2003-09-05-2020-min (Implementation Committee)

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2020 Vision Implementation Committee September 5, 2003 – Meeting Minutes 7:45 a.m. Selectmen’s Meeting Room Members Present : Fernando Quezada, John Bartenstein, Tom Harden, Jeanne Krieger, Todd Burger, Peter Lee, Ellie Epp, Peter Enrich, Alan Lazarus, Nancy Wilson, Jerome Smith Others: Elaine Sterzin, Rick White, Candy McLaughlin, Wendy Rundle, and Paul Hamburger Minutes: The minutes from the July 25, 2003, Implementation Committee meeting were approved. Membership: Candy read a message from Sherry Gordon saying she is no longer the School Committee representative, but that she has enjoyed the collaboration and will stay informed. Elaine indicated that Scott Burson is the new School Committee liaison. Alan reported that Helen Cohen has said she needs to resign from 2020 Vision in order to focus on School Committee responsibilities. Nancy Wilson stated that her term is up and today was her last meeting; she feels one benefit from the process has been to identify common goals for the schools and the town organization. Peter Lee was welcomed back to the committee. One item for follow-up with the Selectmen will be to identify additional people who might join the committee. Meetings with Selectmen: Four of the five meetings with individual Selectmen have taken place. Bill Helen and Peter Lee plan to meet with next Wednesday. Dawn John and Jerome reported that felt it was important to consult the Selectmen, and that she wonders whether 2020 Vision is a good use of volunteers’ time going forward because it seems to have little connection to the budget process and the goals are hard to get a handle on. She feels that buy-in by all the boards is essential to get progress and would like representatives of 2020 Vision to meet with the whole board. Leo Fernando, Alan and Todd met with , who welcomed the opportunity to learn more about 2020 Vision. Leo had a number of questions, including whether short-term as well as long-term objectives have been identified, whether there are plans to reach out to existing groups to help get things done, and whether Town Meeting members can be more involved. He felt the fall process will help get more people involved and more knowledgeable about the community. Jeanne Peter and Jerome said their conversation with focused on strategies for moving ahead. A suggestion emerged to have a small group attend the Selectmen’s goal-setting meeting on 9/24 and then to follow up with the School Committee and Planning Board, and ask the three boards to help narrow down the goals after receiving community input. This would increase ownership of the process and make it more collaborative. Peter Todd and Chuck heard some pretty tough comments from Kelley, who said that as it stands he doesn’t think 2020 Vision is relevant, and needs to see fiscal discipline incorporated. He does think that the process could be helpful, and that the committee should continue to get new people involved. Discussion of these meetings identified several common themes, including the need to focus the goals within fiscal realities and the desire to engage more of the community, both individuals and existing groups. No Selectman said long-term planning is not important, or that it is solely a responsibility of the Board. At least three Selectmen clearly say they want the committee to move forward. Fernando outlined several next steps: Those who met with individual Selectmen should send a letter thanking them for their feedback and identifying the new idea of involving them in the process to narrow the goals. The Process subcommittee will address all the input received and make sure the fall process responds to the Selectmen’s issues and concerns 2020 Vision Implementation Committee 1 July 25, 2003