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Town of Lexington
Lexington 20/20 Vision Committee
Minutes of Meeting of November 21, 2014
20/20 Vision Committee
A meeting of the was held on Friday, November 21, 2014 at 7:45 a.m. in the Parker Room in
the Town Office Building at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue.
Members Present:
Fernando Quezada, Dan Krupka, Joe Pato, Carroll Ann Bottino,Matthew Pronchik, Peter Enrich,
Alan Wrigley, Andrew Dixon
Staff:
Melissa Jones
Others Present:
Marian Cohen
Members Absent:
Saatvik Ahluwalia, Bhumip Khasnabish, Margaret Coppe, Peter Lee, Ginna Johnson
Action Items:
Invite Donna Hooper to attend December or January meeting (Melissa)
Coordinate survey presentation with the Chamber of Commerce (Fernando)
Review Committee web page and identify potential areas for improvement (Andrew)
The meeting was called to order at 7:50 a.m. and acted on the following items:
Approved minutes from September 26, 2014.
Notes from the meeting of October 24, 2014 were also reviewed.
Although these are not official minutes due to a lack of quorum, they will be submitted so that they may be discussed at
future meetings.
Potential new 20/20 focus areas:
Issues of diversity beyond race and ethnicity:
The group discussed the need to understand how the economic
profile of Lexington is changing, as well as age diversity. The group agreed that economic diversity and age
diversity in Town are linked, and that it would be useful to study the trends. Dan noted that the Committee needs
someone who is passionate to lead a project on this topic. The group agreed to keep this item on table.
Future of e-government:
The group reviewed Fernando’s write-up, which describes the influence that e-
government may have on citizen access and participation. He noted that the relevance for this Committee will be
to focus on long-term issues, as the short-term initiatives surrounding e-government are already in progress. The
group discussed the culture of online engagement, and the fact that varying levels of comfort using technology
may create a digital divide. Joe mentioned the City of Boston’s policy on open government, which address issues
of transparency and open data; he said that the Town is moving in this direction. Joe also gave examples of ways
that data can be used to improve service delivery. In New York City, for example, data on housing inspection is
used to help predict and prevent fires. Andrew said that one of the Committee’s tasks is to encourage citizen
participation, and that it needs to think critically about who is engaging in the online community. Matthew said
that we need to be realistic about ways to increase participation, as many young people expect to be able to use
their mobile devices to participate. For example, he noted that many people reported that they would have voted
in the last election had they been able to do so remotely through their smart phones. The group agreed that it
would be interesting to speak with Donna Hooper, Chief Information Officer, on this topic. Once the Committee
receives feedback on how residents’ skills and expertise may be helpful to her, it will have a better sense of how
to move forward on this issue.
Capital planning and fiscal challenges:
Peter E. said that the need for a large number of capital projects over the
next ten years is a huge issue that is on the forefront of the minds of the major boards and Town Meeting. He
noted that the question for this Committee is how it might add to the discussion. Joe said that because investment
in large scale capital projects will likely require debt exclusions, there is a need to engage the community in these
discussions. Peter E. asked if the Committee should ask the major boards how it might assist with this. Joe said
that he could ask the other chairs what they think. The group agreed to keep this item on the table.
Next steps for study of community models of multicultural integration:
Melissa reported that the draft write-up was
submitted along with the $15,000 budget request. If approved, the funding would be available in FY2016 to engage a
third-party consultant.
Update on scheduling survey presentations:
Fernando and Marian reported that the community survey results will be
presented at the League of Women Voters’ First Friday forum on February 6, 2015. Fernando and Melissa are
coordinating with the Chamber of Commerce for a similar outreach event.
Discuss updates to 20/20 web page:
The group briefly viewed the Committee’s web page. Melissa noted that it is a good
time to review the web page, in light of the Town’s plan to move to a new website in the coming months. Andrew
volunteered to take a closer look at the web page and identify potential areas for improvement.
Meeting adjourned:
9:05 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted: Melissa Jones, Scribe
Next meeting:
Friday, December 19, 2014 in the Parker Room