HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-07-07-2020-min (Social Diversity Working Group)20/20 Vision Committee
Social Diversity Working Group
Minutes for Meeting on
Thurs., July 7, 7:45 AM
Parker Room, Town Office Building
Attending: Elaine Ashton, Judy Crocker (by phone), Andrew Dixon (by phone), Peter
Enrich. Guest: Marian Cohen
Please note that near -term action items agreed to are indicated below by use of
bold -type.
1. It was generally agreed that the two primary goals for the working group are a) to
provide a demographic analysis of the evolving character of the town's population,
and b) to prepare a survey instrument for townwide distribution, providing
comparisons with previous 20/20 surveys and assessing community attitudes on a
range of topics of concern to 20/20 and the elected boards.
2. With regard to the demographic analysis, dimensions of interest include: age,
income, ethnicity, duration of residency in town, family configuration (particularly
including numbers and ages of children), age (and family configuration) upon
moving into and out of town, and reasons for moving into and out of town. In
addition, there is an interest in data on housing costs, housing types, and the
relationships of these to demographic characteristics.
3. To further the demographic analysis, Marian agreed to work on updating the
demographic analysis that she did last year and to share that information with the
working group. Judy will speak with Maureen Cavanaugh (school department
staff responsible for demographic tracking and enrollment planning) to determine
what sorts of data she is gathering and how her work can be connected with ours.
(Judy noted that Maureen is also the lead contact with the Enrollment Advisory
Group, which is the successor to the Enrollment Working Group.) Judy will also
obtain data on student eligibility for free and reduced school lunches, as
evidence of economic status. Peter will check with Ginna Johnson, to update her
on the discussions and to see what data the Planning Board can share (or would like
to see). Youth sports organizations and religious congregations were identified as
additional possible sources of information about incidence of economic need in the
town.
4. With regard to the demographics of people moving into and out of town, it was
agreed that a survey of realtors (or realtor office managers) might be helpful.
Andrew will consider how such a survey might be disseminated. Marian will
work on draft questions for such a survey. Elaine will contact Matt Daggett to
see what data he may be able to share with regard to housing topics. Other
potential sources for useful housing data include the Assessor's Office and Planning
Board. Elaine will also contact the Community Center to see what information
they can provide about the demographics of program utilization at the Center.
5. With regard to the content of the survey, it was agreed that one function should
be to update, and assess changes from, the prior 20/20 surveys. Marian will
distribute the analysis of the results of the previous survey (from 2012 ?).
There was also an interest in exploring how responses on these (and other)
questions relate to demographic characteristics, especially those dimensions along
which there is significant change in the town's demographics. There was also
considerable interest in using the survey to explore attitudes toward the town's
demographic composition and toward perceived changes in that composition.
Peter will solicit thoughts from the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board
about additional topics to be covered in the survey. Judy will provide input from
the School Committee.
6. With regard to the logistics for the survey, we're looking toward dissemination of
the survey next winter /spring, with data analysis in the spring /summer of 2017.
Marian advised that preparation of the survey this fall would be furthered by some
modest funding (perhaps $10,000) from the town. Analysis of the data will entail an
additional cost of approximately $20,000. Peter agreed to contact Joe Pato and
Ginna Johnson to explore the availability of funds in the current year's budget,
and, if necessary, to initiate appropriate budget requests for the 2018 budget (which
would presumably require postponing the bulk of the survey analysis to
summer /fall of 2017).
7. Marian agreed to provide a brief report on this meeting at the 20/20
Committee's July meeting. Peter agreed to circulate a Doodle to identify a time
in August for the next meeting of the working group.
Approved: 8/10/16