The board of trustees approved spending more money to aid migrants staying within Oak Park boundaries, escalating tensions among members who increasingly question what the village’s role is in mitigating the crisis and if taxpayer money should be used to do it.
In a 4-3 vote Tuesday, the board approved $150,000 more for short-term rental assistance for migrants coming from village funds.
The board also approved, with six votes in favor and one abstention, allocating $300,000 from a Supporting Municipalities for Asylum Seeker Services grant to the Community of Congregations for migrant rental assistance. That state-funded grant awarded Oak Park $1.9 million earlier this month to assist with related migrant services.
In an attempt to mediate tensions, trustees sidestepped another issue dividing the board that involved forming a direct partnership with the Oak Park Resettlement Task Force. Earlier this month, the potential alliance raised heated questions from trustees Lucia Robinson and Cory Wesley, who asked why the task force was chosen as a potential partner and whether other organizations had been considered.
The task force includes volunteers from Housing Forward, West Cook YMCA and the Community of Congregations, all known and respected organizations the village frequently partners with. So far, the task force has connected 12 families, or 52 individuals, with housing, said Rev. Colin Knapp, president of Community of Congregations.
On Tuesday, the board instead made the Community of Congregations the sole fiscal agent for the $300,000, all of which will be used for short-term rental assistance for asylum seekers. All board members voted in favor of that arrangement, with the exception of Wesley, who abstained.
While the task force may connect asylum seekers with housing, according to the village, those individuals will sign their own leases and the Community of Congregations will issue the funding to the housing provider directly. The Community of Congregations will not be finding available apartments directly, Knapp said.
“I am a minister of the gospel, not a real estate agent,” he said in response to a trustee’s question.
Future housing needs
According to the officials, 132 asylum seekers remain in the village’s temporary shelter program at the West Cook YMCA and The Carleton of Oak Park Hotel and will likely continue to do so until the end of the month. After that, the asylum seekers may be able to stay at St. Edmund School, pending the finalization of a few agreements, until June 30.
The new funding is intended to help migrants find more stable housing beyond temporary shelters. The $300,000 from the SMASS grant, however, can only be spent until June 30, and can’t be used to pre-pay rent for months after that.
“We have relationship with the migrants,” Knapp said. “We know their names, we know their stories; we’ve spent time with them. We have a certain level of trust.”
The task force is bringing landlords to the table by offering a fully paid, 12-month lease, Knapp said. Those apartments may or may not be in Oak Park. The 12-month period will give the migrants enough time to establish themselves, get work permits, find jobs and save up money, Knapp said.
“We believe that the resettlement efforts are best value for the money,” Knapp said. “We also believe that the stability we provide in a 12-month lease is designed to create self-sufficiency.”
The task force has estimated it will take about $900,000 to resettle the individuals who are staying at the hotel and YMCA.
Tense discussions
During discussions Tuesday, as Robinson called for an open bid or request-for-proposal process to select a partner for the short-term rental funds, she also said she’d like to see staff potentially set up a department to meet those needs.
“The concerns around perpetuating an inequitable allocation of resources to one smaller group of individuals is one concern that’s been raised by trustee Wesley at this board table and echoed in other communities of color,” she said. “It’s a concern that I have as well.”
Village manager Kevin Jackson clarified that setting up a department to work on resettlement efforts could take months, potentially pushing them out of the June 30 window that restricts some of the funds.
The entirety of funding allocated to Community of Congregations will go toward rental assistance, Knapp said, rather than paying a staff because the task force is all volunteer.
Wesley echoed concerns that the migrant response has been inequitable, with certain groups, such as the migrants staying at Grace Episcopal Church, finding themselves left out of efforts like the resettlement task force. The task force is willing to take those individuals under their wing, Knapp said, but it would likely require additional funding.
In contrast to Robinson and Wesley, trustees Chibuike Enyia and Brian Straw brought a motion forward to provide an additional $150,000 on top of the SMASS grant to assist the Community of Congregations, bringing the total to $450,000. Straw said he saw the task force’s efforts as an “offramp” — which trustees called for in December.
“This is the only plan, truly, that is before us that puts this migrant population in a stable situation,” Straw said. “This is by far the most efficient use of resources we have seen through this entire crisis.”
About 20 of the asylum-seekers attended the board meeting, listening with the help of translation devices. One woman asked the board to approve the additional aid and not make the migrants go back to a shelter, where illnesses abound.
One man, who said the migrants are wise, strong and independent, asked Robinson what she sees when she looks at the migrants.
“I see my family,” Robinson said. “This issue hits in a particularly sensitive spot to me.”
Robinson, the only Latina on the board, explained that the decisions before the board were particularly painful for her when her responsibilities as a trustee to protect the community does not line up with her desire to support migrants.
Straw addressed speculation about conflicts of interest, acknowledging that one volunteer member of the resettlement effort had donated a small amount to his political campaign. Enyia also said that same volunteer had worked on his political campaign. Robinson said those facts should have been disclosed sooner.
Several board members also expressed a desire to use the migrant resettlement efforts as a reminder that the village should do more to address housing issues in Oak Park in general.
The board approved the additional amount of $150,000, with trustee Ravi Parakkat, Wesley and Robinson voting against it. Robinson and Parakkat both expressed their distaste for using taxpayer dollars to fund migrant aid.
At a special meeting Thursday, the board will discuss a lease agreement to operate St. Edmund School as a temporary shelter space for migrants. The lease would run through June 30 if approved.
Roughly $1.24 million from the SMASS grant is intended to operate this temporary shelter.