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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-29-2020-min (Last minutes under former committee name) Town of Lexington 20/20 Vision Committee Meeting January 29,2021 Remote Meeting 7:45 a.m.—9:00 a.m. Members Present: Fernando Quezada, Dan Krupka, Margaret Coppe, Mark Manasas,Joe Pato, Bhumip Khasnabish, Kathleen Lenihan, Robert Peters, and Andrew Dixon. Members Absent: Peter Leeand Alan Wrigley. Guests: Candy McLaughlin, Marian Cohen, and Sara Espino. Professional Staff Present: Katharine Labrecque, Management Analyst The meeting started but was not called to order: 7:48am The Remote Meeting Opening Script was read by the chair, Fernando Quezada. Minutes: • Minutes from the November 201h and December 18, 2020 meeting were approved with minor edits. Handouts/Documents Shared: Action Items Summary: • Dan will draft a letter that will be sent out to various affinity and community groups advertising the committee and our current vacancies. • Margaret and Mark will work on putting together a list of contacts for these various groups. • Mark will send the new committee name recommendations to Joe, who will forward them on to the Select Board and to be put on a future meeting agenda. • Mark will bring up the pros and cons of holding focus groups at the next survey working group meeting. • The diversity versus inclusion theme discussion will be added to the February agenda. Meeting Highlights: Recruitment for Scoping Groups and for 20/20 Committee Members Vacancies: We asked what qualifications should we seeking of new members? Dan reviewed the feedback from the membership discussion at the November meeting. Dan noted that Joe came up with some valuable criteria for new membership, suggesting that candidates have the following qualities: be a visionary, strategic thinker, analytical, and having a broad set of skills. 1 Dan asked if anyone wished to add to this list. Fernando added that we want them to be representative of the Town to some degree. Margaret added that we want someone who is going to show up to meetings and do the work. Mark commented that they need to be a champion for a cause, and need to believe and identify with the committee's work and mission. Where should we seek members? Dan listed where we have historically sought membership:the Clergy Association, Council on Aging, TMMA, Chamber of Commerce, and members of various committee working groups. Dan asked if we are missing anyone. Margaret mentioned that ABCL is active right now, along with an active youth group called Sunrise Lexington. Margaret asked if we can get a list of past citizen's academy members. Kathleen mentioned the PTA presidents group,who have a proven track record of getting things done. Bob mentioned that we don't want to be including a list of the usual suspects, but want to reach broader members of the community.Joe commented that we would to include a broader list of ethnic groups besides just ABCL. Margaret commented that maybe we should have leaders of these various groups advertise it to their members and then have them contact the chair, Fernando, or the Select Board. Fernando commented that this work goes beyond the committee and involves working groups. Dan noted that now that we have a list,we can send the committee charge to these groups. Dan asked how we should divide up this work to move forward. Mark suggested that someone should draft up the letter that we plan to send to these groups, and define what we are looking for. Dan offered to do that. Margaret offered to prepare a contact list for the various groups that we can use to send the letter to. Mark offered to help Margaret. Fernando mentioned that the Select Board did receive one application that was passed on to us. Fernando indicated that the individual seemed great. Kathleen mentioned that it's important that we note that the committee meets in the morning. Mark agreed and for some people that might rule them out. We may need to put the time of the meeting on the table if we really want to recruit a more diverse group of people to this committee. Margaret commented that there are always going to be people that time will never work for. Andrew commented that we should also note that involvement means participating in working groups,which takes up additional time. Margaret commented that you can be on the committee but not on the working group. We can word it in such a way that address that. Recommendations to Select Board on Updating Committee Name Mark commented that one of the things we need to do before releasing the survey is to update our committee name, especially to help with branding. Arlington's Envision Arlington Committee, used their new name to help with their efforts to advertise the survey. Fernando commented that ultimately the name is the Select Board's decision, but we can come up with suggestions. Andrew commented that only three or four Town committees have Lexington in the name. Fernando noted that because we have a number at the front of our committee's name,we are listed first on the website.Joe suggested that we choose one