HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-06-09-FHC-min.pdf Fair Housing Committee Minutes, 6/9/93
Present Gerri Weathers, Chairman; Florence Baturin;
Jim Brannon; Mary Haskell; Nicole T
Herrmann; Marion Kilson; Leona Martin; Bob
Pressman; Jolley Anne Weinstock; Julia Novak,
Assistant Town Manager; Marion Shepp, Co-
Chairman, Enablement Committee; Steve Baran,
Fair Housing Director (recorder)
Absent Peter Brown; Oscar Liu
Minutes of 5/12/93
The Minutes of 5/12/93 were approved
LexHab housing for the disabled
Marion Shepp, Co-Chairman of the Enablement Committee, asked the
Fair Housing Committee members to support the Enablement
Committee ' s efforts to persuade LexHab to assign the house they
are building this year (with the assistance of Minuteman
Vocational High School) to four mentally ill persons
The individuals who would occupy the house would be chosen by the
Center for Mental Health and Retardation while the Mass
Department of Mental Health would provide the funding All the
( residents would be clients of the Mass Department of Mental
Health
The Fair Housing Committee agreed to send a letter of support to
LexHab
Revision of Charge
The current Charge to the Fair Housing Committee was reviewed
with a view toward making revisions that would incorporate human
relations goals The following suggestions were made concerning
a draft charge that was submitted
1 Define fair housing
2 Fair housing goals
a increase number of minorities, especially African-
Americans, living in Lexington, and single parents;
b increase number of market rate as well as subsidized
units;
c encourage minorities to move into Lexington
l d conduct comparative study with North Andover
(friendlier neighbors in North Andover reported by a
Fair Housing Minutes, 6/9/93 Page 2
Lexington minority family)
It was agreed to discuss responsible reporting with the Minuteman
Editor (reporting without stigmatizing)
It was further agreed that the Committee would seek to make a
formal presentation of the revisions in the Charge it was
suggesting to the Board of Selectmen
Julia Novak
Ms Novak said that her last job was in Fort Collins, a 94% white
community with other similar demographics A nearby university
had experienced problems in recruiting students
Ms Novak reviewed her responsibilities in her Lexington
position, noted that the Police Department was going through a
process of change Chris Casey, the new Acting Chief of Police,
was interested in hearing the Committee' s concerns He was a 16-
year veteran of the Police Department and would be in the
position of Acting Chief at least until May, 1994
Jim Brannon noted an incident of provocative behavior on the part
of the Lexington police toward METCO students Julia Novak saw
the possibility of diversity training for the Police Department
Met State
Mary Haskell reported on a meeting she had attended of the Met
State Task Force The desire was expressed of making the site
more appealing to potential developers (reflecting interests of
Bentley College or potential developers) Lexington
representatives expressed concern about redrawing boundary lines
Gerri reported that David Dixon Associates had been hired to
suggest different mixes of rezoning Waltham had become
interested in a golf course and not rezoning.
METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity)
The Committee decided to further look into the METCO incident by
meeting with the METCO advisory committee. Steve Baran will
contact Judy McCloskey
Length of Meetings
It was agreed to attempt to limit meeting time between 7 45 p m
and 9 30 p m in the future