HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-05-22-2020-min
Town of Lexington
Lexington 20/20 Vision Committee
Minutes of Meeting of May 22, 2015
20/20 Vision Committee
A meeting of the was held on Friday, May 22, 2015 at 7:45 a.m. in the Parker
Room in the Town Office Building at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue.
Members Present:
Margaret Coppe, Ginna Johnson, Carroll Ann Bottino, Peter Lee, Joe Pato, Dan
Krupka, Matthew Pronchik, Andrew Dixon, Alan Wrigley, Bhumip Khasnabish, Peter Enrich
Fernando Quezada.
Members Absent:
, Saatvik Ahluwalia
Others Present:
Marian Cohen
Call to order
The meeting was called to order at 7:50 a.m.
Approval of minutes
The minutes from the 20/20 Vision Committee meeting of April 24, 2015 were reviewed and
approved.
May 13 meeting.
Dan Krupka commented on the May 13, 2015 meeting which was held to follow-up on
the recommendations of the sub-committee on demographic change. He distributed some statistical
information regarding the progress of community involvement and mentioned that he was working on a
report which highlights the main points discussed at the meeting. The report is to be ready by the end of
the following week. He mentioned that additional help is needed from the Town side and that the Town
may want to reach out to the PTO to learn more about how they have approached recruitment of members
of the Asian community. Margaret Coppe agreed that the PTO participation has been encouraging. Joe
Pato pointed out that community members often come forward around issues where some degree of
controversy is involved. Peter Enrich commented on the statistical update and mentioned that he was
impressed with the depth of involvement. It was also mentioned that organizational efforts are underway
on the part of the Korean community in Lexington.
Issues of diversity beyond race and ethnicity.
Peter Enrich and Carroll Ann Bottino discussed this
proposed new focus area for the 20/20 Committee. Peter commented that the issues relating to this topic
were spread widely and that he was interested to know how the Planning Board was intending to
approach its data gathering efforts relating to housing issues. Dan agreed that both efforts require a fact
base. Ginna Johnson mentioned that her own efforts were still being defined but that both polls and
group gatherings would be involved. Regarding the timing for this effort, Peter Enrich said it would be
necessary to work around the Planning Board’s efforts in the fall and the Town Meeting sessions in the
spring.
Future of e-government.
Bhumip Khasnabish and Matthew Pronchick reported on what they had in
mind to address the future of e-government in Lexington. Bhumip presented a matrix which illustrated
information realms associated with known and unknown factors which can affect public and private
sector decision making. He pointed out that public/private cooperation and partnership is required at the
municipal level to address key factors relevant to community engagement and well-being. He said that
e-government must be designed to promote “smart cities” that can respond to citizen needs in a timely
fashion. Margaret Coppe and other 20/20 Committee members requested further clarification and
stressed the need to structure this focus area around the concerns relating to accessibility on the part of all
Lexington residents and outside communicants. Peter Enrich requested that the focus area include
dimensions of civic engagement to work around potential problems of “digital divide”. Joe Pato agreed
that there is need to tie the effort back to issues such as integration of “big data” with decision making and
alternative ways to think about e-government. Ginna Johnson argued that concerns relating to
accessibility should be at the forefront.
Community models of multicultural integration.
Dan Krupka reported that he has begun to meet with
selected members of the community to assemble a group to structure the terms of reference for the effort
to study comparative community models of multicultural integration.
Systems dynamics and housing.
F. Quezada mentioned that 20/20 Committee discussion is still pending
regarding the offer of an outside group to engage in a modelling exercise on systems dynamics and
housing in Lexington.
Input for BOS goal setting.
F. Quezada reminded the Committee of the opportunity to provide input for
Board of Selectmen goal setting exercise. A formal motion was approved to allow F. Quezada to gather
input from Committee members and to forward a consensus statement to to the BOS for the goal-setting
exercise.
Next meeting date.
Peter Enrich requested that the next 20/20 Committee meeting be changed to
Thursday, June 25, 2015. There was agreement on this change to a Thursday for the June meeting only.
Adjournment.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m.