2023-03-08-LHRC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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TOWN OF LEXINGTON HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, March 08, 2023 Conducted by Remote Participation LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT Tanya Gisolfi, Chairperson (TG), Mona D. Roy, Vice-Chair (MDR), Christina Lin, Clerk (CL), Salvador Jaramillo (SJ), Stephanie Hsu (SH), Lexington Public School District - Larry Freeman (LF), Town of Lexington, Human Services - Melissa Interess (MI), Guest - Abby McCabe, Town of Lexington Planning Board Director The minutes were taken by Christina Lin, LHRC Clerk • Meeting Called to order at 8:48, Quorum was present. • Meeting Minutes - No minutes for approval at this time. The February minutes are under review by Superintendent Hackett. • Review of questions for the Systemic Barriers Report – postponed. • Acknowledgement of Governor Healey's signing proclamation recognizing March 2023 as the 2023 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in Massachusetts. Committee members decided to include the link to the Proclamation on the LHRC website. • Race Amity Day 2023 event planning update - Event planning by SH and Amber Iqbal Ongoing efforts to find artists in helping to create murals about Race Amity. The murals would be a moveable art and can be stored when not in use. Additionally, middle school artwork will continue to be a part of this programming, consistent with the previous two years. The committee discussed memorializing the artwork as a calendar and a way to carry on the tradition of using art to inspire social justice. A new banner for Race Amity Day is also in the works but, due to construction, the logistics of hanging the banner up in town center this calendar year needs to be verified. • MLK Day Community Conversation on Race (CCR) - Event recap and report. PDF of slide presentation attached. In short, 177 attendees participated despite uncertain weather. The theme for 2023 was action through dialogue. In the initial follow -up at 1week and 1month after the event, very few people engaged with the task of connecting with an acquaintance. The MLK CCR will need to meet and discuss the results and how this will inform planning for the 2024 event. • Consideration of upcoming Town Meeting Articles for feedback to the Select Board. The Town of Lexington Planning Board Director, Abby McCabe is present to answer any questions from committee members. Article 35&34 - Update from Ms. McCabe is that these two articles will be combined into one under Article #34 at Town Meeting. o Question on the 15% Affordable Housing requirement and how that applies to the number of multi-family housing units built. Director McCabe explains that the 15% affordable requirement kicks in when the number of multi-family units planned is 8 or greater. o Clarification on what defines affordable for the 15% affordable unites - Answer is that those units must be sold at 80% of the area median income. For Lexington, 80% of median income for a single person is around $70,000. Ms. McCabe