2021-11-17 - Commission for Residents with Disabilities - Minutes RICK KAHEN COMMISSION FOR RESIDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
7:00pm call to order
EOC Conference Room, Buffalo Grove Village Hall
Fuck Ka n zommi*sjon
For Residents With Disabilities
I. Welcome & Call to Order at 7:02pm
II. Roll Call
• Members Present: Judy Samuels, Marty Sussman, Lexi Robinson, Mark Weiner, Matthew
Dragon, Debbie Verson, Allie Zalay, Donna Garfield, Beth Shapiro, Jack Shapiro, Dean
Klassman, Avi Samuels
• Members Absent: Leo Njongmeta, Larry Sweica, David Morton, Gowri Magati
• Trustee Liaisons Present: Les Ottenheimer, Andy Stein
• Present: Staff Liaison Evan Michel
III. Approval of Minutes with changes: September 22, 2021
• Motion: Mark Weiner
• Second: Donna Garfield
• In Favor: Judy Samuels, Marty Sussman, Mark Weiner, Matthew Dragon, Debbie Verson, Allie
Zalay, Donna Garfield, Beth Shapiro, Jack Shapiro, Dean Klassman, Avi Samuels
• Opposed: None
• Abstain: Lexi Robinson
• Motion approved
IV. Chair Report
• New commissioner: Gowri Magati
V. Trustee(s) report
• Commissioner Version asked about virtual attendance when a person is not able to attend in
person. Trustee Ottenheimer shared:
• The way the current Municipal Code is written, people can call in and talk (ie. Give
report), However, they are not counted as part of the meeting quorum and cannot take
part in a vote. There are exceptions as noted in the Municipal Code.
• This is on the list for the Village Board to review.
VI. Sub-Committee report
• Bowling with Buddies— Jack Shapiro/Mark Weiner
• Great event! Participants had a blast!
• Way to go sub-committee— Mark, Jack, Beth, Avi, and Donna!
• Great partnership with Rotary Club and Bowlero!
• Thank you everyone!
• Event was a success— great to
• Total Cost = $2176.06— RKCRD cost$1088.03
• Sponsorships = $1800
• 67 total Bowlers, 131 individuals including RKCRD and Rotary Members
• 26 individuals paid for dinner- $160 collected for that
• Bowlero provided bowling and arcade coupons for the goody bags
• Do we want to do another Halloween bowling event with Rotary?
■ Do we want to add another event in the Spring? Or move Bowling with Buddies
around Valentines Days?
o Next year— need to discuss publicity
o Thank sponsors with letters
■ Official donation letters have been sent out from Evan
■ Can we have small notecards with the RKCRD logo printed so we can write
personalized thank you notes? — Evan will check
VII. Unfinished Business
• Business Decal (Cling Ons)
o Potential Purpose—to call out local businesses for supporting the community of
individuals with disabilities with a decal that can be displayed in their business
o Sub-committee members
■ Avi, Allie, Marty
• New badges update
o Badge printer is broken — will be fixed
• Identification card updates— Marty Sussman
o The program is moving along — Marty has contacted about 6 different police stations
regarding the possibilities of the cards
o Marty created a brochure for the Village of Arlington Heights Police Chief
o If anyone has a suggestion please pass it along to Marty who will communicate it with
the police chiefs of various villages who adopt the program
Vill. New Business
• Public Relations— Marty Sussman
o Idea to create videos to advertise our events and the work we do
o The Village is looking to hire additional employees to discuss marketing and publicizing
events in the Village
o We can utilize the Village Newsletter and social media accounts to help promote through
Evan
o To get events published in local news —go through Evan to reach out
o There is a provision in our Commission Code of Conduct prohibiting commissioners from
speaking to the press
o January/February— create goals for what we want PR to look like/ stories we want to tell
so that we can take that information to the Village's PR employees
• Is the RKCRD interested in receiving some donations (ie. Used dvds/ cds/audio books etc)for
distribution? — Marty Sussman
o Not at this time
• Commission website update
o Includes: General description, members, links to agendas/minutes
o Can we include a list of what the Commission has accomplished?
■ Yes, coordinate it through Evan
o Allie will help spearhead
• Brainstorming what we want to accomplish in 2022
o Create a mission statement for the RKCRD and determine a strategic plan
(January/February)
o Possibly create an event for adults with disabilities
o Possibly host a special needs Prom event in the Spring
IX. Good and Welfare
9 Holidays are coming up! — Happy Thanksgiving next week!
X. Adjournment at 8:37pm
• Motion: Mark Weiner
• Second: Beth Shapiro
• In Favor: Judy Samuels, Marty Sussman, Lexi Robinson, Mark Weiner, Matthew Dragon,
Debbie Verson, Allie Zalay, Donna Garfield, Beth Shapiro, Jack Shapiro, Dean Klassman, Avi
Samuels
• Opposed: None
• Abstain: None
Next Meeting January 26, 2021
The Village of Buffalo Grove, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, requests that persons with
disabilities, who require certain accommodations to allow them to observe and/or participate in this meeting or have
questions about the accessibility of the meeting or facilities, contact the ADA Coordinator at (847) -459-2525 to allow
the Village to make reasonable accommodations for those persons.