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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-03-26-VISION2025-min Town of Lexington Vision for Lexington Committee Meeting March 26,2021 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 Samita Mandelia. Members Absent: Peter Lee,Andrew Dixon, and Alan Wrigley Guests: Candy McLaughlin, Marian Cohen,Jyotsna Kakullavarapu Professional Staff Present: Katharine Labrecque, Management Analyst The meeting started but was not called to order: 7:49am The Remote Meeting Opening Script was read by the chair, Fernando Quezada. Minutes: • Minutes from the February 26, 2021 meeting were approved with minor edits. Handouts/Documents Shared on Zoom Screen: • Goals from the ECiL report • Letter to the Select Board and School Committee Action Items Summary: • Fernando will add vote of the co-chair to the next agenda. • Margaret, Dan,and Joe will meet to review the applications for membership and recommend three acceptances to Fernando. • Joe will talk to the Town Clerk regarding the subcommittee tasked with reviewing the charge. • Kat will send the letter to the school committee and Select Board. Meeting Highlights: Fernando welcomed Samita Mandelia,the committee's newest member and asked her to share a little about herself. Samita has been living in Lexington for 13 years now and is currently serving as a town meeting member. More recently she has also been appointed to the Town Celebrations committee. Fernando asked all committee members and staff to introduce themselves. Future committee membership, charge and structure Fernando informed members that we received nearly fifteen applications for committee membership. Fernando added that he is hoping to accommodate everyone who expressed interest. However,we 1 have only one open seat at the moment. Fernando noted that Joe mentioned to him that we might want to consider expanding the committee.Joe responded that the Select Board will be reviewing the applications at their April 5t" meeting.Joe noted that he recommended that the Select Board wait a month,giving time for this group to determine how large we want to grow.Joe commented that he imagines adding two more seats to go up to fifteen. We will send our recommendations then to the board, even though they are ultimately the appointing authority.Joe further added that if we are going to increase our membership,we should use this opportunity to talk about how large,what the quorum should be, and possibly something about how we absorb more people on task activities.The wealth of talent in this pool would be available for that.Joe suggested to Fernando that we put together a small group of people to go through the applications and suggest small tweak we want to make. We also want to be thinking about continuity and succession planning.Joe commented that it has been hard for Fernando who has been chair for 20 years. We may want to have a co-chair,which we had in previous years. Fernando commented that he asked Margaret to serve as co-chair during this process.Joe suggested that we put a vote on our next agenda. Margaret commented that we should follow up on Joe's suggestion and create a group of about 3 people. Margaret, Dan, and Joe volunteered to serve on the group to review the applications and select three to be recommended to Fernando car. Mark asked if we have a specific set of criteria that we are looking for in committee members. Fernando responded that it was fairly generic, but we did have a conversation at a previous meeting about what skills we are looking for. We did specify availability. Fernando asked for consensus to maintain the current vacancy until we create additional vacancies on the committee.There was consensus. Candy added that for a while,the committee considered specific affiliations for membership to make sure we are considering the whole range of folks in the town, such as clergy, business people, school representation, and cultural groups. Fernando asked Joe if the subcommittee has to obey open meeting laws.Joe responded that it is sort of an informal task at the moment.Joe will talk to the Town Clerk and see if we can post anyway so people know. Mark asked that whoever has the final criteria for new members to circulate it around. Dan said that he doesn't know if we had finalized it but he had a PowerPoint slide. 2020 Town-wide Survey Planning Update Fernando asked Mark for an update on the working group's efforts. Mark commented that the Town Meeting article has not been taken up yet at this time. Fernando asked Mark if he received feedback from a broad range of stakeholders so far. Mark confirmed that they have and are now starting to review the questions. Measure,Track and Support Progress in Topics Studied Enhancing Communication in Lexington Mark displayed two slides listing the top recommendations or goals that came from the ECiL survey. Mark noted that one of the top recommendations was to create a communication plan with Sean Dugan,the Public Information Officer. However, it is not a current objective for the Town Manager or the Select Board to develop one. Mark commented that he feels strongly that it should be a priority for the Town. Mark continued