HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-09-03-2020-min (Steering Committee)
Meeting Notes
Steering Committee – September 3, 1999
Members Present
: Peter Enrich, Helen Cohen, Paul Mammola, Chuck Benson, Todd
Burger
Staff Present
: Candy McLaughlin
Call to Order
Substantive Decisions for Fall Meeting
The committee discussed two areas where the Operations Subcommittee’s deliberations
involve substantive changes in the Fall Public Meeting Agenda Planner presented by Joe
Brevard at the last Steering Committee meeting.
Timing and basis for “green paper” working group formation: the Operations
Subcommittee had determined that it was not optimal to nail down the groups at the
fall meeting for a number of reasons: we don’t yet know how many working groups
will be needed, there may not be an appropriate representation of talents and
constituencies in each of the breakout groups (and we don’t want people to feel
“stuck” by their initial assignment), fall meeting participants may not all come
prepared for that degree of commitment, and we want the Core Participants Group to
have a role in starting off the working groups because they will serve as a “sounding
board.” However, later formation does potentially lose some group cohesion and
sense of ownership, and may appear manipulative of the process. The committee
decided to pursue Todd’s suggestion of a “middle ground” whereby we would ask
each breakout group to schedule one additional meeting to help us formally set up the
rest of the process. In addition, we hope to encourage and capture energy around
ownership of the process by laying out opportunities for future participation during
the meeting, and at the end asking people to indicate their specific interests and
willingness to participate further.
Basis for specifying content of breakout groups (values or issues): The Operations
Subcommittee defines values as hopes, aspirations, what we really want the Town to
be/do 20 years from now, whereas issues are more problems or concerns that we have
to get past. Joe sees values as being more personally-held beliefs, while “issue
clusters” are more social and carry a sense of belonging. Whatever the terminology
used, the committee agreed that we want the breakout group topics to be cross-
cutting, future-oriented, and flexible but focused on important aspects of community
(rather than personal interests). The question was raised whether a grid or matrix is
the most appropriate way to structure our thinking. It was agreed that we need to
begin understanding how this stuff fits together -–what we don’t want to do is just
collect more information without knowing what we plan to do with it. The committee
asked Candy to work with Joe and a few Steering Committee volunteers to refine a
tentative list of 6-10 breakout group topics before the next Steering Committee
meeting in two weeks. The committee reaffirmed the decision to assign people to
breakout groups (perhaps by color of agenda) rather than let people choose, because
we want cross-cutting perspectives and not advocacy; we will make it clear that these
assignments are not permanent for the rest of the process.
Fall Meeting Logistics
The fall forum is scheduled for Saturday, October 2 from 1-5 p.m.; Candy will consult
with Joe whether 4 hours is the right amount of time. John Moynihan is going to confirm
a location by the end of the day.
The committee supported the Operations Subcommittee’s recommendation to recruit
volunteer facilitators from the Steering Committee and the core participants, and ask Joe
to coordinate and train them for their role during the fall meeting. We will plan for more
facilitators that we need (perhaps two for each group so they can split up if numbers are
large). Todd and Helen volunteered; hopefully other Steering Committee members are
also willing to help (other than Peter E. and Robin given their political visibility). Candy
and Michael will look through the original survey responses and call people who
indicated facilitation skills; we will also ask in the letter to core participants. Town staff
will be recruited to be recorders in the breakout groups.
The committee reviewed and made suggestions on the two invitation letters. The letter to
core participants, with inserts asking for their help publicizing the event, will be mailed
out next Tuesday. The letter to Town meeting members, committee chairs, and
community organizations will be mailed out later in the week after Labor Day. We don’t
have a good mailing list of businesses, but staff will contact the Chamber of Commerce
to see if we can mail information to their members.
Public Communications
Not being sure if anyone from the committee has had a chance to talk to Joe Gibbs in
person, Candy proposed sending him a letter today outlining our desired schedule of
publicity and enclosing the press release for the first story that we hope to have included
in next week’s edition. The committee reviewed the press release and made suggestions.
Phil Lanoue, LHS Principal, proposed inviting 7-10 high school students to participate in
the 12-18 month process. He believes students will stick with a long term commitment,
and feels an “in and out” effort is not as valuable a contribution. The committee agreed
with this proposal. Robin plans to contact Phil next week to go forward.
Following up on an item raised at the last meeting, the committee asked the Public
Communications Subcommittee to draft a 20-word summary that captures the essence of
the Lexington 20/20 Vision. This will be useful in publicizing the fall forum as well as
the rest of the process.
Next Meetings
Operations Subcommittee – Friday, September 10 at 7:45 a.m.
Steering Committee – Friday, September 17 at 7:45 a.m.
Adjourn