and have a few alternatives ready if needed. Fernando asked Mark if this will hold up the work on the survey if the committee didn't decide on a name today. Mark said this would help with the branding and advertising for the survey, so the sooner the better. Candy asked if the name changes, does that mean the charge has to change. Fernando commented that Joe would be able to address that. Mark displayed these proposed committee names on the Zoom screen: • Lexington Future Visioning Committee 2 • Lexington Future Vision Committee • Lexington Visioning Committee • Lexington Vision Committee • Future of Lexington Committee • Vision for Lexington Committee • Town Vision Committee, Lexington • Lexington NEXT Committee • Legacy of Lexington • Vision Lexington • Vision for Lexington • Envision Lexington The Committee voted to recommend Vision for Lexington as the new committee name,with Envision Lexington as the alternative recommendation. Vision for Lexington received 6/8 total votes. 2020 Town-wide Survey Planning Update Mark provided an update. As of now, we have finished reviewing our 2017 survey and performed a gap analysis with the National Citizen Survey. We have acknowledged what has changed since 2017 and what is the new focus or issue, such as mental health, general diversity, and racism. Kathleen mentioned that the School Committee is having a separate meeting to discuss this.Joe noted the Select Board hopes to meet in the near future to review the survey. Andrew and Mark are working on putting together the CEL grant Letter of Intent to fund a mailing to all Lexington households. Andrew has been getting mailing quotes. It will cost about$4,750 for 12,500 mailers to Lexington households. Andrew noted that CEL funds up to$7k.The postcard will be double sided and have a QR code. One side could be strictly the survey while the other could have the committee's info.This is a work in progress. Mark noted that Arlington had a 25% response rate for the survey, and about 37%were first time respondents. Kelly,the Senior Planner from Arlington will be coming to the next working group meeting, where we hope to get some more information about how they advertise. Margaret commented that she believes that they send the survey out with the Town census. Mark commented that they will be putting together a 7 minute video for Town meeting explaining the$50k request. Mark asked how the committee feels about not having focus groups since last time they just only confirmed the survey results. Instead of focus groups, we could have a forum where we would present the results as well as collect feedback. Fernando commented that it is useful even if it confirms what the survey tells us. Marian responded that they included a section where residents could select if they are interested in participating in a focus group. Marian added that it turned out that the focus groups didn't take much time at all because all the groups were going on at once.They were confirmatory but it gave people the opportunity to weigh in if they were interested in doing so.They don't add to the quantitative analysis, but rather qualitative data that added some richness to the final report. Marian noted that it is really up to us.The challenge was finding two sets of people. One person to record the comments and one to run it. It worked, but it is something to consider. Marian said the focus groups were going on while she was writing the report and didn't interfere or delay the delivery of the report.The delay last time was that it had to go through this committee,the Select Board and others for approval. Mark commented that at the next survey meeting we can discuss the pros and cons of the focus group. Mark asked about a 3 mission statement that is needed for the CEL grant, and whether the mission statement is included as part of the charge.There was consensus that this could be found on the committee's website. Topics for future Committee consideration (post communications civic culture, emerging community values,town density, community public health, poverty pockets, e-government, others) Dan had a specific and quick thought about the integration versus diversity theme but will continue the discussion at a future meeting. Dan noted that the Town Manager started a new committee around diversity, equity and inclusion, despite the existing Diversity Advisory Task Force that was established to advise him and the Superintendent of schools. Dan mentioned that he was surprised to find out that there was another body addressing diversity. In addition, Dan was also surprised that the Town contracted with ALL Aces, Inc. that is focused predominately on racial equity. Dan asked this group if we should take any steps to talk about our history with the Town Manager about the work already done. Public Comment Sara Espino, a senior at Wass Lowell introduced herself. She joined to observe the meeting for a community psychology class. Next Meeting Date • 7:45am, February 26, 2021 • 7:45am, March 26, 2021 • 7:45am,April 30, 2021 Meeting ended at 9:00 a.m. Minutes submitted by Management Analyst, Katharine Labrecque 4