HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-12-18-2020-min
2020 Vision Committee Meeting
Thursday, December 18, 2008
7:45 - 9:00 a.m. in Selectmen’s Meeting Room
In attendance:
Fernando Quezada, Ann Redmon, Peter Enrich, Marian Cohen, Mollie Garberg,
Carl Valente, George Burnell, Candy McLaughlin
The minutes from the November 14 meeting were approved.
Collaboration with TMMA:
Fernando will contact Edith Sandy about putting 2020 Vision on
the January TMMA Executive Committee meeting for two items related to long-term community
engagement. First, the suggestion to hold meetings in individual precincts before the March
election to encourage community discussion of issues; although timing may be tight for
implementation this year, perhaps a couple of precincts would volunteer to try it out. Secondly,
Mollie brought for discussion a Brookline report about voting technology for Town Meeting that
could improve constituents’ understanding of their representatives’ positions.
Demographic Change Task Force:
Carl, Marian, Candy, and George all attended the DCTF
meeting last night and reported on the information presented by Town Clerk Donna Hooper and
Library Director Connie Rawson. Donna provided data on vital statistics and population
categories. The drop in the number of residents aged 30-39 is of particular interest, and
committee members discussed various factors affecting when and why people move to
Lexington. Marian noted that the 20-29 age group includes young adults still living at home on
the lower end. Connie said that the library does not collect any demographic information due to
privacy issues, but reported that the library has observed an increase in Asian, Indian, and
Korean patrons.
Fernando noted that the purpose of studying changing demographics is to identify changing
needs for Town services, and also to find out whether certain groups are engaged and integrated
into the community. Carl said the Task Force has almost completed their information gathering
from staff, and he expects them to complete their analysis, discussion, and final report by the end
of 2009. Peter pointed out that the consumers of their report will be elected boards and major
committees, and asked if the Task Force planned to solicit their input on what would be most
useful. Marian suggested that some framing questions from the committee would be helpful.
Marian proposed putting the data being gathered into a central database that could be built on
going forward and used to track variables over time. Committees and staff could be asked to
identify their data needs. Peter agreed, and asked whether questions could be added to the
annual Town Census to generate additional data. Candy said that the census is a State form, but
Lexington could include a supplemental list of (optional) questions identified by the Task Force.
Committee Membership.
Fernando noted that this is Mollie’s last meeting, as she has been
appointed to the Appropriations Committee, and thanked her for her service. Peter asked
whether any members of the Economic Development Task Force might be interested. George
said he has identified three potential members. In response to a question, Carl said that it is
difficult to fill vacancies in other committees besides 2020 Vision. Mollie suggested looking at
why this might be the case, and addressing some of the issues in training committee chairs.
Town Report.
The committee approved the 2008 Town Report document for submission. The
committee will not have a picture this year, but Candy will check whether the 2020 Vision logo
can be used instead.
Future Meetings.
Because the December meeting date was pushed back, the committee decided
to postpone future meetings to a week later than the preliminary proposed schedule. The
following meeting dates were scheduled (all Friday mornings):
January 16, 2009
o
February 13
o
March 13
o
April 10
o
May 15
o
June 12
o
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00.