Watch the meeting

This meeting is being hosted at a District 58 facility and will be live-streamed on the District 58 YouTube channel.

• Meeting Replay: Village of Downers Grove YouTube

Meeting AGENDA

Call to Order

Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

Roll Call

• A. Village Council
• B. Library Board of Trustees
• C. Motion: Allowing for Electronic Participation for the February 3, 2025 Joint Meeting.

Active Agenda

• A. MM-2025-0203 - Continued discussion concerning a framework for consideration of alternative Library Board of Trustees member selection processes.

Public Comments

This is the opportunity for the public to comment.

Adjournment

1. Call to Order

Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

2. Roll Call

Mayor Barnett opened the meeting by welcoming the public to the joint Village Council / Library Board of Trustees meeting and thanking School District 58 for hosting the meeting. 

Council Attendance (Present): Mayor Barnett, Commissioner Hosé, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Commissioner Gilmartin, Commissioner Glover, Commissioner Tully, Commissioner Davenport

Council Attendance (Not Present): None

Library Board of Trustees Attendance (Present): President Topic, Trustee Gigani, Trustee Humphreys, Trustee Khuntia,Trustee Sladek, Trustee Williams

Library Board of Trustees Attendance (Not Present): None

Non-Voting: Village Manager David Fieldman, Village Attorney Enza Petrarca, Deputy Village Manager Mike Baker, DGPL Library Director Julie Milavec, DGPL Assistant Director Jen Ryjewski, and DGPL Business Office Manager Katelyn Vabalaitis.

3. Active Agenda

A. Continued discussion concerning a framework for consideration of alternative Library Board of Trustees member selection processes

Mayor Barnett explained the purpose of this meeting was for dialogue and discussion of a framework for consideration of alternative Library Board of Trustees member selection processes. 

Commissioner Hosé said he was unable to attend the last meeting, but thought it was productive. He explained though he is glad the two Boards are meeting to decide what the committee should look like, he wants to be careful when putting together the goals and objectives. He said he thinks the primary focus needs to be to determine the facts necessary to make an informed decision. Additionally, he said wants this to be a good transparent public process.

Mayor Barnett explained the process in detail. 

Trustee Sladek questioned what the name and mission of the subcommittee would be and said that a “sub-committee” is not the appropriate name. 

Commissioner Gilmartin explained he needed to leave the meeting early and shared that he agrees that the subcommittee should have a name. With regard to objectives and goals, he said he is curious to know if the committee’s mission would be purely fact finding. He also asked if there would be recommendations coming out of the task force. He asked for the thoughts of his colleagues. 

Mayor Barnett explained the potential alternative approaches, and said this is not limiting. 

Commissioner Tully thought of this as a fact finding Ad Hoc Committee, with a specific purpose defined by the Council. During this meeting, he thought the group needed to determine the composition of the Ad Hoc Committee, a schedule of when it should meet, what its mission would be, and what work it would do. He shared that he wants to put a schedule together as soon as possible, in an attempt to keep the momentum going. In his view, the Ad Hoc Committee should include no more than 2 members of each board for simplicity and to be nimble. He said once a schedule is set, he would like to decide on a date for the committee to report back its findings to the public, suggesting this happen in September. Commissioner Tully suggested that the governance model for the Ad Hoc Committee be to try and achieve consensus through dialogue and not debate, and said the members of each board should provide an update at their respective board meeting. 

Trustee Sladek agreed with calling it an Ad Hoc Committee. 

Trustee Humphreys asked if it would be an Ad Hoc Committee of each of the boards or just of the Village Council. Mayor Barnett said he thinks it should be an Ad Hoc Committee of the Village Council. Trustee Humphreys expressed that the Library Board wants to be heard and listened to. 

Commissioner Davenport said the goal of the Committee should be to explore the facts and what is possible, and report this back to the Boards. At that point, the Committee can be tasked again by the Boards, if needed. He agrees with limiting the Committee with two members from each Board to keep it nimble. More people can be added later if needed. He also said he agrees with the dialogue emphasis mentioned by Commissioner Tully. 

