on media/WBEZ – focus on community

Service lists and suggestions/ideas for community members to get active/take action

WinterFest (since winter is a hard time to connect)
Welles Park Pool Party – meet your neighbors
*Members can meet the cast at Shakespeare Festival

Field day — Maybe in the block party

Yoga in the Parks permit? Welles or Winnemac?
Suggested donation
Maybe a member perk
You can come for free

Easter egg hunt for dogs – Horner too far west?

Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm

Approved 5-18-18

Board meeting: July 10, 2018

July 10, 2018 Guest User

July Board Meeting

Heart of Lincoln Square Neighbors Association

7:00PM at Tattler Post 973

Board Members Present:

Raminder Chadha
Dillon Goodson
Adam Kingsley
Emily Ransom
Emily Stone
Paige Worthy

Not in Attendance:

Julia Brown

Emily Friend

Allen Schild

Agenda

Approval of Meeting Minutes
Committee Updates
Discuss Budgeting for Upcoming Initiatives
August 16th Meeting

Programming
Food and beverage plan

October Meeting

Brainstorm Programming

December Holiday Party

Brainstorm Charities
Discuss Locations

Next Steps: Board Member Roles

Paige Worthy, Board Member, called the meeting to order at 7:06pm

Approval of Meeting Minutes

Raminder Chadha made a motion to approve the previous meeting minutes. Adam Kingsley seconded.

Committee Updates

Beautification Committee has scheduled a neighborhood survey walk to identify and prioritize projects.

Outreach committee (which Raminder will head up) be compiling list of websites and media outlets through which to disseminate information about neighborhood meetings and events.

Adam Kingsley will be joining Julia on the Planning & Advocacy committee to deal with some of the more municipal-related issues they’ll tackle.

Events + Fundraising: Need update from Friend

Discuss Budgeting for Upcoming Initiatives

Budget discussion on hold until Allen Schild returns.

Memberships will be discounted 50% until the end of the year.

August 16th Meeting: Programming

With a “Neighborhood Schools 101” theme, a school supply drive will be promoted for this meeting. We will be contacting local schools to determine what supplies are needed with the Davis Theater and Sulzer Library serving as drop-off points.

Potential speakers at this meeting to include Friends of Chappelle representatives, Amundsen HS Principal Anna Pavichevich and Local School Council representatives discussing how to support your local neighborhood school as a parent and resident.

August 16th Meeting: Food & Beverage Plan

Reach out to Nick’s and other local pizza places to request free or discounted pizza.

October 18th Meeting: Brainstorm

Ward Updates/State of the Ward with Alderman and Zoning Committee speakers.

December Holiday Party: Brainstorm

Potential date of Tuesday the 4th. Charity could be the Friendship Pantry and party could serve as a food drive/fundraiser – novelty check could be presented.

Looking into Artango, Davis Theater, The Grafton and Half Acre as potential locations.

Davis Theater could host a free holiday movie viewing party (family-friendly) or sing-along.

Next Steps: Board Member Roles

Four board member seats will be available at the end of the year.

Meeting adjourned at 8:38pm

Emily Ransom, Secretary

Board meeting: March 19, 2018

March 19, 2018 Guest User

march Board of Directors Meeting

Heart of Lincoln Square Neighbors Association

7:00PM at American Legion Tattler Post 973

Board Members Present:

Julia Brown
Emily Friend
Dillon Goodson
Stephanie Maieritsch
Emily Ransom
Allen Schild
Emily Stone
Paige Worthy

Not in Attendance:

Ken Edwards

Agenda

1. Call to Order
2. Open Forum
3. Approval of Minutes
4. Reports
5. Unfinished Business
6. New Business
7. Adjourn

Paige Worthy, Board Member, called the meeting to order at 7:11pm

Open Forum

Dillon Goodson made a note that our Facebook presence is great and feels that whomever has been contributing is doing a wonderful job.

Julia Brown inquired as to the rules or responsibilities as to the posting of content on our Facebook page. Paige responded that as of now there is no strategy but moving forward we should come up with “beats that each of us can cover” with someone covering government and municipal issues, etc. These beats might also fall in line with our special committees. Emily Ransom mentioned that she prefers to report on parks and library news. Paige commented that she gravitates towards restaurants and small businesses. Julia Brown suggested we start asking the community about what they would like to see in the neighborhood {what is currently lacking}.

Board members will be documenting anything of interest, photo-wise and posting to Facebook as being an active presence in the community is in line with our mission as an organization.

Approval of Minutes

Dillon made a motion to approve the Meeting Minutes from the February 22nd Board Meeting. Julia Brown seconded the motion. All in favor, none opposed.

REPORTS

Presidents Report

Paige stated that there is not much to report but we are off to a great start. As we formalize our roles and begin to establish our committees there will be much more to report moving forward.

