2023-01-11-LHRC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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TOWN OF LEXINGTON HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, Jan 11, 2023 Conducted by Remote Participation LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT Tanya Gisolfi, Chairperson (TG), Mona Roy (MR) Christina Lin, Clerk (CL), Stephanie Hsu (SH), Amber Iqbal (AI), Salvador Jaramillo (SJ), Lexington Public School District - Larry Freeman (LF), Town of Lexington, Police - Lieutenant Collen Dunbar (CD), Town of Lexington, Melissa Interess (MI), Town of Lexington, Liaison Town of Lexington, Selectboard - Mark Sandeen (MS) Guest - Shaun Grady, Town of Lexington, Human Services (Youth and Family Services) The minutes were taken by Christina Lin, LHRC Clerk 1. Meeting Called to order at., Quorum was present at 9:15am. TG encouraged everyone to encourage promoting the LHRC Community Conversation on Race and the MLK Day of Service. 2. Meeting Minutes - No minutes 3. Continuing conversation on areas of focus for the LHRC: What should the LHRC be doing for the community and town at a high level. Update was shared that LICA donated a little over $700 to the LHRC as TG spoke at their 2022 Thanksgiving service and LICA generously donated the collection to the LHRC . Much appreciation for the donation was expressed. Committee members shared their ideas for new and existing pursuits, evaluated their ideas on the purpose of the LHRC and the organization of the committee. The pairings set at the last meeting each shared a number of ideas, and it became clear that there was significant overlap and alignment in visions across the pairings. For clarity and brevity, the ideas in common are listed below followed by a more detailed summary that each pair shared. Key ideas shared by all groups pertain to: (1) the desire to reexamine incident reporting and sharing of the incidents in a manner informative to the LHRC as well as the broader community; (2) marketing of the LHRC, the purpose and role of the LHRC in the community should be better advertised to better educate Lexington; (3) continue utilization of the committee to play a central role in elevating all voices in the community on issues around human rights and identity. Formulate a strategic plan for ensuring traditionally marginalized voices are heard, as they can be easily silenced by the “majority”, which shifts depending on the topic ; (4) the role of the LHRC as a community builder was expressed by multiple pairs. MLK Day was called out as a positive in this regard. Ideas shared that did not overlap, strengthening institutional partnership, advising the Select Board on town legislation relevant to human rights and intentionally foster DEI fluency among Town Meeting and committee members.