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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-07-22-2020-minTown of Lexington 20/20 Vision Committee Meeting July 22, 2016 Parker Room, Town Office Building 1625 Massachusetts Avenue — 7:45am Members Present: Fernando Quezada, Joe Pato, Peter Lee, Judith Crocker, Margaret Coppe, Ginna Johnson, Alan Wrigley Members Absent: Dan Krupka, Carroll Anne Bottino, Peter Enrich, Andrew Dixon, Bhumip Khasnabish, Visitors: Marian Cohen, Elaine Ashton, Susie Lee -Snell (sitting in for Dan Krupka) Minutes: Claire Vanessa Goodwin Call to order: 7:45am Action Items: 1. Susie /Dan will send the press release to Alan once it is finalized and Alan will send to Claire for posting to the Town's webpage. 2. Marian will make sure to include Ginna and Joe in the working group for the Town survey. 3. Joe will send Marian a copy of the Town longitudinal study once it is finished. Minutes: May 27, 2016 minutes were approved. June 24, 2016 minutes were approved. Formally dissolve 2020 Vision Subcommittee on Demographic Change: Fernando asked for a motion to dissolve the subcommittee. There was a motion from Peter to dissolve the committee and it was seconded and approved by all with many thanks for work well done. Subcommittee on Asian Communities: Susie said the subcommittee has been busy with phone calls to other Towns, along with Bill Hurley, and Dr. Mary Czajkowski. The next stage of the project will be to host the Diamond Bar, CA group on September 28 with afternoon and morning meetings as well as a tour of the Town. In the evening, there will be a panel discussion at the Library which is open to the public. The following day will be meetings with Town Manager Carl Valente. Dr. Czajkowski will host meetings on Thursday. The committee will meet once more and finalize in August the agenda for the programming. Ginna asked if it was on the community calendar. Margaret and Susie said it wasn't but they will make sure it is. The open forum will be Thursday, September 29. Fernando said it was a chance to address the educational need of the long -term residents about the changing demographics. Fernando said he hoped there would be an opportunity for Lexington residents to share their experiences. Susie said the two towns were considering joining together as sister cities. Susie says they will be creating a press release for the Colonial Times and the Minuteman. Fernando said it would be important to include it on the Town webpage as well. Judith needed to leave early so mentioned that regarding the racist graffiti incident mentioned in the previous minutes, the BOS will be discussing the topic at the next meeting on July 25 after a letter was sent from the Chair of the Human Rights Committee on the matter and other incidents of racists tagging at the schools. Working Group on Issues of Social Diversity and Town Survey: Fernando said the committee combined the Town survey and the social diversity groups together. Marian said that the group met and established goals. The first goal was to provide a demographic analysis of the town population from census and ACS data as well as the previous town wide survey. The group wants to start with ACS data in 2010 and 2014. She is frustrated with the data. She said she is preparing the survey instrument and sent it to the members as a starting point. The group wants to look at age, household breakdown, reasons they may have moved out of town, housing types and cost, rental costs, median home process, and income distribution in town as well as other attributes. Ginna asked if she could be put on the list as well as Tim Dunn, the Planning Board Chair to join. Elaine said she talked to Sheila Butts from the Community Center but only data on age is available. Joe asked that he be added to the working group list as well. Joe said the Town has longitudinal data on local households and is looking to publish it in late August, early September. Marian asked if she could get an advance copy. Joe said when it is available, he will send it. Marian said there is an issue to fund this, and within this fiscal year. Marian said if they use interns, it would cost $10,000 for one semester. The project would start fall 2016, be administered in spring 2017, and analyze results in summer 2017. Fernando asked if it was possible to persuade Shire and other businesses to invest in these projects since they would benefit from the data projections. Fernando says we should consider making direct requests for funding. Ginna said that she didn't like the idea of corporate interests involved. Marian said perhaps businesses could donate to the Town in general, and then it could be designated to the survey. But Marian has concerns about possible conflict of interest as well. Fernando says another source, the Mass Municipal Association, may have funding for such projects, or even MAPC. Joe says it is not as easy to get funding to do this kind of research for a Town. It is easier to do it on a regional level. They would need $30,000 in total for three semesters. In September, a PIR should be written for $10,000 for FY18. To capture the individuals who moved out of Town, the group will get in contact with realtors. Susie said in terms of making a pitch to corporations, writing a letter stating that the Town is undergoing many changes and asking them to contribute is fair. Joe said an option may be to create a fund that would be designated for projects such as the survey. Working Group on E- Government: Margaret said she has had trouble getting in touch with the school to discuss digitizing records. Fernando asked what is left to be done and what is the demand for that information. Margaret says digitizing textbooks is one area of demand. Fernando said the committee's concerns is the overall picture between the two parties (user and Town) and the integration of systems. Elaine said the school side is absolutely separate from the Town which can be a problem. An opportunity to effect change is more from outside the Town government. Joe said the week of September 26 is Hub Week in Boston sponsored by MIT and others. It is a weeklong conference with programming at Faneuil Hall focusing on e- government. Tom Case, the new CIO, will begin August 1 and the committee will invite him to come to a meeting. Community Divisiveness: Fernando says this is always an issue and there is always the potential for this occurring. Regarding the Gun Violence discussion, there will be a community dialogue, possibly working with the public conversations group to create an atmosphere for dialogue. The BOS is looking into the possibility of training individuals who would then be official facilitators, however, Joe says it has a hefty price tag. It will likely be a two -year process. Joe wants to create a methodology and toolkit to have people come together and be able to have the conversation in a civil way. Next meetings: Claire will reserve the rooms for the following dates - August 26, September 23, October 28, and November 18.