Mayor Barnett suggested the Committee should have their first meeting in March, and their last in September because that allows time for a referendum question to be placed on the ballot of the next election, if things should be headed that way. He said the Boards can meet again to select members.  

President Topic expressed that he wants all to keep in mind that there are specialists that have studied these questions and he hopes the group uses them. He also said he thinks September makes sense as an ending date for the monthly meetings, and he agrees with the committee to consist of two members from each board. He said he thinks it makes sense to leave the Committee to do the fact finding and then decisions can be made from there.  He also said that whether the Library Board of Trustees is appointed or elected, there could be many different options to explore. 

Mayor Barnett spoke of past Village Ad Hoc Committees and shared that he expects the same outcome with this group. 

Commissioner Gilmartin said there is a blurry line when it comes to recommendations versus fact finding and he wants to get more clarity and understand where this committee ends. He thinks it’s important that the people talking to the experts have an understanding beyond what is known now that would lead to recommendations. It is important to him, whether appointed, elected, or anything in between - they need to decipher what is better or worse than the current situation. He wants the boards to commit to a budget to bring in experts.  

Commissioner Hosé said he agrees there should be a budget to bring in experts. He expressed his concern with the basic structure of the committee and reminded all that if a decision is made to stay with an appointed model, the appointment process remains under the authority of the Village Council. Commissioner Hosé said he agrees the joint committee should consist of 2 members of each of the boards.  

Commissioner Gilmartin asked Commissioner Hosé to clarify what he thinks the purpose of the committee should be. Commissioner Hosé replied and said the committee should lay out the facts about elected and appointed boards.

Mayor Barnett explained that the committee should explore and understand the possible paths with both appointed and elected boards. The members of the committee should then report back to their respective boards. In the end, the Village Council, the Library Board of Trustees, and the public will be educated about the options and the pros and cons.  

Commissioner Tully said that he sees the structure of the Committee different from Commissioner Hosé. He views it as an Ad Hoc Committee set up by the Village Council. He said the Library Board should be a part of the conversation, but he wants to keep any broader conversation about the appointment process of the Library Board of Trustees to be taken back to only the Village Council. This is because other boards and commissions may want a new appointment process as well. He also wants to see a consensus of both boards on what is presented as the outcome. 

Commissioner Hosé asked if there have been any past Village Ad Hoc Committees that included Village Council members. Commissioner Tully said there were Standing Committees that had to do with community grants and community events. He said there were two members of the Village Council on each of those committees. He opined that both boards would reap the benefits of gaining knowledge on the subject if they each have two members on the committee. 

Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt said she agrees the main focus of the committee should be on the options of elected or appointed and she also agrees that there can be small tweaks made to the appointment process. She also expressed that an objective of the work is to improve their working relationship. She said if only looking at appointed and elected boards doesn’t improve their relationship, then she wants the governance of the two bodies to be more aligned. Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt agrees it should be a fact finding committee and each board should have two members on it.  

Trustee Sladek said she sees a parallel process and appreciates Commissioner Hosé’s comment, but isn’t sure how to separate out the appointment process from it. She said if anything comes up with the appointment process during the time the committee meets, the Village Council can take action to fix the issue. She shared that any changes that may be brought about at the end of this are going to take time, especially if going to referendum. 

Trustee Humphreys suggested that the Ad Hoc Committee be appointed by the Village Council and acknowledged by the Library Board. Then, once the members are appointed to the committee, they are all on equal ground and the committee should make a recommendation to the governing bodies. He then clarified that the Library Board is looking to find out what the components of the breakdown in communication is between the two boards, and he wants the committee to discuss this. 

Commissioner Gilmartin asked Village staff for examples of historical reports prepared by Ad Hoc Committees that have been fact finding. He explained that he had to leave the meeting early, but shared that he would provide additional comments at a later time, after hearing what more his colleagues had to say. Commissioner Gilmartin exited the meeting at 6:58 pm. 

