HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-12-17-VISION2025-min RECEIVED
2022 31 Jan, 10:5 .arrn
Town of Lexington TOWN CLERK
Vision for Lexington Committee Meeting
December 17,2021 LEXINGTON MA
Remote Meeting
7:45 a.m.—9:00 a.m.
Members Present: Margaret Coppe,Joe Pato, Bhumip Khasnabish, Samita Mandelia, Andrew Dixon,
Kathleen Lenihan, Rina Kodendera, Robert Peters, Daniel Joyner, Shannon Murtagh, Vishwanathan
Krishnamoorthy, and Mark Manasas
Members Absent: Weidong Wang, Meg Van Nostrand and Peter Lee
Guests: Dan Krupka,Jeri Zeder and Eileen Zalisk
Professional Staff Present: Katharine Labrecque, Management Analyst
The meeting was called to order: 7:48am
The Remote Meeting Script was read by the Chair, Margaret Coppe.
Minutes:
• The minutes from the November 5 and 19, 2021 meetings were approved.
Handouts/Documents Shared on Zoom Screen:
• Survey Update
• Subcommittee on Voter Participation in Lexington Charge
Action Items Summary:
• Margaret will contact Weidong and request that he sent around information he drafted as it
relates to this new database.
• Margaret will send information about the history of the committee to the new members.
• Margaret will send Mark the contact information for folks who put together the
English/Chinese newsletter and writers of The Lexington Observer.
• Mark will ask Marian if we added a question about how respondents learned about the
survey and if not, can we add one now.
• All Committee Members send their logo suggestions to Andrew by our next meeting.
Meeting Highlights:
Introduction of new committee member
New members, Vishwanathan Krishnamoorthy and Shannon Murtagh, introduced themselves to the
committee.
Contact Information List for Local Community Groups
Margaret read from an email that Weidong sent her. Weidong wrote that as a committee, we need to
start establishing criteria and a site to host this information. Margaret explained to the new committee
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members that this would be a site that would list all community and affinity group contract information.
Mark explained that we want to have some level of vetting to determine who gets to post their
information. Margaret asked members what criteria would be important to have. Vishwanathan asked if
there is a way to get some background info on the organizations that would be a part of this database.
Joe commented that there were some draft documents developed that we can circulate, but in general
this would be for nonprofits, social and cultural groups. Rina commented that those whose names are
listed should have some sort of access to list, not just to review the list but to make sure information we
have is updated so that this group doesn't have to chase after them. Mark agreed that it could be a
potential problem if the information we have is not validated often. Mark suggested that new members
review the completed project page on the website.
Town-wide survey preparations
Mark shared his screen and gave the new members a high overview of the survey and timeline. Mark
continued that the 2022 survey differs from the past surveys in that we added questions about DEI and
environmental issues. Mark added that the survey is expected to go live mid-January, and we will be
advertising and sending out post cards as well as an insert to be included in the census mailing out to
residents. Weidong has asked several folks to help translate the survey into Chinese, and we are working
to get a Korean translation from KOLex. Mark asked if anyone had any additional ideas of how/where to
advertise to let him know. Margaret mentioned two new outlets in Town, the Lexington Observer, an
online newspaper, and a weekly English/Chinese newsletter. Margaret will send the contact information
for these two outlets to Mark. Bhumip asked for clarification on what dialect of Chinese we are using, and
if we will have any translators available to translate the survey. Mark responded that the written version
of Chinese is the same for Mandarin or Cantonese, and Weidong will be translated the Chinese versions
for Marian. Mark added that we will have hard copies at various locations across Town (villages and
library). Mark also noted that we are not expecting a huge response rate from Chinese residents. Dan
asked if we are tracking how effective certain methods of communication are. Mark commented that we
are not but that's a good idea, and we can try to ask Marian if we can add that.
Formation of subcommittee on voter participation in Lexington
Margret introduced this topic. With the help of Jerri Zeder, Rina Kodendera, Eileen Zalisk, Marian Cohen,
Dan Joyner and Fernando Quezada, a charge for this subcommittee was drafted. Kat displayed the charge
on the Zoom screen. Dan commented that under the Possible Tasks section, he doesn't see the questions
added to the Townwide survey on this topic. Margaret asked how we might phrase that task. Dan said
that we would be analyzing the results of the survey questions regarding the reasons for participation or
non-participation in local elections. Margaret said that hypothesis is that people don't understand the
importance of understanding who their elected officials are. Bob commented that because people are
not aware of the issues and don't feel they have a stake in those issues,then there is no motivation. Bob
continued that the decline in weekly newspaper and coverage of local issues has exacerbated this issue.
Guest, Eileen Zalisk, commented that she believes there are really two issues. One being the lack of
information about local elections, and the other is the lack of realization about the importance of local
elections. Dan asked if we should include the schedule at the bottom because it restricts the amount of
time we have. Dan also asked if the purpose of the subcommittee is to develop hypotheses, or to work
on the hypotheses that will be developed. Rina commented that she thought the document was the
hypotheses but more may be added later.Joe commented that this lays out the scope, but it gives the
subcommittee the ability to flush out the details.Joe also added that with the respect to the comments
about observation and awareness, part of this is understanding civic processes. Mark commented that it
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might be helpful to have a completion date or an idea when we want to have a report generated by. In
addition, Mark suggested that we document the number of committee members working on this.
Margaret responded that she expects to have something completed by the 2023 municipal election as a
goal. Mark said if we are trying to influence the 2023 elections,then we might want to have something
before then. A total of 7 members were recommended for this group.Joe, Bob and Kathleen will make
their respective boards aware of this subcommittee.
The charge of the subcommittee was unanimously approved by the committee.
New committee logo
Dan commented that the logo could be much better than what was approved by the committee.The logo
does not convey much about what the committee does and there is no continuity with our old logo. Dan
continued that similar to what companies do, we should just modernize or refresh the logo. Margaret
responded that we picked the logo because we wanted to include something in various mailings for the
survey. Andrew commented that he a little uncertain about reaching out to the student but will reach out
if it is that's the committee's wish. Andrew added that we will be getting a logo back with the different
colors as well. Dan commented that we should take our time with this. Rina asked if once we decide on a
logo,we can write a description for the committee and for others of why we landed on it. Margaret
requested that everyone send their thoughts and explanation of the logo to Andrew by our next meeting.
Andrew commented that he sent various resources to the student, so it might be worth getting some
input from the student as well.
Next Meeting Date
• January 28, 2022 @ 7:45am
Meeting ended at 8:58 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Management Analyst, Katharine Labrecque
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