Category: Email List

Dear Community,

#NotInMyTown Orange Ribbons

In our previous email we expressed our solidarity with Park Ridge youth. A Chicago cop attacked a 14 year old and walked away free and uncharged. To this day, 6 weeks later, the community is still left wondering what police actually do if not the most basic act of protection.

It was the brave acts of bystanders who saved this victim from further brutality and it’s become clear that “we must protect us.” Historically marginalized groups have been building systems of mutual aid to protect themselves when the authorities would not. We need to start learning from these traditions to build a society that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.

To keep up with the campaign follow the #NotInMyTown campaign website and consider showing solidarity by putting up orange ribbons in your neighborhood. We’ll certainly keep an eye on this situation and report back any updates.

Labor History Event at Niles-Maine District Library

Momentum is building across the country. Workers are demanding better pay and working conditions, and are forming unions to foment these rights. In the Niles-Maine library district our library staff are standing up to defend their rights while under constant assault.

Join us in solidarity with the Niles-Maine District Library Employees Union at this talk where we’ll all learn more about historical events and people who made the labor movement strong. Together we can use their inspiring vision to continue improving our community.

The Story of America Through the Lens of Labor History

Thursday, September 1, 6-8pm

Niles-Maine District Library Commons Meeting Room A&B

6960 W. Oakton Street, Niles, IL

Niles-Maine Library Workers Letter to Editor

Earlier this month, unionized workers at the Niles-Maine District Library sent a dire letter to the editor of the Journal & Topics newspaper. They spoke of how the lack of staff has been decimating the capacity of the library. The callousness of Board President Carolyn Drblik and trustees Schoenfeldt, and Makula are taking their toll. They ask:

“Is their ultimate goal to close the library?”

If you don’t have subscriptions to local newspapers, Niles-Maine District Library cardholders can read electronic versions of our local newspapers for free with a library card number using the links toward the bottom of this page: https://www.nileslibrary.org/borrow/digital-library/#magazines

Secretary of State Appointment – get ready for action

Remember that letter-writing campaign you helped with last year? Well it’s partly because of our collective action that new legislation was passed to allow intervention by the State Librarian. This allows an appointment to fill a vacancy if a library board refuses to do so for more than 90 days. Library board president Carolyn Drblik has allowed a board seat to remain empty for more than 300 days! The board hasn’t been properly representing the community for nearly a year and it’s Carolyn Drblik’s responsibility to make sure the board is operating appropriately. This will only be a Band-Aid on the larger problem that allowed this to happen, but we will continue utilizing every avenue for justice.

Library Board Meeting

The next Niles-Maine District Library board meeting is TODAY Wednesday 8/17 at 6:30 pm, and a discussion and vote on the tentative budget is on the agenda. Community members who are able to do so have been coming out to make public comments, we hope to see you there, or if you aren’t able to attend you can email the board at trustees@nileslibrary.org and if you’d like help getting your comment read at the meeting email us at coalition@nilescoalition.org

Please continue to reach out to us with your ideas, and keep sharing information about local efforts so we can support the work folks are doing to create the community that we strive for.

Thanks for reading!

When looking for ways that we can make the change we want to see, it’s important to think local. When we see bad news at a national or global scale, it’s easy to feel like there’s nothing we can do or the problems are too big to take on. But at the local level, even a few people can have a big impact. Local elections are decided by just a handful of votes, politicians are moved by a handful of letters, and we can change minds by talking to our neighbors. By planting the seeds of a better world in our own community, we build momentum for the changes we want to see. Local change is the path to building national power.

#SaveNilesLibrary

July began the new fiscal year for the Niles-Maine District Library, and the discussions of budgets are ongoing. In 2021 newly elected library board members and Board President Drblik proposed and passed drastic budget cuts, and for 2022-2023 Joe Makula’s error-ridden proposed budget would cut another 14% from a library already spread thin. Throughout this year’s budget discussions the library management, staff, and executive director have pleaded for increased staffing. Currently the library is working under a year-long hiring freeze and has lost over 30% of the trained staff. Makula, Schoenfeldt, and Drblik want to make this level of understaffing permanent, by cutting the open positions out of the budget. Trustees Keane, Olsen, and Rozanski proposed an alternate budget, with sufficient funds for hiring needed staff, a well-deserved cost of living increase for current staff, and restoring program and book budgets. The difference between the proposed budgets is only about $17 per resident, but the impact on the programming and services available to the community would be significant. Still, Makula and his cohorts are not willing to budge.

There is another meeting this Wednesday– Niles-Maine District Library Board Meeting – 6:30 PM July 20, 2022, 6960 Oakton Street. If you are able to make a public comment this is an opportunity to show support and help defend our community’s valuable resource and hardworking library staff against these draconian budget cuts.