that the second recommendation was to enable a method for Town Committees to more easily be notified of attempts to contact the committee.This is coming out of the fact that 87%of the committees did not respond to an email send out months ago. After addressing with the IT Director,Town Manager, and Sean their answer was that they need more training. Mark is working behinds the scenes to work with IT to have their person email address to 2 forward their town business to. Right now it is not working, but they are hoping to get it straightened out. Mark asked Joe if it is legal to go to each committee's chair who do not respond to their email, and get their personal email address to forward committee emails to.The next recommendation Mark reviewed was to implement actions to increase enrollment on electronic communications platforms. Sean has been doing this by asking people to sign up for newsletters when he puts information out. However,there is no specific campaign to increase enrollment. Mark commented that an RFP is being prepared for that, and Mark has been stressing the importance of a search function.The fifth goal is to create a shared communication structure for town and school communications. Mark noted that the sixth goal is to identify and incorporate non-internet centered communication platforms for residents who choose not to use social media or listservs,which Sean is doing the best he can, so there is not much to do there. Mark added that one of the very few interactions residents have with the town is when they call up to report a pothole or street light out. Residents don't know where the recorded messages goes or if anything is going to happen. Mark commented that if we had to pick one thing that this committee should advocate for it is a communications plan. Dan added that what should concern us is that we really don't know what Sean's responsibilities are; and until those are clarified,we should put this work on hold. Fernando asked Candy for input. Candy noted that she doesn't think the issue is with staffing but a lack of coordination. Candy continued that that committee email issue is a tough one, and she has been a part of attempts to handle it. Fernando agreed that this a hidden problem, and we need more vertical and horizontal coordination. Samita commented that it may be helpful to add the heading "please read and respond," sometimes that works when you get so many emails in your inbox. Mark commented that it was a combined invitation to the Futures Panel. Mark continued that the smaller committees don't even know they have an email. Subcommittee on Asian Communities Dan spoke on this topic. In 2015, this committee had a meeting regarding the recommendations made by the subcommittee on demographics. Dan added that recently a new body was created by the town manager called the Citizen Advisory Council. Dan commented that he felt the best way to move this issue forward was to write a letter to inform the Select Board and the School Committee that we now have two diversity groups formed addressing the same issue. Dan's draft letter highlighted that we should not lose sight of what the subcommittee recommended in light of the growing Asian population. Mark shared the letter on the Zoom screen.Joe commented that the Diversity Advisory Task Force has been dismantled, although not formally and without informing the members.Joe added that he thinks this letter is appropriate because it reflects what the public's understanding of what it is going on. Dan commented that we must not lose sight of the large Asian population in town. Fernando said he disagrees. Fernando asked Kathleen if the task force was helpful to the current School Superintendent. Kathleen responded no, because part of the issue was it was set up by Carl Valente and Mary Czajkowski and then they both left.Jim and Julie inherited it. Kathleen added that naming things is also very important. People interpret diversity in a wide variety of ways, so the name Diversity Advisory Task Force is ambiguous. Kathleen agreed that it would be worth reconstituting it with a different name. Mark commented that from what he sees,the focus has been on racial equity to that exclusion of other groups in town. Dan added that this is an important issue and no one has been working on it. Fernando asked Samita for input given her involvement in cultural groups and one that identifies as Asian. Samita commented that she doesn't think people are not aware of the opportunities and the ways to get involved in Town.Jyotsna commented that she feels that the IAL community is no longer ignored and feels there is good 3 representation on various community groups and town boards and committees. Dan noted that the issue is not about representation but weaving the Asian population into the fabric of the community. The letter is intended to start a conversation. Fernando asked Joe and Kathleen how the letter should be sent.Joe and Kathleen agreed that it can be sent to their respective boards using email. Next Meeting Date • 7:45am,April 30, 2021 • 7:45am, May 28, 2021 • 7:45am,June 25, 2021 Meeting ended at 9:00 a.m. Minutes submitted by Management Analyst, Katharine Labrecque 4