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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-19-LHRC-min TOWN OF LEXINGTON HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022 Conducted by Remote Participation LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT Tanya Gisolfi, Chairperson (TG) Mona D. Roy, Vice-Chair (MDR), Christina Lin, Clerk (CL) Stephanie Hsu (SH), Lexington Public School District - Larry Freeman (LF), Town of Lexington, Police - Collen Dunbar (CD), Town of Lexington, Human Services - Melissa Interess (MI) Liaison Town of Lexington, Selectboard - Mark Sandeen The minutes were taken by Christina Lin, LHRC Clerk • Meeting Called to order at.8:47AM, Quorum was present at 8:47AM • Meeting Minutes - No amendments or edits to draft minutes. Minutes for meetings from o May12, Jun09, Jun29 and September14, 2022 and the Jun02, 2022 Racial Disparities Subcommittee minutes were all approved by unanimous vote. • Discussion on aims and goals of the LHRC group - The purpose of this agenda item is to look at the capacity of the committee in terms of bandwidth and sustainability, consider the type of work committee members wish to accomplish. Additionally, it is important for the committee to maintain connections with the town and community organizations. Currently - the committee organizes 3 annual events (MLK Day Community Conversation on Race, Race Amity Day, and No Hate November) and investigates incidents on the LHRC Complaints form. o LHRC Event organizing - Several committee members expressed interest in planning LHRC events 9-12months in advance to reduce the immediate workload on volunteers. A committee member suggested that the LHRC set goals annually and subsequently organize the events in relation the annual goals. o Question on the LHRC charge to report to the Selectboard - Selectboard Liaison, Mark Sandeen, contributed to this conversation and provided insight and clarifications on the matter. LHRC had reported to the Selectboard meeting in past years. More recently switched to a written report but questions about whether this is a sufficient level of communication between the two committees were raised. There was a desire for the committee to increase partnership opportunities with the Selectboard, encourage more two-way flow of information and feedback. A member recommended re-starting the LHRC recommendations to the SB on an annual basis and to also receive feedback from the SB . Whether is a policy or program that should be initiated, those are excellent things to bring to the SB. o Question on Expanding the committee by 2-4 additional seats - There is a desire to expand the LHRC committee size because the current size is too small to get through the workload and there are concerns that the current size limits the ability for the group to see more perspectives. Onboarding of new members in the Fall is difficult. The pros and cons of expanding the committee were discussed. Including a comment by MS that if anything the SB was looking to reduce committees. MS assured the committee that the LHRC is not a risk of being dismantled and the Selectboard's evaluation of streamlining town committees and that this committee is a mandated by state law. One possible drawback with expanding the committee is that increased size can be harder to manage and has led to challenges with meeting the quorum requirements in the past. MS suggested workgroups to increase the bandwidth of the committee. However, our MLK Day, No Hate November, and Race Amity events are all managed by using work groups. In MS’s scenario, a member of the committee would be appointed by the Chair to lead a workgroup. Volunteers in the work group could be Lexington residents and/or LHRC committee member so long as the headcount of committee members remains below a quorum. A workgroup does not need selectboard approval. Subcommittees are a public entity and therefore its members must be LHRC members and approved by the Selectboard. Committee members felt organizing the 3 events was already near the capacity of the group. MI offered support with future events where the topics align with the Human Services Department. It may be possible, for instance, to collaborate jointly on No Hate November for 2023. The Chair was appreciative of the extended support and offer of collaboration from the Human Services Department. o Funding for the LHRC - Committee requests for funding was turned down last year and a discussion about the process followed. Previously, the committee chair has approached the Chair of the Select Board as well as the Town Offices. MS explained that funding requests for PIs have exceeded the budget allotment. Also, if the LHRC had a standing annual budget, it would put into question whether the other ~80 committees should also be funded - and MS this is not practical nor feasible. MS also pointed out that he would view funding requests for an event or project differently from funding for a committee. A committee asked about requesting funding for Training Active Bystanders as an example. This type of request may or may not be approved. MS gave an example of the $5000.00 Greenways Corridor request for printing brochures which was denied twice before being approved upon its third request. o Concern of public awareness of the presence of the LHRC - from MS perspective, the LHRC has greater visibility than many other committees and should be pleased with this achievement. Also - a suggestion to enable LHRC to share out newsletters that residents could opt to receive as a way to share out information from this committee. Additionally, with the new Chief Equity Officer (Hemali Shah), Sean Duggen will be releasing a 'welcome letter introducing Ms. Shah and perhaps the LHRC could piggyback on that announcement with info about our upcoming event. o Other ideas for LHRC work - The LHRC has received 3 complaints that are not related to incidents that occurred in Lexington. Greater clarity on qualifying conditions for our complaints form will be helpful as well as an annual audit of the website to ensure information is accurate and updated. Also - while acknowledging that the committee's strength is in programming events, the LHRC also has a complaints form. The question was if and how the LHRC shares out information about incidents to the Select Board and/or the public - with the understanding that information may need to be kept confidential. • Hindu Heritage Month - A request to develop a proclamation in recognition of Hindu Heritage Month (which is the third largest religion in the world) for the month of October due to a convergence of many Hindu celebrations during this month. This request expanded into discussion about whether other religions should be recognized (including Christianity, a question on the impact, value and purpose of proclamations, and the bandwidth of the committee to pass proclamations. A committee member pointed out that proclamations are an important step towards uplifting the marginalized identities that are often left unacknowledged in everyday public consideration. A committee member also suggested considering a proclamation in recognition of all religions around the globe as an inclusive approve to affirming different religious identities. Additionally, a point about the importance of including the voices of marginalized identities in the process of creating a proclamation. Therefore, it was suggested that a committee member (MR) approach the Lexington Interfaith Community Association (LICA) to inquire whether or not a proclamation to raise visibility of marginalized religious identities is desired before creating a proclamation. • LHRC Complaint form incident - There was an incident on Discovery Day filed by LexPride about a harmful exchange between youths and an adult. MR followed up with the investigation and shared the following account. The youths said they were walking, and a subsequent conversation ensued about LGBTQ rights with adults stationed at a discovery day table. A note that there was also another incident at Discovery Day last year. This year's incident happened in a public space. The youths might have been targeted because o f their perceived identity/identities . The schools were also informed of this incident. J.Fenn followed up directly on the day of about the incident and the individual was extremely unkind to her. It is problematic that we keep having these homophobic/racist incidents and we didn't really know why the youths were targeted. CD asked if who made the report? The report was brought up by LexPride, the youths did not make the official report. It is important to note that this incident and the prior one from the year before is not a reflection on Discovery Day nor its organizers. • Next Meeting is Wednesday, November 09, 2022 at 8:45AM; there were no public comments • Meeting adjourned at 10:23AM 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420