Treasurers Report

We have our EIN. The 501 C-3 application was submitted as of the morning of 3/19/18. May take anywhere from 14-90 days to hear back about E-Z application acceptance. Allen used his personal information for organization address. Allen also personally paid fees for the articles of incorporation ($75 to file with state and $275 for 501 C-3 application). Once we receive 501C-3 status approval, we can open our bank account and file for state tax exemption. Paige is going to start researching software to manage membership dues and will be reporting back in a week with options for members to pay dues at meetings and online. WinTrust Bank was selected as the bank to hold the association’s finances.

Unfinished Business

Discussion surrounding what paying members will be receiving in return for their membership was focused on providing food at the meetings. Locations for future meetings were discussed and the following list compiled:

Potential locations for future meetings:

Nicks
Tattler
Dank Haus
Mythos
Old Town School
Sulzer – no food so it may work for an annual meeting
Welles Park Community Room

We would like to get a point where card carrying members receive discounts at participating businesses as well as free food at meetings.

With plans to have the ability to accept due payments at the April community meeting, we will offer sign-up discounts for members who join that evening or in the first month.

Proposed price structure for membership dues:

$20 individual membership
$35 household membership
$50 business membership

Julia made a motion to approve the proposed rate structure and following benefits: Those who sign up at the April community meeting (or within the first month) will receive a 10% discount, with due paying members holding the ability to vote, serve on committees and to partake in food at meetings. Paige seconded the motion. All in favor, none opposed.

New Business

Emily Stone made a motion to hold April 19th meeting at the American Legion Tattler Post 973. Dillon seconded the motion. All in favor, none opposed.

For the April 19th community meeting, Dillon will be creating a “fleshed-out” list of committee expectations for the following recommended special committees:

Marketing & Membership
Events
Zoning/Development/Small Business
Beautification
Public Safety/Planning/Advocacy/ Attends CAPS meetings

Upon gathering, each committee will draft a mission statement and goals which should align with the core tenets of the HOLS mission statement.

To ensure that special interest segments such as education and social justice have a home among of the committees, there will be a facilitated portion of the evening to find their placement.

Idea: at upcoming community meeting have a “Block Party 101” info session or consult with “block leaders” and have the info provided on Facebook.

Proposed third Thursday (even month) community meeting schedule:

Dillon suggested five meetings a year in the even months except for December when we host a holiday party.

June 21
August 16
October 18
December 6th for holiday party with a charity component
** Maybe a post-holiday mixer in January organized by events committee
Annual meeting in February

Allen will be absent at the April 19th meeting but will provide a Treasurers report.

Suggested format for future meetings: Social half-hour with food served at 6:30pm and official programming starting at 7:00pm. Board President/Vice President and Treasurer can present reports and updates at beginning of meeting followed by representatives from Chamber of Commerce, etc. to provide their updates/reports. Following official business, we can have an open forum for discussion or offer the option to write-in questions/concerns/comments which can be addressed at the next community meeting.

June 21st meeting special event: In recognition of International Yoga Day, there will be an optional early start for those interested in a free 30-minute yoga session, hosted by a local yoga studio in Welles Park.

Meeting adjourned at 8:41pm

Approved 5-18-18

Board meeting: Feb. 22, 2018

February 22, 2018 Guest User

Inaugural Board Meeting

Heart of Lincoln Square Neighbors Association
7:00PM at Carbon Arc

Board Members Present:

Julia Brown
Emily Ransom
Dillon Goodson
Ken Edwards
Emily Friend
Paige Worthy

Not in Attendance:

Allen Schild
Emily Stone
Stephanie Maieritsch

Agenda

Election of officers
Define term lengths
Discuss membership terms, dues, benefits, etc.
Date selection for next association meeting

Election of Officers:

Board Officer slate proposed as follows: Paige Worthy serving as President, Emily Stone serving as Vice President, Allen Child serving as Treasurer, Emily Ransom serving as Secretary. Motion made by Julia Brown to approve the slate. Motion carried unanimously.

Defining Term Lengths:

1 Year:
Paige Worthy
Dillon Goodson
Emily Friend
Stephanie Majeritsch

2 Year:
Ken Edwards
Julia Brown
Allen Schild
Emily Stone
Emily Ransom

Membership Dues Discussion

General consensus about membership cost falls within the $10–25 range. No vote held.

Discussion about potential membership perks or local business discounts and potential charities to support with donations from membership dues concluded in the decision to research and create a list of charities and businesses located within our boundaries. No vote held.

Next Association Meeting

The next association meeting will be held on April 18th or 19th. Location to be determined. Time 7PM.

Prior to association meeting, surveys will be sent to unofficial members to garner feedback about which subcommittee they would like to see formed and potentially serve.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00pm

Approved 3-19-18