Community Relations Commission

For months, community members sent letters and made public comments requesting that commissioner Carolyn Drblik be held accountable for the harm she has done in her role as President of the Niles-Maine District Library board of trustees. She refused to respond and was finally removed from the Village of Niles’ Community Relations Commission. While new commissioners have been named, it’s mid-July and there has still not been a single meeting of the Community Relations Commission in 2022, despite the requirement that they meet at least once quarterly. We’ve also still never been able to engage with this commission regarding the Village’s response to antisemitic propaganda that was distributed throughout the community. An organizer asked questions on behalf of residents we’ve been hearing from, wanting to know about Village policies on how employees should respond to acts of hate, and whether Village staff and elected officials receive training to help them identify acts of hate and discrimination. The Village Manager asked that she make FOIA requests instead. We are watching to see if the Community Relations Commission will begin following through on their stated mission and do the work that commissioners and Village staff can do to make this community more welcoming and just for all.

Neighbors United Against Hate

A Neighbors United Against Hate campaign page has been added to our website, so you can easily download and print window signs for your and your neighbors’ homes and businesses https://www.nilescoalition.org/neighbors-united-against-hate/

Solidarity with the youth of Park Ridge

On July 1st an off-duty Chicago Police Sergeant pushed his knee into a Park Ridge teen’s back to hold him down. A Niles Coalition organizer delivered a statement to the City Council at their July 5th meeting, expressing our solidarity with the youth of Park Ridge and listing three recommendations:

1. Create a task force led by experts in prosocial transformative justice to help the community heal from this traumatic event while addressing the victims of this violence and the person who caused it.

2. Shift funds towards a systemic solution as recommended by this transformative justice task force.

3. Commend the brave bystanders who intervened. Encourage this behavior by making available bystander intervention training available for everybody in Park Ridge.

   
   

Please continue to reach out to us with your ideas, and keep sharing information about local efforts so we can support the work folks are doing to create the community that we strive for.

Thanks for reading!

We’ve been busy and can’t wait to tell you all about what we’ve been up to!

Neighbors United Against Hate Rally

Our rally against hate with Action Ridge was a huge success! On Sunday May 15 we welcomed a crowd of supporters ready to take back the streets against hateful acts in our coalition-wide community. Speakers included Nan Parsons, Elizabeth Lynch, Kim Schaefer, Jill Manrique, Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton, and State Senator Ram Villivalam.

We took a pledge against hate and marched throughout the neighborhood chanting as we went along. You can watch the whole video on Niles Coalition’s Youtube channel: Neighbors United Against Hate Rally May 2022 and read press coverage at Journal & Topics. Big thanks to everybody who came out and committed to combating hate in all its forms.

Support for Arab & Palestinian People

One of the organizers for the Neighbors Against Hate Rally was Niles West District 219 school board trustee Jill Manrique. She even addressed the crowd at the rally. In her speech she encouraged people to show up and “get uncomfortable in big ways and in small ways”. Jill walks the talk because a week later she attended the Niles West graduation wearing a kuffiyeh in support of the oppressed people of Palestine.

As a result she was viciously defamed by hateful racists. The US Palestinian Community Network invited us to join them in solidarity with Jill Manrique in support of the Arab and Palestinian community at the next D219 board meeting. We were honored to show up and put our pledge into action. But we weren’t the only ones. What we witnessed that evening was an amazing organic show of solidarity and support. The public comment period was packed full of comments in support of Jill’s brave action and a strong message was sent that hate has no home in Niles West or anywhere in our community!

You can see the press conference here:

USPCN June 9 presser in defense of Jill Manrique & Palestinian students in IL school district 219

and the public comments here:

NTHS District 219 Board of Education Meeting

Community Relations Commission

The Village of Niles Community Relations Commission has been expanded and is accepting applications. The deadline has been extended to June 15 so people have a few more days to apply! ACT FAST! Here is a link to the application.

#SaveNilesLibrary

In April’s newsletter we told you about the school lunch program for children that was unable to continue this year due to lack of staff at the Niles-Maine District Library. After months of us raising awareness of this travesty, the library put the squeeze on staff to make it happen. Of course they didn’t end their contrived and brutal “hiring freeze” to help, they just added stress to the staff while cutting other programs. Our library deserves to be full funded and Carolyn Drblik, Suzanne Schoenfeldt, and Joe Makula need to END THE HIRING FREEZE NOW!

Niles-Maine District Library Board Meeting – June 15 2022

It’s budget time again at the library and Trustee Makula is on his usual cruel tear to slash the budget until it bleeds. On the chopping block is the Teen Underground that is specifically tailored to the needs of teens by our expert librarians. Joe Makula is *not* a librarian but can’t help himself imposing his whims on the library we built over the course of generations in our community. Please come out to the board meeting Wednesday and speak out against these drastic cuts.