Commissioner Davenport shared that the attributes of appointed and elected boards are going to be important to him. He thinks this is going to be a multi step process. He said information needs to be collected first and then the task can be revisited. He said at this point both boards needed to decide on the composition of the committee. 

Commissioner Hosé said the Village Council typically does things as a Committee of the Whole; when creating an Ad Hoc Committee, you’re taking your authority to make decisions and giving it to someone else; Once everyone is appointed to the committee they will be equal. He needs more information. What needs to be answered by this committee needs to be narrowed to fact finding about elected and appointed boards. 

Commissioner Tully said this is simply a recommending committee. Creating a committee does not cede power granted to the Council.. He suggested keeping the scope of this committee narrow.  

President Topic thinks it’s important that this group discusses a third potential process - aside from Appointed and Elected Boards. He said looking into other ways to appoint the board could bring about some of the benefits of having an elected board without making it an elected board. He thinks it's important to explore this. Mayor Barnett said this would come out in the pros and cons discussions. He thinks it's important to remember this is not only an option A & B type of thing — other options will be bundled with things that the Village Council will review.  

Trustee Sladek thinks there is nothing to prohibit the Village Council from informally or formally asking the Library Board what they think can be done differently.  

President Topic said it should be made clear if a library district is something that this committee will be looking at. This would be another set of considerations.  

Mayor Barnett said that a library district is a possible option and should be considered. Commissioner Tully said he wants to explore what’s possible - it is something he wants to explore and make informed decisions.  

Mayor Barnett provided a summary of the direction provided by the Village Council stating that the project goals and objectives, which also address the contents of the report, are to review the possible methods of selecting library trustees, and to summarize the attributes of those methods, including some pluses and minuses. The work should start in March and conclude in September and should consist of monthly meetings. Village and Library staff will participate. Minutes of the meetings will be taken and published. The group will consist of two members of the Village Council and two members of the Library Board and will operate according to the governance structure included in the staff report prepared for tonight’s meeting. The members of the group should provide status reports at Village Council and Library Board of Trustee meetings.

Trustee Humphreys thinks every month both boards should hear from their members of the committee.

Mayor Barnett asked if Village Staff and Library Staff have direction. Manager Fieldman and Director Milavec both said yes. 

4. Public Comment

Mayor Barnett asked for public comment and requested that comments be kept to about three minutes or so.

Kylie Spahn, a resident, spoke in favor of the Library Board remaining an appointed board and requested the Village Council simply tweak the appointment process that has been in place for many years. She shared the history of the Village’s Library Board appointment process with both boards.  

Ilene Briner, a resident, said the citizens of DG want transparency in the appointment process and she requested that one or two citizens are on the AD Hoc Committee as well. She requested a temporary change be made to the appointment process by August 2025, when two members will be appointed to the Library Board. 

Laura Hois, a resident, said she wants more recognition on what has brought this situation to light and she wants the citizens' feedback to be considered. She said the objective is to have a neutral institution again. She requested community input be obtained through every step of this process. She expressed dissatisfaction with the Library’s recent DEI report.

Ed Pawlak, a resident, spoke of this bringing the two boards together and thinks there needs to be consideration to make this a standing committee rather than an Ad Hoc Committee.  

Janet Winningham, a resident, requested the Council consider including some of the ripple effects the changes being discussed will have on the community.  

Marshall Schmitt, a resident, spoke of the Village Council’s power and that he understands the law says it is up to the Library Board to make the decision on whether they should be an elected board or not. He thinks the group should be a standing committee with members from both bodies. He does not advocate putting citizens on a fact finding body. He supports taking testimony from experts. 

Laura Kamedulski, a resident, agreed with the Mayor's description of the committee's task. She thanked both boards for working together and asked for them to look for experts.

5. Adjournment

Mayor Barnett asked if there are any final comments. There were none. He thanked everyone for coming. President Topic thanked the Village Council and public for participating

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Commissioner Hosé, seconded by Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt. A voice vote was carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m.