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Town of Lexington Lexington 20/20 Vision Committee Minutes of Meeting of May 23, 2014 20/20 Vision Committee A meeting of the was held on Friday, May 23 at 7:45 a.m. in the Parker Room in the Town Office Building at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue. Members Present: Fernando Quezada, Dan Krupka, Marian Cohen, Margaret Coppe, Peter Lee, Joe Pato, Matthew Pronchik, Saatvik Ahluwalia, Bhumip Khasnabish, Andrew Dixon Staff: Candy McLaughlin, Melissa Jones Members Absent: Greg Zurlo, Peter Enrich, Alan Wrigley Others Present: Carroll Ann Bottino Action Items: Put together top issues from the community survey for the Board of Selectmen to consider at their goal-setting session (Dan and Marian) Brainstorm individuals who may be interested in leading the scoping group for studying models of multicultural integration (all) Future agenda item: discuss possible task force to address issues of diversity beyond race and ethnicity, such as age, income, education and other factors (Candy) The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m. and acted on the following items: Approved the minutes from April 24, 2014 after making one edit (added an action item). Decide follow-up actions for community survey: The Committee discussed the charts that Marian put together, which show how well the survey respondents think the Town is performing in certain areas as well as how important the respondents believe those issues to be. The Committee discussed how to determine the qualitative significance (as opposed to the quantitative/statistical significance) of the issues just by looking at the charts. Matt said that there are patterns on the charts, and Joe said that the way the bars are spread out indicate those patterns. Marian said that the extremes are what really tell us something. She noted that because respondents were not allowed to leave any question blank, the “good” category may have become just a default response for some people. The Committee noted that percentages may be misleading because they do not indicate magnitude (the number of respondents who gave a particular response). Dan said that we should focus on the items that arose as most significant. The most positive responses related to ensuring public safety, library services, and governmental integrity. The lowest scores were given to managing the flow of traffic through town, parking, and ensuring housing for a diverse population. The Committee decided to submit a list of issues to the Board of Selectmen for consideration at their goal-setting session. Joe said that the Selectmen can use the survey results to help sort the goals submitted by the various boards and committees by level of importance. The Committee agreed that it will conduct its targeted outreach of the survey results in September. The survey results may also suggest topics for future scoping groups. Discuss possible study of community models of multicultural integration: Dan described the draft charter for the project, which would be an 18-month study to identify lessons to be learned from other communities regarding how to capitalize on the presence of a growing number of Asian residents. Dan said that the group would spend six months conducting a literature review and other research to identify communities, and the remaining twelve months doing a “deep dive” on four or five models. Marian noted that people with strong research and data skills would be ideal for this group. The Committee also noted that this would be a good project for students. The Committee agreed to brainstorm individuals who may be qualified to take the lead on this project. Saatvik said that we may wish to focus the study on New England communities, as the environment is different than other parts of the country. Marian agreed that the group would need to identify variables other than simply the percentage of the population that is Asian. Peter said that this study would help identify positive lessons that we may learn from, and hazards that we should avoid. He said that CAAL and IAL could help drive forward any recommended initiatives. Dan said that this study can help community groups in Lexington learn from community groups in places that have addressed multicultural integration. Discuss elected board goals: Town boards and committees have been asked to submit ideas for possible Board of Selectmen goals by May 30. Candy reported that the School Committee’s goals from last year are on the School Department’s website. The Planning Board prepares a work plan in early summer each year. Meeting Adjourned: 9:02 a.m. Respectfully Submitted: Melissa Jones, Scribe Next meeting: Tentatively scheduled for Thursday, June 26 in the Selectmen Meeting Room