Niles-Maine District Library Regular Board Meeting

June 15, 2022 6:30 PM

Niles-Maine District Library – Commons Meeting Room

6960 Oakton St. Niles, IL 60714

Spreading Awareness

Our #SaveNilesLibrary campaign organizers and allies continue to show up and leaflet at the library to make sure all patrons know about this continuing attack on our library. We’re dedicated to our goal of saving the library so future generations can have this crucial resource available.

Thanks for reading!

Hello friends, the weather is warming up and we are getting out! Looking forward to seeing more of everybody this spring and summer!

Anti-Hate Actions

You might remember that back in February a number of racist hate incidents happened in our community. The initial response from the Village was nonexistent which was very disappointing but a reminder that we will have to look out for us. In crafting a response we have partnered up with Action Ridge and a coalition effort with 14th District Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Commissioner Britton introduced a Resolution Against the Rise in Anti-Semitism and in Support of Cook County’s Jewish Population which was unanimously passed by the Cook County Board. We also have plans for a continuing local effort including an event in May. Stay tuned for those details. Reach out if you would like to help!

Community Move About Event

Our first official event of 2022, our Community Move About during National Library Week, was a great success! We had three speakers and a ~2mi walk through neighborhoods near the library. Community members were able to meet and talk with each other along the way, including several Niles Coalition organizers, members of other local groups like Bike Walk Niles, Go Green Niles, Action Ridge, as well as candidates for the upcoming state- and county-level primaries (the primary got moved to June this year) including Michael Rabbit running for State Representative of the 15th District. Hot topics attendees were chatting about include the hiring freeze that’s choking our library and the loss of the Free Summer Meals Program. You can read more about this in the Chicago Tribune. Be on the lookout for more events like these in the future!

Skokie Alliance for Electoral Reform

There’s a new effort in Skokie aimed to “revitalize democracy and promote inclusive civic engagement”. That sounds fantastic and it’s something we’re endorsing. We could use some of that magic in Niles for sure. They have a kickoff event on Tuesday April 19th (tonight!), see you there!

Niles Community Relations Commission

Appointments for the Community Relations Commission are next month in May. To be on the list please be sure to apply by sending in this form. You can also BCC us on the email to leave a paper trail for accountability. Not familiar with the Community Relations Commission? Read more here. We’ve been working with Mayor Alpogianis on reforming the Community Relations Commission so it can fulfill its mission to improve community relations.

#SaveNilesLibrary

Emily For President!

An ally in our fight to #SaveNilesLibrary is now the president-elect of the American Library Association! Emily Drabinski reached out to us early in our efforts to protect the Niles-Maine District Library to understand how libraries like ours are threatened throughout the country. We’re thrilled by her win and look forward to the growing support for libraries and workers.

No More Food For Children

The Niles-Maine District library was a site for the federally-funded Free Summer Meals Program for several years. This year they don’t have the staff to maintain this program so youth in our community will have less access to nutritious meals for children during the summer school break. This is the result of Carolyn Drblik, Suzanne Schoenfeldt, and Joe Makula decimating our library staff.

⚠️ ACTION ITEM: Board Meeting Wednesday

April 20 at 6:30pm is the next Niles-Maine District Library board meeting. We’re asking people to come out to pressure trustees Carolyn Drblik, Suzanne Schoenfeldt and Joe Makula to end their hiring freeze. The library continues to struggle for lack of staff to provide for a library experience our community deserves. This chaos is intentional and we must show up and resist before it’s too late! Agenda is posted here.

Thanks for reading, see you in the streets!

The Niles Coalition was founded to foster social justice in our community. The use of racial slurs[1] in our schools and the distribution of antisemitic flyers[2] in our neighborhoods are just the latest acts of white supremacy that have no place in Niles. While these acts have done immediate harm to our family, friends, and neighbors that deserve immediate care, we also want to recognize the long-term work it will take to build the loving community we all deserve.

If you have recently received one of the antisemitic flyers, or experienced other forms of targeted bigotry please report this to the Village of Niles at 847.588.8000 or communityrelations@vniles.com (and CC us at coalition@nilescoalition.org so we can ensure that the Village responds appropriately to these matters). In the coming days and weeks we’ll be sharing more information and resources. We welcome all community members to join us at nilescoalition.org.

[1]Protesters Denounce Hate Speech and Racism at West, The Niles West News by Emma Schieffer and Ella Lindemann

[2]Antisemitic flyers found on driveways, lawns in Park Ridge and Niles, Chicago Tribune by Jennifer Johnson