Strategic Planning and Implementation Group

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I. Introduction During the 1993 Annual Town Meeting, a resolution amending Article Four proposed the development of a "budget -planning process," to include, among other things, "a program of community discussions in cooperation with civic, religious, business, school, and other community organizations, to debate and clarify core values and program priorities to guide the town's budgeting process." Theprimary responsibility for implementing the resolution rested' with the Board of Selectmen which enthusiastically embraced the idea and appointed the Strategic Planning and Implementation Group (SPAIG). H. Planning and Implementation The members of SPAIG ,met Thursday mornings from May through September in order to determine the manner in which the resolutionwould be implemented. As a -result of these meetings this. group sponsored, with the support of the Board of Selectmen, public hearings aimed at obtaining public input on the core values,/long-term goals and program priorities which would be appropriate for Lexington in the 1990's. The group had no expectations concerning the outcome of this planned public process; rather, it was envisioned as an experiment and a beginning point in identifying community values and priorities. The schedule of and locations for each of the public hearings Was planned in such a manner that almost anyone who resides in Lexington would have the ability to attend and have input. There were six evening sessions, onQpfternoon•session/two Saturday-sessipns and a call-in session sponsored by Cablevision. Meetings were scheduled in locations throughout' the town in order to make attendance easier for a large part, 'Of the population. Locations for the hearings included: the Senior Center, East Lexington Library, Clarke Middle School, St. Brigid's Parish Hall, Estabrook School, Temple Isaiah Social Hall, Hayden Recreation Center, Heritage Hall, and Diamond Middle School. An additional aftemoon session was held at Lexington High School in an effort to involve the student population of the community. Volunteer facilitators helping with the planning and implementation of the process were: Nariman Behravesh, Lionel Fray, Peter Kreisky, Robin Libson, Alex Nedzel, Larry Prusak, Linda Roemer, Barbara Shafer, Burton Woolf, and Phyllis Yale. Recorders for the sessions were Rebekka Hoskin and Cindy Boecker. In total, approximately 300 people attended one or more of the public hearings. Such a small sample of the population as a whole cannot be Considered statistically valid;' but can provide some insight into the concerns The Town may be facing currently or may face in the future. During each session, those present had an opportunity to express their views regarding core values, long-term goals and program priorities. For the purposes of the planning process, core values were defined as "What are the principles that should guide policy and budget decisions?" Long-term goals were defined as where those in attendance would like to see Lexington in five to ten years. Program priorities were defined as those town services which should have first call on the town's resources. At the close of the sessions, those attending were given the opportunity to chose the three most important (the "must haves") for each of these categories as well as three ' others (the "nice to haves"). The responses were tallied and the following observations are the result of those tabulations.